Dashborad display

I have a 1995 LHS and I find it very strange that every time I shift into L or 2 my dashboard does not update with the appropriate Gear. It always shows D (drive). Also I am not noticing any difference when I shift into L or 2 versus D. Is that something I should worry about?... I've had this car for a while and had the tranny repaired at some point in time. It had the same behaviour before I repaired it so I wasn't sure if I should be concerned at all....

Your comments are appreciated.
Thanks

do you have autostick?

yes it's an automatic transmission. It was curiosity more than anything else. I've driven other cars before and when you set them in L or 2 they show accordingly on the dashboard and you can tell that it's running in those gears....with the LHS it's impossible to tell... Maybe shifting is controlled differently?

what I meant if you had autostick, I meant if you have the optional maual shift mode for the automatic transmission. You'll have P R N D and then (-) on the left and (+) on the right. Chances are, your bulbs that display the gear are burned out.

NO i don't have a - and a +. I see PRND32L. Let's assume that the light is burned for the 32L.
1. Shouldn't the D light go off as I shift into 3-2-L? My D light is ON all the time if the car is in D or 3 or 2 or L. If I go N (all lights come on). If I go R it shows R and for P it shows P.
2. How is it that when I drive in L for example the car still shifts into a higher gear and it does not feel like it suppose to?.... Usually when you drive in L the car would rev up and higher speeds (such as 60km/h fpr example) since this is suppose to keep the car in a lower gear (so I understand).

hmmmm.......what astonishes me is that you say you have PRND32L? On all 42LE transmissions on the LH body style, the shifter gate should only be PRND3L that's why your question perplexes me, if you don't have autostick that is. But answering your question about it shifting when it is in low gear, this transmission is 100% electronic and if it senses that engine speed is too high, even in low, it will shift into 2nd gear to prevent over-revving the engine. If you say it occurs at 60 km/hr, that's approximately 35 mph and that's about the right speed for the transmission to shift if left in low gear. If you were in the "3" range, it would have a normal 1-2 upshift but the 2-3 upshift would be delayed until 60 km/hr to give you the most engine braking available in intermediate gear. Why your LEDS light up at certain positions could be a communication error between the transmission range sensor, which is mounted in your transmission, and the instrument cluster/body module. As long as your transmission is not in "limp mode," or stuck in second gear, you should be fine, but it does sound like some sort of communication error in your system for the LEDs to act up the way they are.

Thanks fo your help. I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it at this point. I will point it out to my mechanic when I'm due for my oil change. And yes you are correct I only have PRND3L there is no 2. It was a typo on my end for the 2 :(. I understand now why you were perplexed about it.
The funny thing about all this is that I had my transmission rebuild completelly last year and that did not change the behaviour of the lights on the dashboard at all. I guess the best thing for me is to ask the mechanic next time I visit him.
Also what I was trying to says is that if I put the car in L it drives the same way as if it was in D. I just tought that some other LHS owners could let us know if they have the same strange behaviour.
As for the lights being burned it's impossible since when I put the car in P or N all the lights come on including the 3 and the L. So i know they're not burned...but just not activating when I shift into 3 or L. :)

Also what I was trying to says is that if I put the car in L it drives the same way as if it was in D. I just tought that some other LHS owners could let us know if they have the same strange behaviour.
As for the lights being burned it's impossible since when I put the car in P or N all the lights come on including the 3 and the L. So i know they're not burned...but just not activating when I shift into 3 or L. :)
If the shifter is moved to and kept in the "L" position the transmission will stay in low gear (1st) only until the engine speed gets so high in the RPM range (about 6400 RPM) the Transmission Control Module will then shift the transmission to the next gear (2nd) and it will hold that gear again until the engine RPM gets too high (again about 6400 RPM) then the TCM will upshift it again to the next gear (3rd), and finally (at 5000 RPM) shift to OD. If that is NOT happening then you may have a problen with the transmission selector switch or possibly the TCM itself as something there is definitely out of whack especially with the lights doing as described.

the events that you've described are definatelly not happening. When I leave the car in L and drive it behaves exactly like it was in D. It shifts gears automatically depending on the acceleration...normally shifts out of 1st gear at 3000RPM and it happens with the gears after that too. Remeber all this shifting is happening while i'm in L so it doesn't make sense..... I haven't had issues with the tranny since it was rebuild so I'm not concerned. Maybe the key to all this is that I have a 94 engine in a 95 car. I found out a year after I bought my car when my mechanic had to change the timing chain and the when he ordered the 95 part (as per my vin) the part did not fit with the engine that I had. Same for the water pump ...ohh well.. if all these were different it's possible that the way the transmission interacted with the engine is also different and it's possible it's only meant to drive in R/D/N/P :)

it should not matter what year the engine is in the car, my brother has a 97 LHS that he bought with a blown engine, the replacement 3.5 came from a 94 Intrepid and it acts and runs fine, like the swap never happened. You definitely have issues with the transmission of some sort and if the person who rebuilt the transmission can't help you then the dealer should be able figure it out. I'm leaning towards a bad gear selector switch in the transmission.

OK, here's the scoop.

I went to my mechanic and he told me that the problem could have been solved very easily when he did the rebuild of the transmission last year if I were to let him know ahead of time. Apparently in the transmission there is a switch that selects the gears and that seems to be malfunctioning. The part itself is around 20 dollars from what he told me, however the labour to get to it is not worth it anymore. When he had the transmission appart he could have easily replaced that switch and that would have been a very minor fix, now with the transmission back on the car would be too much work for that switch. He Told me not to worry about it right now as long as the car runs.