Chrysler Repair: transmission, chrysler town and country, chrysler brand

Question
1996 chrysler town and country

i was driving about 35 mph, for about 10 minutes.  the car
suddenly stalled.  well, actually, the engine was still
running, it was like it went into neutral.  the oil light came
on, but I just had an oil change last week, and haven't
noticed a leak.  i turned the car off and back on again.  it
started  just fine, but wouldn't go anywhere.  Is this a
transmission problem?

Answer
Hi Crystal,
As long as the oil light went off and hasn't come back on when the engine is running you are safe to operate the engine, but just in case you should check the oil level in the engine using the dip stick.
Now if the engine is running normally but the wheels won't run when the transmission is in drive (D) then you have a transmission problem. THe possible causes are very numberous ranging from something simple like not having sufficient transmission fluid all the way to internal damage requiring a rebuild. I would start by checking the transmission fluid level (it also has a dip stick, like the engine and it is centered in the transmission so you should see it under the hood on the driver's side of the van). See if the fluid is visible on the dipstick (wipe off the dipstick, then insert it all the way down and pull it back out and look.) If there is none visible, get some Chrysler brand transmission fluid from a Chrysler dealer and using a funnel add fluid until the level reaches the "add" mark on the dipstick. Then start the engine with the transmission in neutral and listen for any abnormal noise. If there is no abnormal noise, then put it in drive and see if it moves. If it doesn't move, then put the emergency brake on but leave it in drive and look under the car to see if it appears that either drive shaft is rotating, and if one is moving and the other isn't then you have a broken drive shaft (fairly unlikely but look nonetheless). If the neither drive shaft rotates, then it is time to tow the van to a dealer and have the pans on the transmission removed and the fluid drained. The mechanic should look for the absence or presence of mechanical debris in the pans. If none, then the problem may just be some dirt or sludge in the valve body which can be removed at that time, cleaned and reinstalled with a new filter and then refilled with fluid to see if that repairs the problem (which would be due to too low fluid pressure to operate the transmission properly, the pressures should be measured after the valve body is cleaned to see if they are o.k.). If the pressures are o.k. then road test to see if the transmission is normal. If there was found to be a significant amount of debris in the pans then it may well indicate mechanical damage that requires a rebuild. This is a very expensive repair (over $1,000 maybe up to $1800) so I would want to always eliminate the possibility that it cannot be fixed by cleaning the valve body. Also with this transmission there is an electronic control unit that records manfunctions. These are stored as codes. You can request a code readout and interpretation of what they mean. That might cost $50-75 and would be helpful in deciding what to do next. If you can't be shown an interpretation of the codes' meanings, write down what the code numbers are and get back to me for an interpretation. So take your time, don't be panicked into a rebuild until a methodical approach such as I have described is undertaken.
Roland