Problem with Chrysler LHS '97 tranny...

Hello,
this car has 67k miles on it and last week I just changed tranny fluid (among other things).
From what I can see on the receipt they put in ATF +3 fluid. Now, the problem is that
sometimes when I put the tranny in "D" position the car just doesn't move. The tranny
doesn't shift at all. After I rev the engine to ~2k rpm it does shift (brutally) into gear.
I should mention that this happened 2 times so far after the car hasn't been driven
for a day or in coldish weather.
The odd thing is that reverse works fine even when drive won't kick in.

Other then that, the tranny shifts very nice. Is this a sign that there will be more
problems down the road soon?

 

The O ring on the filter may not have been put on correctly (or at all),
they may have used the wrong filter, or they might have knocked the
connecter loose for the PRNDL switch. The latter I actually did on my own
van and until you find it it's a little scary.
Larry

 

The wrong filter is a definite possibility - the Chrysler dealer sold me
the wrong filter for my Concorde ('99 - but same tranny). It looked
almost identical - clamped right into place of the old one - but
fortunately I noticed just before installing the pan that the tube that
mates to the pump was too short to reach.

Also, though it seems obvious, did you check the fluid level?

ATF+3 is what came in your tranny, and should work OK, although Chrysler
recommends that you replace it with ATF+4 - but the ATF+3 would not
cause your problems.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")