On cold days my lockup torque converter never engages. When it is about 35 degrees and I don't turn on the heater it takes a good 20 minutes of highway driving, but it eventually engages. If I turn on the heater it won't be long before the lockup torque converter disengages.

Does anyone know what might be causing this?

The car doesn't seem to take long to warm up, but watching the temperature guage it seems possible that the thermostat is opening up too soon.

The car pinged in hot weather until I retarded the timing a bit. That made me thing maybe the temperature sender was making the car thing the engine was running colder than it really is (and sending a too-rich mixture).

The temp. guage goes as low as 35% of the total (50% being the mid point) on cold days on the highway and will move to 45% in slower driving and no heater usage.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

my 98 civic has same problem recently, looks like the some where sensor has problem,