Hi Guys,


I have a TR magna and up until a couple of months ago it was working perfectly - now the car seems to be stuck in a 3rd gear ..takes off very slow - once its over a certain speed car performs normally.. i have been reading that it could be the TCU but then again how can i be sure? Also how do i remove the carpet to gain access to the TCU in the passenger foot well? has anyone got any diagrams? i know its behind the stereo but thats as far as it goes? also how many plugs are theer on a TR magna?
could it also be that the tranny is on its way out?

any help would be great

Thanks in advance

hey mate i dont no that much about cars, but my wife drives a TR and the same thing happened to hers at about 200,00 km the mechanic said it was the tcu cost me $100 and it was good as gold again. good luck mate hope it all work out

i had the same problem and i went threw five tcu's and figured it wasnt what i thought then one day playin with the inside fusebox (the fuse didn sit right for the AT) the lights in the dash for the AT came back on. didn have a prob in the first place so if your lights on the dash which tell you what gear its in are still working its most likely the tcu.

cheers guys...
just working out how to get to the location.. hehe... the carpet doesnt come out that easy.. does anyone know if i have to pull out the full stereo bit to get to the TCU?

cheers

pull off both kick panels by pulling those little caps off and footrest thing and you need a screwdriver and a 8m spanner to get the bolts off the bottom of tcu

i have seen a pic on here somewhere on past tcu thread

do i need to pull the centre console off at all aswell?cause when i try to pull the carpet off in the passenger foot well after taking out the screws...it is still being held on by something above the plastic above... also to remove the TCU do i need to remove both driver and passenger side carpets?

Cheers

the plastic above should be a kickpanel it runs under the centre consol back past the seat

TCU plugs can be acessed via the passenger side of the car. process;

Remove passenger kick panel by removing a clip to the front of the car at top. moving backward, there are two screws then two white plastic clips. these are fragile and will most probably snap as you try to remove them. just pull on them and they will release

As for the TCU, there are two types and you need to make sure you know which one you need. there is a two plug TCU which is very common and there is a 3 plug TCU which is quite rare. My suggestion, to go wreckers and buy another TCU. Plug it directly into yours and lety it sit on the passenger floor while you take the car for a quick test drive. If it's fixed, remove your TCU by undoing the aforementioned 8mm bolts and sliding towards the rear of the car. it's tricky so dont give up straight away.

Good luck

-Ian.

hey all...
finially got around to taking out the TCU this morning... accidently broke the left kick panel a bit - plastic snapped under force... something i can get again... my one was the 3 pin and got it at the local wreckers.. changed it around and took it for a spin around the block --- worked perfectly --- now is there anything i should be doing so i can stop this happening again.. was reading somewhere that leaking from above sometimes causes the TCU to stop... so should i cover this with anything??

Cheers

hi, the problem is in the box, tcu box, write down the number of it, yes poke a plastic bag over it just in case a water leak from above, now you know how to fix it find ypurself another one for next time, you may be lucky and get another 50000 km out of it. dont forget to have the auto trans serviced though or you will be sorry.

hi, the problem is in the box, tcu box, , yes poke a plastic bag over it just in case a water leak from above,.

water from where?

Unless there appears to be water getting in, I'd say its just died from age, these ares aren't new any more, things do wear out over time. If there's water marks on the old unit or surround parts then I'd go looking for water leaks.

water from where?

Heater core above mate.
I wouldnt bother really as this is way more common in the 3rd gen magna's. If you covered it with anything it'd probably melt anyway that thing builds up some serious heat:P
Good to see you got it sorted dude.

Cheers guys!!!