Sorry to bump this... I've driven it two days this week without issue (save the whole no overdrive and no cruise control), but I'd feel a bit better if anyone knowledgeable could chime in on whether or not it is wise to drive it with this going on until I can get it fixed at the end of this week/beginning of next week?

 

It's never good to drive it with a CEL on, however if you must you must. I don't want to say yes then you have transmission failure.
I'm sure many people drive their cars without even knowing what the code means.
Just get it fixed ASAP or ASAYCAI, as so as you can afford it!

 

Car's in the shop now. They were trying to convince me to do a more expensive valve body replacement - would cost $400 more, which I don't have (the $900 I'm spending is resulting in a massive reshuffle of my finances for the month of March as it is). Since this issue started I've held to the belief that it's just the 1-2 shift solenoid that needs to be replaced, but their opinion is that they might as well replace the whole thing while they have it apart and they also tried to claim that one of the other solenoids could be the problem. I'm not sure that I accept this premise... thoughts?

 

Stick to the code, and the shift issues, I mean the while you're in there theory can get expensive real fast!

 

I'm no expert, but I think that there are solenoids and valves. They don't sound like experts either if they want to just throw assemblies at it to cure "maybe" problems.

 

I'm already not thrilled with them for trying to foist that on me. The solenoid was the problem but they also replaced the 3-4 shift solenoid as well and the filter and charged me an extra $150 for those parts. This came in the form of a phone call where they told me they were doing it - didn't seek my permission or anything along those lines.

Funny thing... in Indiana, if a mechanic deviates from a written estimate ($750 or greater) by more than 10%, they can be taken to court for either the difference or $500, whichever is higher...

Anyways, long and short, the car runs fine again - solenoid was the issue. And I'm waiting on a call from a consumer protection lawyer.

 

They should have included the filter in the original estimate. I would have recommended changing the other solenoid to; to save on labor the next time. Did they charge extra labor?

 

I think it was the filter. I'll have to double-check. They said there were two parts they added. They did not charge extra labor, though.