Chrysler Repair: 97 cirrus with trans air cooler, cv joints, couple issues

Question
Roland has been helping me with my questions, but I see he is maxed out... I have been having a couple issues with my 97 cirrus. My latest issue is my transmission. It went from being fine one day to me driving down the road, and it started acting like it was shifting between gears, to not shifting at all. Now that it's at the repair shop they think it may have water in the transmission. I didn't have a dipstick in it (I was not aware it was missing until yesterday) we checked the fluid level it is fine, cv joints are fine, linkage is fine, and it is engaging, although the noise you usually hear when it is engaging I do not hear. They said once water gets in the transmission it's useless to do a fluid change...... the transmission is shot. Is this true? Also what are your thoughts on my heating issue, are you able to see my earlier posts?
Answer:   I found this in the 'pool' to which Kevin had referred it.
Let me know about any fault codes.
I hadn't heard about the water issue. Try changing out the transmission fluid entirely (power flush to remove it all so as to get rid of ALL the water), if there is truly water there. Then with all new fluid see whether it will run again.
But still, get the fault codes. It may be that the internal pump of the transmission needs replacement or something other than a total rebuild/replacement which is probably more than the vehicled is worth.
On the heat, are both of the hoses that go through the firewall about equally hot? If so, then if that is true and the blend air/temp door cable is connected then about the only reason you aren't getting heat is because the lever on the door paddle may not be connected to the paddle though but that you would notice when you were doing the cable reconnection. The only other reason would be there is no air flowing through the system and that would be the case if you had leaves/debris blocking in the air intake which is located under the grille in front of the windshield. Remove the grille screws (open the hood for access to them and then remove it. Check the air intake opening at the far right side (passenger side) to see if it is stuffed up.
Roland
PS Sorry for the delay but I just found this in the Pool.

Now I am told that my trans air cooler went bad, sucked antifreeze into the transmission, so now it is shot!!!!! Does this make sense?? They said it would have to be rebuilt or replaced, along with the radiator. That is why I have to heat as well........

Answer
Hi Missy,
If there is coolant in the transmission fluid it would look differently than normal (clear reddish normally, but if coolant got into it then it would be cloudy/milky and foamy I would believe). So take a look at the fluid on the dipstick to see if it looks to be other than transparent reddish/brownish in color and if so then unless some rain got into the missing dipstick hole the theory of of the leak between the engine coolant and the transmission fluid that happened in the radiator is plausible. The engine coolant should likewise show cloudiness/foam from the reverse flow of transmission fluid getting into the otherwise clear orange or green coolant in the radiator. The break in the internal tubing should be detectable by pressurizing the trans coolant part of the radiator to see if it holds air or not so that would be aother way to test this hypothesis.
The two fluids do come in close proximity (separated by metal tubing) in the radiator proper and if the tubing leaks what they are telling you can happen. Was the radiator replaced in the recent past? If so, then the manufacturer/installer of that radiator would be responsible for the damage and you could seek restitution. If the radiator is original, then the failure is from age or original manufacturing weakness in 1997.
So go to the shop and ask them to show you the transmission fluid and the radiator coolant to verify what I believe you should see is true or not. If so, then unfortunately you are faced with deciding whether to sink probably $2,000 into a rebuilt transmission/replacement radiator or not. If the engine is still good, etc you might be able to sell the car for parts or consider trying to find a good used transmission and install it alond with a used radiator, for example.
Please let me know what you learn and what you do. Best of luck!
Roland
PS Kevin bounced your question back to me via the 'pool'.