QuestionI seem to have a combination issue. I have a 96 plymouth voyager. while driving, all of a sudden the van lurched forward as if someone had hit me from behind. I drove another 50 miles and when I came to a stop, it wouldn't go forward or backward. After playing with the gears, it was able to drive forward again. When I got home, it won't go back or forth. Later it was able to move without a prob. I was of the thought maybe my trans died, but it keeps moving so I'm confused. To add in the mix, there have been times while I'm driving, only with the AC on does this happen, it will die if I am not moving fast.I will have to restart it and then it goes without a hitch. Are these two related? What seems to be the issue? Thanks in advance..
AnswerHi Theresa,
There may be a connection between the two problems: too low an engine idle speed which results in too low pressure of the fluid in the trans that is driven by an internal pump. But I would first check the transmission fluid level by examining the trans dipstick on located on the side of the trans that faces the fron of the van. Do this with the engine warmed, idling in neutral or park. Add only Chrysler fluid if needed vis the dipstick tube. Don't overfill.
On the engine idle, the most efficient way to diagnose is to do a readout of fault codes. I would try to readout the engine controller memory for fault codes which would tell us whether it has noticed something wrong which would give us direction as to why it won't idle properly.
Take the ignition key and turn it:"on-off-on-off-on and leave it
on" doing that in an elapsed time of 5 seconds or less. I mean by
'on' just to the place where the key sits when the engine is
running and you are going down the road.
Then watch the 'check engine' light which remains 'on' when the
key is in the run position but the engine isn't running. Soon it
will start to flash, pause, flash, pause, etc. Count the number of
flashes before each pause and keep track of those. Then do the
key trick again to repeat the process and thus verify that you
have the numbers accurately. Then group the numbers in pairs
in the order that they occured to form two digit numbers which
are the fault codes. The last such number will be 55 which is the
code for "end of readout". Then either write me back and tell me
the other numbers for further advice and/or go to
www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html where you can find a list of what
the codes mean. When you write back tell me which engine you
have, if it isn't the 3.0L V-6 and also tell me if the car originally
was delivered in California or Canada so I know how its pollution
equipment is set up. Then I'll be in a position to tell you how to improve this problem.
Roland
