QuestionHi, I have had a few problems with my car lately. A few months ago I had to take it to a transmission place and he said it just needed a sensor replaced. After that it ran fine again. Then it started cutting out again. I checked the transmission fluid & it was full. I added some kind of transmission fluid that is supposed to help your car if it's slipping. The car worked great that weekend. Then it started messing up again. I took it back to the trans. man and he said that the diagnostics showed the trans was fine. A few weeks later and it's now messing up again, but worse. This weekend it seemed to kind of sputter while driving on the highway. This was late Christmas eve and then again early Christmas morning. It was very cold outside. Christmas afternoon while driving back it seemed to run a lot smoother. And it was a bit warmer outside. On the way to work this morning was the worst that it has ever been. Going on the highway all of a sudden the car kind of surged forward, the rpms raced to 5 then the speed fell. I didn't try to push it hard as I had a ways to go before getting to work and was worried if I would damage something. I stayed between 40-50 mph. It still kept seeming like it wanted to cut out & the rpms would race occasionally. At this time, I just can not afford a diagnostic test. Does it sound like it might be the transmission after all? Is there anything else that I should check?
Maybe I should mention that my heater went out so a friend replaced the thermostat. However, I still don't have heat. The problem seems to be the hose going into the car and as that is under the dashboard I'm just out of luck with that! I just didn't know if it was important to know that.
Thank you so much for any kind of help you can give me.
AnswerHi Toni,
I am not certain whether it is the trans or not. Watch to see if when the engine races does the speedometer follow suit or is the engine/transmission interface slipping so that one changes and the other doesn't.
It would be good to see if you have any problems with the engine using the on-board diagnostics: My suggestion would be to see if the engine controller has stored any fault codes in its memory that would give a clue as to what is the cause. Use the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing this in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the check engine light which remains 'on' to begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat the process to make sure you have the counts correct. Then group the counts in pairs to form the two-digit numbers that are the fault codes. The last number is always 55 which is the code for 'end of readout'. Then either write back for direction, or go to www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html for a translation of the code numbers.
The specific action to take is not always clear, so let me know what you find.
On the transmission code readout, be aware that the readout is done by a separate plug that is under the dash and that you can't get fault codes from the trans computer any other way than by a plug-in reader. So the trans repair person has to get the codes from that blue plug under the dash behing the fuse box door. On the fluid issue, I would not want to add anything other than Chrysler brand transmission fluid to these units because they a temperamental about that.
The hoses for the heater are attached to nipples that protrude thru the firewall, so if there is a problem with the hose it can be dealt with from the engine side of the firewall. After you have driven the car and tried to get heat try touching the two hoses that supply the heater. They should be very similar in temperature. If not, then there may be crud in the heater core which you might be able to clear out by reverse flusing the core with a garden hose attached to the nipple of the colder side, after removing both hoses. If they are equally hot, then there is a problem with how the air is being diverted inside the box under the dash.
Roland
