AboutRoland Finston Expertise I take questions about domestic Chrysler-product front wheel drive cars and minivans for the years 1982-2000 based upon my experience and shop manuals. I don't have detailed information (e.g. manuals) nor expertise for Jeeps, trucks, SUV's, import vehicles, or for years more recent than 2000.
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Experience I have been a do-it-yourself auto hobbyist for 5 decades, and most recently have been concentrating on the various Chrysler Corporation domestic front wheel drive cars and vans. I have shop manuals and wiring diagrams for many models for the years '83-'00, as well as rear wheel drive cars for the early 80's. I enjoy analyzing problems that other Chrysler enthusiasts are having and sharing my information. <BR><BR><B>Organizations belong to</b><BR>Group co-moderator of the Yahoo autos group The Chrysler LeBaron Club<BR>
Expert: Roland Finston Date: 5/5/2008 Subject: 1999 300M Trouble shifting
Question I have a 1999 Chrysler 300M with 125k miles. After driving for an hour and a half yesterday, I stopped to fill up on gas, and as I got back on the highway, I noticed that the speedometer had stopped registering at all. Then, as I was accelerating up the ramp, the engine was revving higher than I typically hear it, and not shifting. No matter the speed or RPM, no shift seemed to be taking place. I tried putting the car in AutoStick mode, where it identifies as being in 2nd gear, but does not respond to inputs to change into 1st or 3rd. If I decelerate rapidly, the vehicle stalls just before stopping. Upon turning the car off, then starting up again, the AutoStick registers as being in 1st, and during acceleration, there is a noticeable shudder where it moves to 2nd. The stall doesn't happen every time, and when it doesn't, the car seems to stay in 2nd, regardless of being stopped or turned off. My oil, transmission fluid, and coolant levels are normal, and other gauges (fuel, tach, temp) appear to be fine. Shortly after this began, the "Check Engine" light appeared, and when the car stalls (since this started yesterday, has happened 5 times, during 1/5-1/6 of all stops) the Oil Pressure light flashes on, but goes away upon restart. I had a garage run the diagnostic computer against it today, which informed them that the transmission needs replacing/rebuilding. Before committing to that level of work, I wanted to see if there were any other possibilities that result in similar symptoms, and if so, how I could differentiate, or potentially attempt to fix and find out.
Answer Hi Geoff,
The fact that the speedo went out when this all began leads me to suggest that you need to get the specific fault code numbers that they read out as that failure of the speedo tells me that the digital data communication system was not providing information from the transmission output speed sensor to the powertrain controller to body computer to speedometer. This might be the main cause of your problem rather than some sort of internal damage to the transmission. There are a wide variety of 4-digit fault codes and you need to know exactly which one(s) are there. If necessary get another readout at an Autozone parts store (free) or another independent shop. But ask the numbers, what they believe they mean, what are the possible repairs, and how much. Then write back and we can compare that to the shop manual information.
Roland
PS For example it may be a simple failure of the output speed sensor which gives the info for the speedo reading AND for shifting. That is a simple replacement. Your trans is now simply in "limp-in mode" which is a self-protective stance that it assumes to avoid damage. So get the numbers is the bottom line.
