P0744: Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Intermittent
What to do
Note whether the shudder or the higher revs appear only when the car has been driven for a while, or only when it is cold. That pattern is one of the more useful things you can report on this fault.
What this code means
Converter clutch operation that comes and goes. The typical report is lock-up that works when the vehicle is cold and stops once it is thoroughly warm, or the reverse — and heat-dependent behaviour is genuinely informative here rather than just frustrating.
A solenoid winding whose insulation has broken down leaks more as it heats and expands, so a fault that appears only when hot points at the solenoid. Fluid that thins as it warms leaks past worn valve body bores more readily, so a fault that appears only when hot and comes with generally softer shifts points at the valve body instead. Both are worth distinguishing before parts are ordered.
Likely causes
Start here
- Faulty torque converter clutch solenoid · moderate
- Low or degraded transmission fluid · easy
- Worn valve body · specialist
Less common
- Damaged transmission wiring harness · moderate
- Corroded transmission connector · moderate
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Community experience
Be the first to write this up
Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
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