my automatic car wont change gear up!

[NiceCold]

my automatic car wont change gear up! i was driving in a freeway while merching and it wont change gear up! i cant speed up! i step the gas all the way and it wont go pass around 35! it was embarrassing for the cars on the back!

the car seems that it dont want to up gear in so fast. it drives fine when going normal street slowly step on gas and it change gears fine but when in freeway when you enter or merching... you gotta speed up but the car wont change gear!

another problem i notice is that when gas is low.... when stepping on gas it sometimes feels like in neutral like going Vro0n vro0n but no speed for a couple second.


can someone define the situation? gotta be something with transmission? how much will it cost to fix? is it a major propblem? is it easy to fix that i can fix it myself? ect....

only got the car for 900 and this problem must be why its so cheap.

 

[SilthDraeth]

Definitely transmission problem. I normally recommend against having transmissions rebuilt, but I am also not a mechanic.

When I had a manual transmission put in a 1990 corolla it cost me around $1500. Just to give you an estimate.

 

[LTC8K6]

Check the fluid level first.

 

[Zenmervolt]

You have obviously paid no attention to the advice we gave you last time, so why should we help you now?

ZV

 

[mmntech]

Check the fluid level first.

Yep. Lot of people don't check their auto fluid. Lot of people don't realize it needs to be changed too.

 

[deadken]

Today's cars are MUCH more sensitive to the specification as the older ones were. If you are going to add fluid or service the trans, be sure to use the proper fluid. It should say on the stick what type it is, if not, check the owners manual. If it is the same Dodge you complained about recently, the wrong fluid type could definitely cause damage.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

You have obviously paid no attention to the advice we gave you last time, so why should we help you now?

ZV

whoa... that was this guy?! Well bowled ZV, well bowled. :golfclap:

 

[phucheneh]

OP, uh, it sounds like your car won't change gear down.

Shot in the dark: it's in limp-in mode (third gear) and you're ignoring a check engine light.

edit: I read the above link and to me this is more of a 'why bother.' The description of the issue is so vague and poorly worded that I would be willing to bet 'your transmission is smoked' is a good verdict.

 

[ballmode]

try a trans flush

 

[Black2na]

Transmission is Junk this is about were effort stops based of last thread of same nature

 

[Meghan54]

Bet he's got the electronic 4 spd. OD trans Chrysler put into many of their cars back then, and those transmissions were horrible junk. The A604/41TE. Cruise over to any Chrysler forum....Allpar for one.....and you'll find numerous complaints about that transmission. To me, sounds like the trans is in limp mode. Needs work.

 

[HarryLui]

Get it fix professionally or junk it.

There is no easy way.

 

[NiceCold]

You have obviously paid no attention to the advice we gave you last time, so why should we help you now?

ZV

wow almost forgot about that thread. as i scan there, advice is same as here, transmission.

auto fluid? i will check that out.

if it gonna cost 1.5 g at repair shop.... not so worth it. i guess i rather research and try to fix it myself.

yes its the same dodge.

OP, uh, it sounds like your car won't change gear down.

Shot in the dark: it's in limp-in mode (third gear) and you're ignoring a check engine light.

edit: I read the above link and to me this is more of a 'why bother.' The description of the issue is so vague and poorly worded that I would be willing to bet 'your transmission is smoked' is a good verdict.

limp mode? how to fix it? how to disable limp mode? whats limp mode?

 

[jagec]

limp mode? how to fix it? how to disable limp mode? whats limp mode?

In layman's terms, "limp mode" means that when something goes wrong with your car, the computer will try to keep things running just well enough to let you drive home without doing any additional damage to the engine or transmission. This is in contrast to the old days, where when something went wrong, it would get worse and worse until you were stranded at the side of the road.

You fix it by taking the car to a competent mechanic who can repair the underlying issue. Once the issue is corrected, the car will no longer be in limp mode.

You don't disable limp mode. If you did, the car would either (a)stop working entirely, or (b)work for a bit until the underlying (unfixed) issue caused further damage, and then the car would (a)stop working entirely.

 

[phucheneh]

I still don't really know what his symptom is.

"Limp-in" mode for a computer controlled transmission usually keeps it in third gear. Can differ depending on the transmission. I think the goal is to use the 1:1 gear.

This means acceleration will be slow, with RPM's creeping up much more slowly than usual, even though the engine sounds healthy (i.e. isn't missing). Top speed will also be limited, but you can generally still achieve highway speeds (~50-60mph) at a fairly reasonable RPM.

Describe your problem in more detail.

When you're idling at a stop light, and you press the accelerator to take off, what happens? Does it feel abnormal?

When you're driving down the road at, say, 40mph, what does the tachometer read? If you floor the gas, do the RPM's jump up suddenly and the car accelerate much more briskly?

What happens when you manually select low gear? Does there appear to be any difference between the 1, 2, and D positions?

 

[NiceCold]

In layman's terms, "limp mode" means that when something goes wrong with your car, the computer will try to keep things running just well enough to let you drive home without doing any additional damage to the engine or transmission. This is in contrast to the old days, where when something went wrong, it would get worse and worse until you were stranded at the side of the road.

You fix it by taking the car to a competent mechanic who can repair the underlying issue. Once the issue is corrected, the car will no longer be in limp mode.

You don't disable limp mode. If you did, the car would either (a)stop working entirely, or (b)work for a bit until the underlying (unfixed) issue caused further damage, and then the car would (a)stop working entirely.

wow thanks for the clarification. i dont even know that! i thought it was some kind of real mode i mean like mode. i dont even know what hot pack is! turns out it was a battery for a remote control boat RC!

I still don't really know what his symptom is.

"Limp-in" mode for a computer controlled transmission usually keeps it in third gear. Can differ depending on the transmission. I think the goal is to use the 1:1 gear.

This means acceleration will be slow, with RPM's creeping up much more slowly than usual, even though the engine sounds healthy (i.e. isn't missing). Top speed will also be limited, but you can generally still achieve highway speeds (~50-60mph) at a fairly reasonable RPM.

Describe your problem in more detail.

When you're idling at a stop light, and you press the accelerator to take off, what happens? Does it feel abnormal?

When you're driving down the road at, say, 40mph, what does the tachometer read? If you floor the gas, do the RPM's jump up suddenly and the car accelerate much more briskly?

What happens when you manually select low gear? Does there appear to be any difference between the 1, 2, and D positions?

first qustion:
it feels like in stickshift car where you dont switch clutch and the engine just vroon vroon when you step on the gas to accelerate but it doesnt accelerate. it only happends for a few second and it happens randomly.

second question:
not sure

third question:
hmmm never pay attention to 1,2 gear but ill check it out.



i just test the car recently down the freeway and it accelerate fine over 35. Last time it refuse to go over 35, how deep i step on the gas it wont go over 35. it seems to happend randomly.


and the car is require to heat up for longer amount of time before running it on the street or else the engine will turn off itself. other cars dont require this much time to heat up. is this normal?