QuestionQUESTION: My daughter has a 1996 Sebring Convertible, 2.5 engine. My husband is a mechanic and has been putting this car back together for her to drive. We recently just got it finished, it seemed everything was fine and it was actually drivable and running great until yesterday. A hose came lose (we noticed it immediately and it was not driven) and leaked out transmission fluid. After tightening it back up and adding fluid, the car drove fine. But last night, it would not shift and was whining. It is reading codes 33, 36, 52, 22, 35, 38 and 12. We are at a loss for how to fix this and what could be wrong. Could you help?
ANSWER: Hi Shari,
I assume that all those codes are about the transmission and were obtained with a code reader of that particular tcm, except the 12 which means the battery was disconnected recently (50-100 key cycles).
These codes may be 'stale' if the battery wasn't connected after the hose came loose and now and reflect the conditions when the trans fluid was low. 52 is a gear ratio error (some sort of slippage), 36 is fault immediately after shift, 38 is lock-up control out range, 33 is od/2-4 hydraulic pressure switch malfunction, and 35 is check ATF fluid level.
So disconnect the battery briefly or erase the codes, check the ATF level, drive it for a bit and then recheck the codes and send me a follow-up question with fresh fault numbers. The list will be much shorter I am certain.
Roland
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QUESTION: Hi Roland, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions so quickly. My husband cleared the codes and we drove it couple of miles and at first it ran fine, then it started again, not shifting (actually nothing, it has no drive, reverse, or low), until it catches back up and gets back into gear for a few. We did manage to get it back home. After checking it again, now the codes read 33, 21, 22, 54 and 35.
AnswerHi Shari,
The 35 code persistence is the first to deal with because it says there is insufficient pressure in the system. The fluid level could be too low/too high, the filter could be clogged, an 0-ring missing, or a malfunction of the trans fluid cooler.
The others may be due to the 35 or specific cause as listed below:
21 and 22 are about the pressure switches evidentally not causing pressure at 2 of the clutches which could be due to 35 or problems with the wiring to the pressure switch solenoids or the solenoids themselves.
33 (described in my first answer) could be due to 35 or a pressure switch problem in not responding
54 is a gear ratio error which typically is ascribed to an internal problem with the 4th gear (like the earlier 52) and would typically say a rebuild is required...but hopefully not.
With all these codes, I would look at why the 35 and try and eliminate that, then see what is left and try to deal with those that might be due to the solenoid pack (solenoids and pressure swtiches) and usually solved by replacing the solenoid pack. Then see if the gear ratio codes are still present which if so would require the rebuild (but at least the parts you put in are going to be used after that).
Roland
