Shift inhibit from first to second?
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 50
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From: Surprise AZ
Shift inhibit from first to second?
Hi All, okay, I've searching and can't find anything on how to eliminate the shift inhibit solenoid on a 1989 six speed. And boy is that anoying that thing in the transmission keeping ya from shifting from first to second
. So does anyone know how to get rid of this feature?
. So does anyone know how to get rid of this feature?
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 238
Likes: 0
From: CA
jack the car up, and crawl under the driver's side, there is only one electrical connector going into the trans, this is the solenoid that pushes you to 4th gear
disconnect it, that's what i did, if you are afraid to leave the connectors open tape it up
good luck....
it feels weird to try to go into 2nd and have it push you over to 4th huh?
or search for CAGS
disconnect it, that's what i did, if you are afraid to leave the connectors open tape it up
good luck....
it feels weird to try to go into 2nd and have it push you over to 4th huh?
or search for CAGS
Last edited by SmokinRide; Oct 19, 2009 at 11:11 PM.
Pro
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 579
Likes: 2
From: High Bridge New Jersey
Just
Hi All, okay, I've searching and can't find anything on how to eliminate the shift inhibit solenoid on a 1989 six speed. And boy is that anoying that thing in the transmission keeping ya from shifting from first to second. So does anyone know how to get rid of this feature?
. So does anyone know how to get rid of this feature?
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,014
Likes: 18
From: Raleigh, NC
You can unplug the relay by the battery. I don't remember if it's the top one or the bottom one, but one of those is the relay for the lock out solenoid. I did this about 10,000 miles ago and haven't had a code or other problem.
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 50
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From: Surprise AZ
Yes SmokinRide, I'm not crazy about that feature, I try to remember to bring up the RPM's so I can go from first to second, but sometimes in "slowly accelerating traffic" or a neighborhood you just don't need that much throttle and then the inhibit feature hampers the shifting. This is my first Corvette and I love driving it, but the "shift thing" has got to go. By the way, what's it's purpose?
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Rolla Missouri
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Yes SmokinRide, I'm not crazy about that feature, I try to remember to bring up the RPM's so I can go from first to second, but sometimes in "slowly accelerating traffic" or a neighborhood you just don't need that much throttle and then the inhibit feature hampers the shifting. This is my first Corvette and I love driving it, but the "shift thing" has got to go. By the way, what's it's purpose?
It forces you into 4th gear sooner, theoretically providing better fuel economy.
The fuel economy tests are all run on a machine though, so in real world driving I don't know if it really helps or not.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 238
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From: CA
Yes SmokinRide, I'm not crazy about that feature, I try to remember to bring up the RPM's so I can go from first to second, but sometimes in "slowly accelerating traffic" or a neighborhood you just don't need that much throttle and then the inhibit feature hampers the shifting. This is my first Corvette and I love driving it, but the "shift thing" has got to go. By the way, what's it's purpose?
if you have a stock car, the 89 is a tpi set up and you have loads of torque to muscle it in 4th, but if you have a cam and you change the induction system to something else, you move the power band up and the CAGS computer assisted gear select really dogs yours shifting.
safely get under the car and make it go away
Pro
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 706
Likes: 265
From: Jyväskylä, FINLAND
You can get this kind of 'pack' from for example Eckler's :
Then you need to locate the solenoid at the side of the gear box and then you'll find this connector:
Just unplug it, put those plugs in place and tie the whole thing so that it won't hang freely by the wires:
This won't disable the 1 to 4 light on dash, but that's no biggie.
The cheapest solution would be jus to cut either of those two wires but this 'plug version' is easier to reverse, if someone would actually like to put the solenoid back to action.
Also, one solution would be to rev it past 3 000 rpm every time...
Then you need to locate the solenoid at the side of the gear box and then you'll find this connector:
Just unplug it, put those plugs in place and tie the whole thing so that it won't hang freely by the wires:
This won't disable the 1 to 4 light on dash, but that's no biggie.
The cheapest solution would be jus to cut either of those two wires but this 'plug version' is easier to reverse, if someone would actually like to put the solenoid back to action.
Also, one solution would be to rev it past 3 000 rpm every time...
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Instructor
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 143
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From: MD
I take off a lot in 2nd gear in my 89 six speed. Depending on traffic and all, i sometimes go 2nd, 4th, 6th. Leaving in 2nd can also help in rainy weather. I dont know what rear I have, but 1st is pretty useless on a wet road 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 797
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From: Westminster MD
I can't find the thread at the moment, but I read recently that CAGS is not a fuel-economy measure - it was implemented to pass the sound/noise level requirements. That was info from the engineer who designed it.
Pro
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 579
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From: High Bridge New Jersey
No
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 797
Likes: 2
From: Westminster MD
According to Hib, the Fuel economy thing was a bit of a ruse:
...though it turned out that fuel economy may have been an unintended, seconday benefit:
What many people do not understand is that skip-shift is mainly a strategy to "beat" government noise regulation.
Because of GM's flim-flam of media back in the late 80s, most understand skip-shift as a fuel economy strategy. While, it does make a small contribution there, the main reason it was developed in 1989 was as a way for the 2nd gen ZR-1 to get through the pass-by noise tests required by the Feds and some states. Generally, the test requires one to start out in first gear, shift to the "next highest gear" then pass-by the microphones at wide-open throttle with the car's sound under a certain dB limit.
An enterprising GM development engineer, faced with putting much more effective mufflers on the ZR-1 and accepting a noticeable performance loss, came up with mechanically forcing an upshift to fourth gear, ie: making the "next highest gear" the much higher fourth gear rather than the slightly higher second gear. The test requirements did not specifiy whether the next highest gear be temporary or permanent.
The end result was the car could go past the mics at WOT/low rpm in fourth rather than WOT/high rpm in second, thus making a lot less noise and passing the test.
The lesson in this little story is you can hate your skip shift, but you need to love it, too, because, since 1989, it's brought us more powerful Corvettes than would otherwise have been allowed.
Because of GM's flim-flam of media back in the late 80s, most understand skip-shift as a fuel economy strategy. While, it does make a small contribution there, the main reason it was developed in 1989 was as a way for the 2nd gen ZR-1 to get through the pass-by noise tests required by the Feds and some states. Generally, the test requires one to start out in first gear, shift to the "next highest gear" then pass-by the microphones at wide-open throttle with the car's sound under a certain dB limit.
An enterprising GM development engineer, faced with putting much more effective mufflers on the ZR-1 and accepting a noticeable performance loss, came up with mechanically forcing an upshift to fourth gear, ie: making the "next highest gear" the much higher fourth gear rather than the slightly higher second gear. The test requirements did not specifiy whether the next highest gear be temporary or permanent.
The end result was the car could go past the mics at WOT/low rpm in fourth rather than WOT/high rpm in second, thus making a lot less noise and passing the test.
The lesson in this little story is you can hate your skip shift, but you need to love it, too, because, since 1989, it's brought us more powerful Corvettes than would otherwise have been allowed.
Uh well...skip shift does, indeed, improve fuel mileage if the car is driven in a manner that it enables on a regular basis, however, the main reason why skip shift was developed in the first place was pass-by noise, not CAFE. Consider mileage a "secondary" benefit of the system.
Pro
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 579
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From: High Bridge New Jersey
Maybe
According to Hib, the Fuel economy thing was a bit of a ruse:
...though it turned out that fuel economy may have been an unintended, seconday benefit:
...though it turned out that fuel economy may have been an unintended, seconday benefit:
