Transmission ?

I noticed over last few days my car when is cold is running much higher RPM
before changes gears then used to do.
I checked transmission fluid and it is hard to say if level is right because
there are air bubbles in it.
After vehicle warms up gear shifting is smooth .Transmission fluid looks a
little dirty (probably never changed ) , but I am a little afraid to change
it with this mileage.
Any idea what's wrong?

Chuck
Plymouth Acclaim 92 , 3.0L , 3speed electronic Trans. , 260K km.

 

I know what way to check if the fluid is bad or so I read. I still changed
my fluid and filter. Put a drop on a paper towel. If it does not bleed
or spread, the fluid is really bad. Mine did spread but I changed it anyway,
including an OEM filter. Just don't FLUSH or whatever nonsense - do an
old-fashioned drop the pan, drain, and change the filter. You need to look
at what's cooking inside there, just ordinary sludge or bits of metal.
You could luck out with just an adjustment or it's another problem.
But again, no power flushing, nothing but gravity I think should be okay?
Also I had the 'tranny 'puter reprogrammed for the tranny.
Check the engineering bulletins too.

However I'm not a mechanic, nor do I play one, except on holidays.

 

How do you reprogram the tranny? I have a strange problem with my
trasmission on my 99 T&C. When I accelarate past 40 MPH the RMPs race
and I loose power for a second. Over a month ago I had something else
strange happen. When I would start it up the RPMs and speedometer would
stay at zero. After restarting they worked fine. I thought that this
was probably a bad speed sensor. So last week I finally got around to
replacing both input and output sensors, the filter & oil, and I even
added a tanny cooler (I am planning to use this vehicle to pull a tent
triler). So after all that I still have the problem with the racing
RPMs at 40 MPH. I haven't had any problems with the speedometer for
over a month and I really don't expect to see it since I replaced the
sensors. I was just hoping that replacing the sensors would have also
fixed the first problem too. So now I am wondering if resetting the
trans computer might fix this. Can anyone tell me how to do that?

Rick
99 Chrysler Town & Country 3.8 ~80K

 

Top-posting to yours, and to mine, so it's getting to be a bit of mess:

I did not post before because I hoped someone else would respond
who might know more than my original post because I am not familiar
with your particular car and problem but have some info on computers.

On the internet, you can find procedures for reprogramming the computer
after a battery dis-connect sort of thing. This is basically stopping and
starting the car about 20 times and accelerating this way or that.
But this is just so the car learns your driving habits. I have found the
procedure on the 'net. Supposedly it is necessary. Look around.
I could not find a URL for you just now but I have read it here and
there. Go to Allpar.Com if you can't find anything. It's a web site
dedicated to Chrysler problems and have helped me a lot at times.
They also have a large section on tranny problems.

In my car which has an electronic transmission, there is an actual
TCM or tranny computer with a firmware chip. A dealer or a super
tranny guy can reprogram the chip or EEPROM, most likely.
This is not something you can do without, I think. Maybe your
car is newer but you would need equipment to read an EEPROM.
Eraseable Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory

In my case, the tranny was reprogrammed and a shudder went
away because the old programming had the upshifting going too
slowly. This was in the TSB the Technical Service Bulletins.
There maybe be TSB's for your car and/or tranny.

The dealer can also read your tranny's computer, if you have one,
to see if you have the latest firmware. You might want to ask
if this is a known problem. The dealers get tons of this info
some of which may be hard for the independent mechanics to
also get. It's not in the interest of the dealers to share, according
to some complaints I have read from the mechanics. Talking about
reprogramming computers to anyone but the dealer has been
a waste of time, except for extremely high-end independent mechanics,
who probably charge as much as dealers, Mercedes-Benz types.