the “check engine” light came on in my car yesterday and gave an “P0740 TCC CIRCUIT MALFUNCTION” error. this, i’ve discovered, means that there’s a problem with either the control system for the torque converter or an issue with the torque converter itself. i looked it up to see if anyone else with my car has this problem and i came upon an upsetting website that lists over one hundred complaints relating to the complete and sudden failure of the transmission while in traffic.

since the car still drives normally, i’m going to close my eyes real tight and assume that the control system is the faulty one of the two. after all, only one of these complaints cited the P0740 error so i’m hoping that it means i’m not going to end up blocking traffic for hours on Lake Shore Drive one day.