Thread: D2a 2004 Auto DOES lockup TC in 2nd gear !!

To the best of my knowledge we all believe that the torque converter on the D2 auto only goes into lockup in 3rd and 4th gear ... well, after our last trip away I can definitley confirm that the auto (at least in my 2004 D2a) does go into lockup in 2nd gear !!

I was able to repeat it 3 times, after the first time it locked up and I was most surprised, so tried again knowing the condition required to get it to lockup and was able to make it lockup in 2nd !!

A big load on the back, a bit of an incline, and the shifter in 3rd, and using the cruise + button on the steering wheel to accelerate away .... tries to accelerate in 3rd (unlocked), goes for a bit but due to the slow progress it downshifts to 2nd (now at about 3300-3500rpm) ... accelerates away nicley, THEN goes into lockup ... pulls like a train to arround 55-65km/hr then upshifts to 3rd ....

I ended up using the cruise to get up to speed alot as the last 3600km / 20 days of our trip the Td5 after around 5-7min of running from a cold start would start running like it had 4.5 cylinders .... found a tiny amount of oil in the injector loom plug at the head (no oil in the red ecu plug), and checking/cleaning the plug every 2-3 days showed little to no oil over what was originally found .... I suspect it's a failed injector as the rough running occured the same every morning after that 5-7minutes .... sometimes we struggled up hills in 2nd gear with the Td5 doing a very convincing 98lb weakling impersonation, and sometimes due to the (slight) grade and a tiny head/crosswind, there was no way it would hold 4th lockup .... requiring 3rd lockup at 2600-2700rpm to makes steady progress .... then the next day it would hold 4th lockup as long as the rpm was above 2100rpm (95km/hr).

We drove from Innaminka to Birdsville, climbed Big Red, drove out into the Simpson, crossed the Strezlecki desert, and returned home via QLD Cunnamulla, Lightning Ridge, towing 1.5T of kamper trailer on 4-4.5-4.75 cylinders and the Td5 just did what was asked, with minimal to next to no extra fuel consumption ... says alot as to how robust an engine the Td5 is. Just wind it up to 3rd lockup and make progress.

So, 2nd lockup does exist !!

I'll do another post re the injector / loom once I get the codes off the Nanocom, but due to the specific repeatablity of the rough running after a specific time, every time, my money is on the injector being the culprit, as the amount of oil in the loom plug was almost nil.

Great trip

I'd like manual lock up available in low M mode...