Expert: Roland Finston - 8/31/2011

Question
Thanks so much in advance for your advice!  We have a recently acquired T&C lxi with about 155,000 on it.  The other day while driving we noticed a sort of dead spot, or stutter in the shifting of the van going up hill, as though it didn't now whether to go from gear to gear, or it couldn't.  We have noticed this two or three times so far.  

Yesterday after putting the van in drive, but still braking (getting my shades on) the van did nothing, then suddenly made a pretty good clunk into gear.  About .3 miles down the road the engine light came on, and then it wouldn't shift out of 2nd gear I'm assuming.  It was at about 3000rpm going 40mph.  

When we pulled the code it read PO700 and P1776.  Which I have gathered from other posts could potentially be a solenoid on the transmission?  Would you advise replacing the solenoid, or is there something we could do to narrow down whether this is truly a transmission rebuild situation, or whether the solenoid is causing the problem...  I'd really appreciate your advice as to what might be the best course of action.

Thanks again,

Paula

Answer
Hi Paula,
Hi Paula,
That 1776 code appears to be quite specific to the low-reverse solenoid switch valve which is located in the 'valve body' portion of the transmission. It is serviceable without removing the transmission from the vehicle or major dismantling. The oil pan below the valve is dropped and the fluid collected and then the valve body-solenoid pack is removed and the switch valve serviced. It is not involved with the 'solenoid pack' although the word solenoid is involved in both areas that are adjacent to one another. Absent any other codes there is no reason to do anything other than to service the l-r valve. It is a much less extensive repair than rebuilding so I would not recommend going beyond this to see if indeed the problem is solved. I would not even replace the 'solenoid' pack, absent a code for such a problem area. I would seek referral/reccomendation to a local non-franchise transmission repair shop that is familiar with the Chrysler transmission.
Roland
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