Hi, my gf and I just got the torque converter fixed at Northside Tranmissions on our 1990 TP Magna. This was supposed to fix some "cattle-gridding" we experienced driving the car over about 80-90km/h.

After getting the car back, the Magna sometimes stalls at traffic lights after a cold start, with the gear in drive (it never used to stall before the TC got fixed; suburban driving was good). And there's some lag occasionally when the gears change (also never a problem before TC was fixed).

The transmission place said it needed a service, which we had done, but the problems remain. We took it back to the transmission shop to get the TPS adjusted but it doesn't seem like they did anything or they've buggered up something else in the engine. Dodgy tranmission fluid? though they tell us it was the correct/recommended stuff for the Magna.

I'd appreciate any suggestions :) Thanks.

Hi, thanks for replying. The car is back at the transmission shop for the last time; if it comes back in the same condition and they don't know why it's stalling (and from what you've said it's probably just a matter of a TPS or idle adjustment), then it'll be the last visit.

On the upside, after the torque converter was reconditioned or whatever they did with it, the car definitely has more power, so I guess it did something good. When the car comes to a stop at lights, there is the lurching you described, too.

I have a bad feeling that when we were driving on the highway we didn't think to switch on the overdrive (I remember it now), and possibly that was the cause of the shuddering...

We got the car back this afternoon; the shop wanted to keep it another night so they could test some tweaking they'd done on a cold engine, but we needed it for work today. When my gf picked the car up she didn't ask what work they'd done, though they said they'd "adjusted some things". I'm guessing the idle speed or TPS or both. Sitting at idle when we parked with the gear in drive, the rpms seems a little higher, just over 1000 now.

Since you have the same model (but a wagon), can I ask if you've ever had any rust-proofing done on the car? We had some rust spots appear above the door handles and the fuel cap and got them fixed, but six months later the rust is coming back through the paintwork. Surely it should last longer than that. I don't know what the 1990 Magna is like for rust.

Also, is it true the engines on these cars get very hot? It always seems that way; has a hot smell about it, even after a short run. We got the bonnet repainted along with the doors and it looks okay at the moment.

my old '89 TP was rust treated when new (endrust i think) and when i killed it in 2004 it had 2 spots on the door that were only on the surface from where i'd hit the door on a concrete pillar. don't know if it was a freak (everything else about it was) but i had no trouble with the paint


Tim

my old '89 TP was rust treated when new (endrust i think) and when i killed it in 2004 it had 2 spots on the door that were only on the surface from where i'd hit the door on a concrete pillar. don't know if it was a freak (everything else about it was) but i had no trouble with the paint


Tim

Thanks for that. Maybe this guy who did the "rust-proofing" on our TP Magna did a lousy job of it. He said the doors had some panels behind them that caused the rust to come through. It doesn't sound right to me; and the anti-rust treatment only lasting six months, that seems like too short a time.

Thanks, that's some good information there :) Sounds like there's not much we can do about the rust on the doors other than get it fixed once a year or so.

Hmm, I'll have to check the fans and thermostat coolant; it does seem to run quite hot every time we go out in it.