tranny problems

I have a 91 plymouth voyager that "jumps" out of gear while driving, or
won't stay in gear. When it "jumps" out of gear, excuse the fact I'm
female and probably are not using the correct terminology, the rpm's go up
to about 3 and it won't shift any more. I turn the key of and it will be
ok. Now it's taking alot more of the, "stop, turn key off, cross my
fingers, before it will shift. Anybody out there ever experience this and
could be of some help???? Thanks!!

 

It may not be "jumping out of gear", but rather going into "limp" mode
and shifting into second gear. If this is the case, and even if it
isn't, you need to get the van to a competent dealer or mechanic to
check the transmission codes.


Matt

 

Yes, this is a common symptom of problems on this van. How much
assistance do you want from this group beyond "take it to a dealer"?
Do you want some advice as to what might be the problem?

If so, we need to know the following:

1) What size is the engine in this van? If you don't know open the
hood and look at the top of the engine it is printed right there.

2) What is the mileage on this van?

3) Open the hood and look at the firewall of the van near the top right
(ie: the passenger side) You will see a rectangular box with a big fat
bundle of wires in a cable going to a plug that is screwed into the
front of this box. This is the transmission computer. Looking at the
left side of this box, is it smooth or are there cooling fins there?

Ted

 

Matt, Thanks for replying. Didn't even know there were such things as
transmission codes. Betty

 

Thanks for the great information. Cool It's much too late to go check
those things out now but will do so first thing in the morning!! Off the
top of my head I think it's 3.3, been under the hood, cause had to replace
a few majors items. Miles.. 27.000 plus. BUT the person I got the van from
had the trans. rebuilt last July. I say rebuilt but I was not there so, you
knows. But I do know at that time it was using fluid and finally had no
gears at all. Did not act anything like this shift now and than stuff. I
wondered about a computer. Had no idea there was a separate one just for
the transmission. I'm a chevy person. Kind of inherited this van and know
nothing about it, except it's very needed. I noticed you wrote,, common
systom of PROBLEMS. I'm finding that out. Yeah, I sure would like some
advice as to the problem. I had somewhat of a lead foot, when I was
younger and messed up some transmissions. When they quit shifting, they
quit shifting. I called a tow truck and walked home. So I can't understand
the driving in town or on I95 for 300, 500, 700 miles and it shifts fine.
Then, it does what I mentioned. I know this is going to sound, girly, BUT,
how bad can something be if it shift just fine when it's shifting?? That's
the part I don't understand. Thanks again. Betty

 

Just about everything in modern cars has a computer attached to it.


Matt

 

Betty,

Most of the time this symptom is caused by a bad electrical sensor that is
providing essential information to the transmission computer. Since the
transmission computer does not know something it needs to know, like the
engine revolutions per second, or the speed of the car, it reverts to the
limp home mode and goes into second gear.

Do you lose your speedometer too when this happens? If so, then it would
almost certainly point toward the output speed sensor. If no, then it might
indict the input (engine revolutions) speed sensor. Both are fairly cheap
and easy fixes.

The key thing here is to take the van to someone you trust since they could
try to screw you for a rebuild for a $80 fix. Also, these transmissions
require fluid and filter changes about every 30K miles. Do this and it will
last a good long time. Make absolutely certain that whoever does the change
uses Chrysler fluid only. This is ATF+3 or ATF+4 depending on the year of
the vehicle.

Bob

 

Betty,

Most of the time this symptom is caused by a bad electrical sensor that is
providing essential information to the transmission computer. Since the
transmission computer does not know something it needs to know, like the
engine revolutions per second, or the speed of the car, it reverts to the
limp home mode and goes into second gear.

Do you lose your speedometer too when this happens? If so, then it would
almost certainly point toward the output speed sensor. If no, then it might
indict the input (engine revolutions) speed sensor. Both are fairly cheap
and easy fixes.

The key thing here is to take the van to someone you trust since they could
try to screw you for a rebuild for a $80 fix. Also, these transmissions
require fluid and filter changes about every 30K miles. Do this and it will
last a good long time. Make absolutely certain that whoever does the change
uses Chrysler fluid only. This is ATF+3 or ATF+4 depending on the year of
the vehicle.

Bob

 

Hey Bob,

Do you think that her symptoms could be caused by the wrong fluid? I
know the symptoms I've seen from the wrong fluid in a friend's van, but
there could be others. She said somebody worked on it last year. Maybe
it's that simple?

 

Since you asked me: In my opinion, I do not think this problem is the fluid.
Typically the wrong fluid will be noticeable in shifts before the
transmission fails from the improper fluid and the additional burden that
was placed on it from transmission shudder.

I was just warning her that the fluid needs to be replaced periodically and
that she needs to make sure when she does it gets the right stuff. Betty's
problem is likely a sensor, but without a transmission computer scan it's
hard to say for sure.

Bob

 

Since you asked me: In my opinion, I do not think this problem is the fluid.
Typically the wrong fluid will be noticeable in shifts before the
transmission fails from the improper fluid and the additional burden that
was placed on it from transmission shudder.

I was just warning her that the fluid needs to be replaced periodically and
that she needs to make sure when she does it gets the right stuff. Betty's
problem is likely a sensor, but without a transmission computer scan it's
hard to say for sure.

Bob

 

This couldn't be 27,000 miles in that old of a van, it is probably 127,000
miles. Even so, that's not a lot for a '91 van, that is only 9000 miles a
year,
the average yearly mileage someone drives in the United States is 14,000 a
year.

I wonder if someone has screwed around with the odometer?

Do you have receipts? If so, pick up the telephone and call the rebuilder.
All of them warranty rebuild jobs for 12 months at the minimum, some for
longer. Generally these warranties are not transferable to a new owner so
don't make a big deal about the fact that your a different owner. With a
little
luck you might get it fixed for free.

Transmissions don't "use" fluid. They aren't like an engine where there's
internal combustion going on inside. If their fluid level is going down it
is
because there's a leak. If it was leaking for a long while what this means
is the previous owner was a lazy-ass or too much a cheapskate to get
a simple seal, like the pan gasket, fixed, instead preferring to dump
unknown kind of fluid in the trans periodically.

That is very hard on transmissions - they use the fluid for cooling and
not having enough fluid in the transmission is one of the quickest ways
to make it overheat.

Aren't you familiar with the 700R4 chevy transmission then? In 1993
Chevy redid this transmission and added a computer and named it the
4L60E. It's been used in many Chevy products. It's the same idea as
the Chrysler transmission - using a computer to control shift points.

Ted

 

Well my 1993 3.3 did this when it went into third, my $800CDN plus tax
turned into $1500. The guy told me that with the miles on the van and
from looking at it that some others things most likely would be
needing changing 6 months or so down the road so, I had it done.