QuestionI have a 1994 LHS Chrysler. When I first start my car up and put it in drive, I have no power indicating which gear I am in, what speed I am driving or how much gas I have on the Dash. Sometimes while I am driving the car automatically throws me into low gear even though the gear shift on the floor is in drive. that is when everything on the dash lights up. I then put the car in neutral and back in drive and it goes back to the correct gear. Sometimes days pass by before the power for the gear lights up on the dash to indicate which gear I am in, or how much gas is in the car and the speed I am driving, but the gear on the floor is shift in drive. This happens all the time.
Yolanda
AnswerHi Yolanda,
It sounds to me that what you have there is what we call in the engineering world a "common mode failure" where several different parts of the car are having problems because of one aspect of the system being flakey. The aspect in question is the vehicle communications system, also known as the "CCD bus" in your '94 vehicle. Fortunately there is a Chrysler shop manual for '94 on this very system (I have a copy) and if you go to a high quality Chrysler dealership repair department they will have a copy of the manual, a diagnostic tool called a DRB II (diagnostic readout box "2", I have that too) and a competent electronic repair technician who is familiar with both (I won't make any claims about myself as far as that goes).
Basically it sounds like the system is failing intermittantly. It might be simply due to a loose/flakey fuse that supplies power to the system or some other loose connection in the wiring or a flakey component. But the manual and the tool will lead a competent mechanic quickly to the reason. You could check the fuses under the dash on the driver's side, and also the fuses in the power distribution box under the hood next to the battery to see if any of them are loose in their socket or show any subtle sign of a crack in the internal wire of the fuse which might be opening and closing the fuse spontaneously as it heats and cools. That is what I would do first. Then I would talk to the service manager, with a copy of my response in hand, and see if he seems to agree/make any sense of what I have reported to you. It would be necessary for the system to be in misbehaving mode when you bring it to the shop, otherwise the mechanic may not be able to find why it is so-doing.
The transmission is going briefly into what is called limp-in mode for what appears to be the same reason because its control system is also part of the CCD. So don't let anybody "sell" you on the possibility that the transmission itself is faulty. Rather it is the CCD from what you describe to me.
It should not be a bottomless pit of cost to solve this one, just the use of the tool, the manual, and a competent mechanic. So I would not authorize a fishing trip without limit, but rather see how you feel about the manager and then set some limit (say an hour) on how much time you want them to spend on this. Then maybe check another Chrysler shop similarly, or let the first have a go at it, and if they don't accomplish anything with the amount of time you authorize them to spend then take it elsewhere. It will no doubt have to be done by Chrysler because the knowledge of the specifics of the system and the manual and the tool are not likely to be possessed by a general repair shop.
So give the fuses a look just in case that might be the issue. Then take if from there. Let me know what happens so I learn too from your experience. Best of luck, and now you have some idea of how to approach it.
Roland
