Transmission Mystery
ml_nelson
05-14-2006, 10:59 PM
My Dad has a 92 with the large engine & the 4-speed auto, 50K mikes. It has one very specific quirk. If you start & drive the car, you sometimes find it refuses to go into 4th gear. No matter how long you drive, it will go no higher than 3rd.
When it is acting up this way, if you stop & turn off the ignition & restart it, it will now shift properly.
Bottom line, once the car is started, it is locked into one behavior or the other. It either refuses to go into 4th or not, but its behavior is consistent until the car is stopped & restarted.
Thoughts?
Mike
When it is acting up this way, if you stop & turn off the ignition & restart it, it will now shift properly.
Bottom line, once the car is started, it is locked into one behavior or the other. It either refuses to go into 4th or not, but its behavior is consistent until the car is stopped & restarted.
Thoughts?
Mike
KManiac
05-14-2006, 11:14 PM
I read about the same complaint in the Chrysler Concorde forum last week. This is what I replied to them:
The Ultradrive 4-speed automatic allows you to select three forward ranges, D, 3 & L. Let us review how this transmission responds in each range (this is based on my personal experience with my 1998 Town & Country):
D - This range allows the transmission to shift through all four forward gears with normal shift points.
3 - This range limits the transmission to shifting through first, second and third gears only with normal shift points.
L - This range limits the transmission to shifting through first and second gears only with first to second upshift above 3,000 rpm.
What you have described sounds like normal operation for an Ultradrive with range 3 selected manually. I would suspect that you may have misadjustment in your transmission linkage. Even though your dashboard selector shows you in D, the transmission may be physically be in 3 a portion of the time. Check and adjust the linkage, then see what happens. Let us know what you find.
BTW, are you familiar with the "limp mode" feature of this transmission? If not, search the forum or read your owner's manual.
The Ultradrive 4-speed automatic allows you to select three forward ranges, D, 3 & L. Let us review how this transmission responds in each range (this is based on my personal experience with my 1998 Town & Country):
D - This range allows the transmission to shift through all four forward gears with normal shift points.
3 - This range limits the transmission to shifting through first, second and third gears only with normal shift points.
L - This range limits the transmission to shifting through first and second gears only with first to second upshift above 3,000 rpm.
What you have described sounds like normal operation for an Ultradrive with range 3 selected manually. I would suspect that you may have misadjustment in your transmission linkage. Even though your dashboard selector shows you in D, the transmission may be physically be in 3 a portion of the time. Check and adjust the linkage, then see what happens. Let us know what you find.
BTW, are you familiar with the "limp mode" feature of this transmission? If not, search the forum or read your owner's manual.
coalminer
05-16-2006, 10:06 PM
One other thing you can check, the OD off switch is on the right side of the dash in the middle. One thing that I have done once with my van, which had a 4 speed in it, but now has a 3 speed, when I went to grab the gear shift, I bumped that switch and it would not go into 4th. There is an indicator light on that switch, if you tap the switch it will turn on and then tap it again and it will go off. Maybe this is why it is totally random and when the van is turned off and back on it works ok, if you have the OD off, it will be back on the next time it is started.
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