QuestionQUESTION: Last year around this time my transmission started to jerk when you would first start the car and put it into drive it would stall for a second then jerk to start, after a while of doing that it would lag to change gears. At that point i brought my car into a transmission specialist and he changed the fuses. After he did that i had no problems with the vehicle for 4 months then one day it stopped changing gears again, but if i turned the vehicle off then back on it would work then the very next day it stopped shifting gears all together. Do you have any idea what would cause this? Also, how often do u have to change the transmission fluid and transmission filter? I bought the car 2.5 years ago and have never changed either. Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated Thanks
ANSWER: Hi Bethany,
If this is a Chrysler product, and it sound like it has an electronic transmission, thne what you need to do is get a fault code readout from the transmission controller memory. That can be done often for free at a nationwide parts store such as Autozone. Ask for the 4-digit fault codes that are found in the memory. Ask what they mean, what they recommend doing. Then write back and tell me the year/make/model/engine and also tell me the fault code numbers. Then we can go on from that point to figure out what to do. I wouldn't change anything until you get a fault code readout and we determine what is going wrong. Make sure that you have sufficient fluid in the transmission using the dipstick on the transmission and if you need to add fluid only use ATF+4 type fluid and add it via the dipstick tube. Don't overfill it.
Roland
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QUESTION: its a 2000 chrysler sebring lxi. we did not try the on-off-on-off-on method but we will try it tomorrow. The car wont turn on to read the fault codes on the machine. we tried to turn on the engine after and dad said he felt the pump moving but it wasnt pumping any gas into the hose to the engine. we bought two new pumps to see if maybe it was just the first one that didnt work but then the second one did the same thing.
AnswerHi Bethany,
Do the 'on-off-on-off-on and leave on' in 5 seconds or less. Then watch the check engine light, which remains 'on', to see it begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat to be sure of an accurate set of counts. Then tell me the counts and we'll go from there. Don't focus on the fuel pump until we get the counts and ideally a 'trouble code' that tell exactly what is wrong.
Roland
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