Chrysler Repair: 97 T and C Transmission: wont go forward, 4 digit numbers, fault code reader

Question
After putting my van into drive, the motor kept running but it was like the van shifted out of gear. I finally got it to go in reverse. I have had a leak for sometime now. I constantly checked it to make sure the levels were OK. I do have over 200K miles on the van. Do I need a new transmission? Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Bryan,
Chances are at 200,000 miles your a running on 'borrowed time'. You may be able to get a self-diagnosis using the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the odometer window to see if the mileage reading changes to show one or more 4-digit numbers that may be related to the fault that is causing the transmission problem. If that doesn't happen then try it again and instead watch the check engine light to see if begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. and count how many flashes you get between each pause. Those will only tell you about engine problems if that is what happens, not transmission problems as it was just the phase out of that method that was going on in '97. If you don't get four digit numbers on the odometer, then you will need to get it to a shop or an Autozone parts store to get a readout with a plug-in fault code reader. A shop would charge around $40, a nationwide auto parts store will do it for free.
The code readout is the best way to get a handle on what has gone wrong.
Roland
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