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Followup To
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My son has a 1995 Chrysler Cirrus LXI. The transmission exploded last winter and told him I would help him put another on in this summer. He bought a transmission from a local savlage company. After a few weekends we replaced the one that exploded with the othee. In the final install we found the wiring harness would not fit the 1996 transmission. The transalxe range swith and the park/neutral switches have seperate plugs coming from the wiring harness to the transmission, but the transmission has the two switches combined on the 1996 trnasmission. Is there any hope for getting this transmission work?
Answer -
Hi David,
I have the wiring diagrams for the '96 but not the '95 Cirrus. They are quite detailed so at least we know what the replacement trans was connected to earlier. I would say that if the color coding of the wires to the single plug as compared to the two separate plugs is identical then that issue could be resolved by getting the plug from the '96 if it is still on the vehicle which you removed it from and splicing the wires on your '95's harness into the plug for the '96. Chrysler engineering is pretty careful to sustain a traceable/consistent color coding for their wires from year to year if there is not a basic rethinking of the entire system in question. So if you can go back to the yard and retrieve the plug that you need and if the wires are an identical set between the two vehicles then I would try splicing the single plug in place of the two plug set up. If you will tell me about the number of pins and color of the plug and the wire color codes on the '96 I can tell you what those wires are supposed to connect to. I wish I also had the '95 to compare it with. If you have the '95 diagrams I can xerox and snail mail you a copy of the '96 diagrams.
Another issue is of course whether there were other changes in the wiring for '96 as compared to '95, even though the plugs match up. Again a check of the wires would be in order. But if you have gone this far, why not try to sort out the wiring problem and then road test it?
Roland
Roland,
We got the wiring diagrams for both and tried to match everything up. The car starts and we low and reverse but it won't shift out of low. Any Idea what might keep this from shifting?
Answer -
Hi David,
This running in only one forward gear (actually 2nd) is called limp-in mode. The best way to find out why is to have the fault code(s) stored in the trans controller read out. There are about 45 different codes, of which about 25 will put the car into limp in. So finding out which of the 25 is the cause is the starting point of determing whether the issue is hydraulic or electrical control (repairable without dismantling the trans) or internal mechanical (which requires removal and internal repair). In buying an electronic axle from a wrecking yard it would be desirable to have an option to return it if it won'r work without being rebuilt, so I hope you have that condition spelled out with the salvage yard in case that is what you find. So I'd go to a Chrysler dealer or independent shop and have them plug in a code reader to the port under the dash and find out what the code number is, what they interpret the cause of the problem, how much to fix it. Then if you want to verify, feel free to write back to me. You might get them to give you credit for the cost of the readout applied to the repair bill if you go forward with that
Roland
Roland,
First I want to thank you for your help. Your input was very helpful. After a lot of thought and debate, we changed the speed sensor and the transmissions is working great. I have a very proud son who has a great deal more confidence about working cars. He stuck with it unitl he figured it out. You played a big part in it and once again, THANK YOU!
David
AnswerHi David,
You are welcome! Hitting the speed sensor as the issue was truly fortuitous. I would have been a bit reluctant to buy a new one without having a code or an electrical measurement of its output to give me some confidence to make the investment. Was there any basis that you and he used to choose to do that? I would learn from your experience if that were the case. So let me know. If it was just chance, then so be it. I hope the car gives him good service.
Roland
