Questioni have a 91 lebaron 3.0 3speed auto. it shifts fine until it warms up then it will only go in 2nd gear ,i cannot manually shift it. it goes in reverse fine but only 2nd foward,i have changed the filter and fluid.when its shut down for a short time it will shift until it warms up again..need help?
AnswerHi Joseph,
That sounds like the behavior of a 4 speed automatic, which has gone into limp-in mode, which the transmission will do to protect itself when it experiences a problem. There is a blue 6-pin connector beehind a small door at the very left hand end of the dash which gives access to both the engine and the transmission controllers' memories by means of a readout box.
An independent transmission shop with a reader and a "data link connector" to mate with the connector under the dash can readout the fault code number(s) stored in the memory that is going to explain what is the problem. It is a two-digit number in the Chrysler system of transmission codes. Make sure that you get the transmission fault codes, not to be confused with those for the engine. Once you get the readout, ask for the numbers, what they mean and what they propose to do. Then write back and we can compare it to the shop manual.
Do check the transmission fluid level to verify it, and if any is needed only use ATF +3 or +4, never Dexron.
This is the logical approach to the problem.
Roland
