Forced lock up

[Kandasan]

Hi
I have a 97 Camry V6 Auto and when driving at around 40mph I've noticed a slight surge of power. I assume this to be the lock up clutch engaging. I've read that if you short the lock up solenoid wires that will force the lock up engagement at 2nd gear and wont unlock until its back at 1st. So my question is, is this true, will doing this increase acceleration, and increase fuel economy?

[Kandasan]

no answers?

[bigbird]

im puzzled. u talkin about Over Drive? im not even sure what lock up is.

[Kandasan]

Lock up from what I read in other post is also called the Torque converter clutch. It supposed to make it so the Torque converter doesnt slip.

[bigbird]

well then in theory yeah it would help, the more the TQ converter slips the more power u loose, but ive never herd of any modification to it. doesnt mean there isnt though.

[ghettosled]

this comes from far left field, but my non-car-educated guess is at 40mph your overdrive is kicking in which (i think in most cars) the torque converter locks up for the overdrive 'gear'. why would you need overdrive to kick in for second gear? thats what third gear is for.

i think that surge of power is a false sense of power. yes, the car feels like it gets a burst of energy as the gear shifts and the rpms drop, but the car will accelerate very slowly because of the low gearing.

but this is just my guess

[Kandasan]

Hmm.. you could be right on that false sense of power. But it does really feel like it has more power when TCC does engage, cuz the acceleration feels stronger after 40mph. I got this idea because I read that performance cars like the IS-F, the auto M5 have the TCC engage earlier to have more power transferred to the wheels so I thought i could transfer this idea to my camry for more power and better efficiency.

[rholzboog]

it might be your shift solenoid if drive solenoid is gone it wount shift past #2 gear or be intermenten ie higher rpms trying to hit drive

[Kandasan]

Everything seems fine. I can see by just looking at the rpms that its shifting through the gears. Theres no engine flares, and smooth engagement all around. So I don't think anything is wrong.

[bigbird]

Originally Posted by rholzboog

it might be your shift solenoid if drive solenoid is gone it wount shift past #2 gear or be intermenten ie higher rpms trying to hit drive

i dont think he means it wont shift past second. hes talking about getting the converter to lock up earlier to give direct power.

unless someone speaks up who has done it then i say give it a shot.