Thread: Stranded away from home. HELP!!!

yes autos have a trans. computer

You probably knocked the Transmission shifter out of position, while installing the header.
Jackup the car and have someone move the gear selector thru all of the positions. Make sure the selector changes positions for each selection. You can adjust as needed to get the tranny to shift properly. FOLLOW the FSM directions...

As for the Dash & Windows, that is normally a blown Fuseable Link(s) (in the fuse box located beside the battery on the fender side). These are the main circuit fuses and are in a square plastic cases with a clear top (you can see the fuse wire thru the top). Check the all for a blown fuse & check all push-in fuses too... Autozone and other local parts stores carry them..

BTW, the Trans Computer is NON-SERVICEABLE and located in the drivers kick panel.

Update:
The auto tranny plugs & tranny ground are located on the drivers side below the EGR Pipe. Check that all are pushed in fully.
Did you remove the EGR PIPE too?

All fuses check out good. All grounds are good. The shifter is good.

For the EGR, I just took out the "tube" that runs from the exhaust manifold to the intake, as well as the little EGR "Discs". For the vac. lines, I just capped them.

Would doing this cause any of that?

It shouldnt cause the problem that you described. If you had a EGR leak or Vacuum Leak, it would just run like crap.. The Vacuum Reroute Diagram was on the old forum.. Someone may have posted it here. BUT this should not cause the tranny or dash/window power problems. Thats Electronically controlled.

Are you SURE that u CHECKED all of the FUSEABLE Links under the hood beside the battery?? Dont remember any relays involved with these systems: cluster: NO, Power Windows: Maybe under dash, Transmission: NO... Fusable links: YES to all..

Something is missing here.. Did you remove anything to get the EGR pipe out (Dizzy, Coil, Volt Resistor, etc) and forgot to plug it back in OR incorrect plug.
Did you do anything else on the Drivers side of the Engine bay?? Did you spray any cleaners or liquids in the area?
Have the car been shifting strangely lately?

Update:
Do you have an external/separate Cam Position Sensor (CPS) on that year car? Is it plugged in?
That could cause the Tranny & maybe the cluster gauge problems.

I know you said you checked all the fuses but I blew my main fuse one time and it didn't LOOK like it was blown at all. I had the same symptoms. No dash, no windows. I didn't figure it out till I actually pulled the fuse out and saw that it was broken but it was barely noticeable. If the fuse was tipped to the side the broken part would move to the side and you can see the separation but looking from above it looks like the fuse is in tact.

yeah none of what he's describing makes any sense????

tbh i'm stumped

^^ Agreed.. Remove all those fusable links and check them very closely...

Not many Auto Tranny guys on the forum (most have 5 speed).. I have an Automatic and have seen many strange things when working around those Tranny Plugs on top of the tranny on the Drivers side of the engine bay... Shifting problems usually means solenoid connection partially or completely unplugged, shorted or blown; OR misaligned tranny shifter. Ive been trying to think of all of the sensor used as input to the tranny operation: CTS, Throttle Position Sensor (TPS), Throttle Position Switch (CTP), TRANNY FLUID level, OverDrive Switch (on gear shift) and some models have a Power/Comfort toggle switch on the dash.

Get a FSM, and read how to do the Tranny Self Diagnoses and read the number of blinks for error codes in the dash. (Yes, you can lookup the errors in the FSM by the number of blinks)..

Good luck. Hope this helps some..
I will check this thread again tomorrow..

Problem fixed. It was a fusable link, but not the link itself. The "male" part of the fuse block recepticle was screwed. I guess that it has been like this for a while, but the wire popped out. I don't know why, nor do I care.

Frustration none the less... I checked every fuse in the car with a multi-meter, and they were all good! If I had just looked at the fuse block, I would have seen the ****ing problem. I have gone through 3 sr20 cars, and this is the only one that has given me these types of problems. Come to think of it, this is the only automatic car I have owned, so that might be the biggest problem.

Thank you all for the help!

Great to see you found the problem and fixed it...

The fuse block is in both automatic & 5 speed cars.. So this problem can also occur in 5-speeds, but it wouldnt have knocked-out your tranny operation..

For future reference, anytime you experience multiple electrical device failures like this, suspect the Fusable Links and then individual fuses...