QuestionSince it got cold now my Voyager 98 3.3l Automatic front wheel drive acts up.
Istart the van and than I either set it on R or D an I can drive but only as lond
as I stay on the gaspedal, otherwise as soon as I lift my food of the pedal it
jumps out of gear and even if I stop and set it back to P and than again to
Either D or R it will not engage, I have to wait a little bit and than it seems
that the clutch puts in the gear I selected but in the dashboard it shows at all
times the selected gear - I dorve to two diffrent Chrysler dealer but noone
seems to know what the real problem is. Can you help and assist in this
manner?
Thanks Dag
AnswerHi Dag,
It might be something mechanical, but before that I would work on the hydraulic pressure issue (too low) that might be causing a shifting in and out. Make sure the fluid level in the trans is correct. Then, it could be that the filter in the trans is clogged and needs to be changed which will also cause a need to put in about 4-5 quarts of new fluid. When the pan is dropped ask them to check for any significant amounts of debris in the pan which would be a sign of some mechanical damage. Absent that, the new filter and refill might correct it. If not then cleaning the hydraulic valve body is the next step.
Whenever new fluid is added make sure it is ATF +4 and never use a Dexron fluid.
The one thing that would be of diagnostic help would be to get a readout of the fault codes that may be stored in the engine or transmission controller. There are 4-digit numbers that may give us some direction on the problem. So see if you can get that done at an Autozone parts store for free or for around $40 at an independent shop. There is a plug under the dash near the steering column into which a code reader is plugged to do the readout. Let me know the number, what they say it means, and what they recommend doing. Then we can check that against the manual.
Roland
