Just a thought.......

Are you certain you replaced the exhaust solenoid in the exhaust location and NOT the intake location?

 

where is the solenoid located

 

Under the air cleaner, on the top of the engine in the valve cover valley, between sparkplug #1, and the timing chain (passenger side of engine).

 

Just wanted to post an update on this.

After my last post on 9/12 I had pretty much given up trying to repair this myself and decided to look for a good mechanic. Due to a busy schedule I wasn't able to get it looked at right away and was forced to drive it in the condition it was in. The CEL and traction control light were constantly on (even when first starting the car) and I just babied it as much as I could to ease the shifting trouble.

On 9/23 when I started the car the TC light was off and stayed off for the first few miles but eventually came back on. I had multiple stops I had to make that day and when I started the car the next time the light was off again and this time remained off for 10-15 miles. Each stop and start that day the light reset and stayed off longer until by mid afternoon the light went away for good. The CEL stayed on for about another 100miles but has now been off for 2+ weeks.

I think you guys that said that there was crud build up hit it right on the head. The more I drove the more the system cleaned itself up. I will be doing another oil change in a couple weeks and will let you know if I have any trouble after that, but I think I am in the clear.

Thanks to all of you that offered assistance and advice.

 

 

In the old days it was pretty common for folks to throw a quart of ATF in their engine a while before changing the oil.

It was pretty normal for an engine to be a quart low on oil between changes so adding the ATF was not so bad. Naturally you didn't want to drive a thousand miles with the ATF in there personally I'd let my engine warm up then add the ATF and drive maybe 10 miles not hitting it hard just enough to slosh things around a 'good one'

My '06 just turned 188,888 miles the other day and is due for an oil change again but it is not low on oil at all so I won't be adding any ATF to it. I suppose these days in the modern engines it would be a bad thing anyway.

 

I think I cursed myself with that update

This morning I started the car and I immediately noticed that it sounded funny. There was a bit of a rattling noise as the RPM's went up before shifting. Power seemed to be reduced and the idle was rough when stopped. The CEL came on as I passed an autostore so I turned around and checked the codes. Getting both a P0016 and P0017 now. (at least there isn't a P0014 anymore)

From searching it looks like it could be sensors this time but could be several things. Is it worth it to spend the money on the sensors and try it or just have a mechanic take a look?