so i picked up a 94 3.0l 2wd auto from a buddy as a first vehicle for my son. He is still a little ways out from being able to drive so it has been our project. He wanted it to have 4wd, so, of course I jumped at it. Everything is functioning now for the most part. We put in a new trans/tcase, front diff, drive shafts, wiring harness/ecu, shifters, etc. All the dash lights work, 4wd works, and it drives fair for a 30 year old vehicle. UNTIL yesterday. Drove it around the neighborhood for maybe 5 miles, got home and when i tried to back it into the garage it had zero power in reverse. Dropped the pan today, had some bronze flakes in it but no metal shavings or chunks. While looking around noticed one of the magnets that normally is on the bottom of the pan was stuck to the side of the front-most solenoid. i removed it, cleaned everything and reassembled. Still the same response in reverse, is the solenoid trash or is there something more wrong with the transmission? i purchased it used and do not know the history, guy i got it from seemed honest, donor had a bad head gasket so he parted it out. Do i replace the solenoids and give it a shot, or just source a new transmission and cut my losses on this one? it is otherwise fine, no noise, no leaks, no damage. Good source for solenoids?

 

solenoids will run around $65 shipped on ebay. i would go that route before swapping transmissions..easier and cheaper

 

The transmission goes into reverse back up light switch closes just nothing transmitted to the differential.

Easy to test the solenoid with a 12vdc power source it is either open or closed .

Good luck!

 

is there a difference in the solenoids from the 2wd transmission vs the 4wd? i am not really seeing any designation between the 2 online. just want to make sure i get the right ones.