2001 Saturn SL1 AT Sticks in First Gear

[bruff]

My daughter has a 2001 SL1 with 46K miles that was parked in a garage for seven years. The car was towed in and parked when it started stalling on the streets. When I found no spark and no fuel pump I bought a code reader but it would not connect to the PCM. I replaced the PCM with same P/N from junk yard. I then had spark and fuel pressure but the injectors did not pulse. Fired fine with a quick shot of ether. So I towed it to a GM dealer and had to PCM programmed. Engine now runs great, but......

Now the car seems to shift the first time or two through the gears then downshifts into first gear and will not up shift from that point until parked for a while. Reverse always works fine. I pulled the TRS LP fuse and it drove the same except that it shifted very hard before downshifting and staying in first. (I am only driving three blocks on my residential street as the car is not yet registered.) I pulled the fuse thinking I could verify that the pressure was adequate and changing.
Also getting codes:
P0732: Gear 2 Incorrect Ratio
P0733: Gear 3 Incorrect Ratio
P0734: Gear 4 Incorrect Ratio

One final symptom, I hear a barely detectible buzz in 2, 3, and D, but not reverse.

I do not detect any slippage when the tranny is shifting. I have changed fluid and filter and checked continuity on the valve body connector on top of transaxle. All solenoids checked good (4.5 to 5 ohms with a $3.00 multimeter - Harbor Freight). Fluid was not pretty but did not smell burnt at all.

I do have a 44 magnum with which I could put this thing out of my misery, but my daughter has no money and needs the car. (If she had money, she'd be driving a Sky.) Did I put in a bad PCM? Did the valve body die while car was parked? Suggestions?

[madpogue]

The part number of the PCM does not determine its programming. From what year and model of car did the PCM come? What, in particular, did the dealer reprogram?

Did you try reconnecting the original PCM, just to see if it was a connection issue?

[bruff]

First, thank you for the reply.

I have no idea what year the PCM came from. My daughter picked it up from a Junkyard. I told her to make sure she got the exact part number. When I put it in the car, the fuel pump started to function and I had spark. It would not start but did fire with a shot of ether. I assumed the injectors were not being pulsed. I towed the car to the GM dealer and they did what ever it is that they do to flash the computer for $100. I guess they put the VIN and mileage in the PCM because when I picked it up, the mileage was as it was prior to replacement. As well, the VIN comes up now when I connect my code reader. It did not before being flashed at the dealer.

The original PCM was DOA. I tried two readers without success connecting. I pulled the connectors to inspect for corrosion but they looked clean. Reconnected and tried again before buying replacement.

I should add that I did not realize we had an issue until I got the car home. It seemed ok when I drove it up on the dolly to tow it home. I tried it on my street and it shifted fine the first time through the gears. This continues to be its MO. It goes through the gears ok one time then downshifts to low and stays. Once or twice it has gone through the gears twice before going to low gear to stay. I am not driving it hard (residential street) but I do not feel any slipping between shifts, nor do I see any on the tach. I am not receiving any other codes when I look for fault codes, just the ones mentioned in original post. Have not done any in depth charging system checks but battery is staying up with lights and high blower on.

The variables here are different PCM and extended down time. Car was in garage for more years than a car should sit. However, engine runs perfectly.

If the PCM is programmed by VIN, I expect it is not likely that it was programmed wrong but it almost seems to me that the computer is looking for different ratios than it is seeing from the transmission. I would try another computer but I hate to give the GM dealer another $100 to program, not to mention having to rent a tow dolly again. (If I do have to do another PCM, can they program it without me taking the car to them?)