Is my transmission dying?

[VinylxScratches]

If I leave my car for an extended period I have a weird issue.

Say I come home around 8:00 PM. Around 12 or so in the morning, I have to go somewhere using my car. I turn the car on, go into reverse, pull out of the driveway, then put it in drive and hit the gas. When I hit the gas, there is no power for a second. Then the car kicks in and drives.

This only happens when the car has been sitting for 8 plus hours. If I turn the car off for a couple hours and then go drive again, I don't have any issues.

It's a 2002 Dodge Neon. I had a bad solenoid for I don't even know how many miles but I lost a lot of fluid and had to keep filling it. I only get 65000 miles on this sucker

EDIT: I checked the fluid and it's full.

 

[boomerang]

My experiences with Automatic Transmissions are very limited. I don't know if it's correct to say that it's dying, but I would have it looked at. It sounds like a pressure problem to me. It goes into reverse right away, so, my first impression is that the problem lies in the valve body.

But, don't go by what I say, because I'm really not sure. I would have it looked at soon. It may be a small problem now, but could balloon into a bigger problem if ignored. By problem, I mean $.

 

[amdhunter]

Torque Converter going out? Did you check your transmission fluid?

 

[radioouman]

I'll bet that it is the solenoid pack on the front of the transmission. Otherwise, it is the valve body inside the transmission.

 

[VinylxScratches]

What is a solenoid pack? I had it replaced because it was leaking before.

Something I did today. I put it in reverse, put it in neutral for 3 seconds, then put it in drive and it went fine. What is a valve body? Sounds like it will be hard to get to.

Trans fluid is fine like I said above.

 

[Jeff7181]

Have you ever had a full service done on your transmission? If not, that could be helpful at 65k miles. Depending on the shop, this can mean different things. At the very least they'll drain the fluid from the pan and replace the filter. At the very most, they'll back-flush the transmission cooler using a pump to replace nearly all the transmission fluid, including what's in the torque converter (a standard drain of the pan and filter change doesn't do this) as well as replace the filter and possibly even partially disassemble the valve body and replace the separator plate and a few balls & springs.

*EDIT* A relatively low tech way to see if a transmission is damaged or excessively worn is to smell the transmission fluid. Warm it up so it's at operating temp, pull out the dipstick and smell the fluid. If you have some slipping clutches or bands, the fluid will smell very similar to toast.

 

[radioouman]

The solenoid pack is mounted on the front of the transmission on your car.
I'll bet that your transmission is just taking a while to build up fluid pressure.

The valve body is inside the transmission and it is not hard to get to. Pull the pan and then take out many bolts to drop it. But, I wouldn't recommend doing this yourself. I recommend taking it to a Chrysler dealer to have them put it on their diagnostic equipment so that they can tell you what's wrong. (This isn't just some code scanner. They can watch all of the pressures inside the transmission and tell you exactly where the failure is and what needs to be replaced to fix it. You will have to take it to a Chrysler dealer to get this kind of diagnostic.)

The solenoid pack (control solenoid) is available from Rockauto for $108. It is literally a couple bolts, a big electrical connector or two and a gasket. It is on the front of the transmission so it is fairly easy to get to. But I would still have it diagnosed properly first, and also I would strongly consider OEM parts for the transmission rather than aftermarket.

 

[bctbct]

I have this same problem on a 05 dodge PU. I have driven it 60k miles since it started and numerous parts have been changed by dodge. Never have been able to determine the cause.