3.0 3 speed stuck in drive

im lookin to buy a 96 voyager with 70000 miles on it.the guy im buying it off says when you stop at a lite or sign it stays in drive and wont dshift to first.he says if you manually shift it down it works fine.it doesnt slip at all and i can purchase this van for $500 us.im wanderin if something major may be wrong or if this may be a simple fix as i dont want to have to instaall a new transmission in it.any input is appreciated and thanx to those who respond.

Easy things to try: flush the transmission fluid and refill with ATF3 or 4 fluid. May have the wrong fluid in it. These transmissions are very sensative to the fluid used. Verify the shift linkages are adjusted correctly. Try disconnecting the battery. This resets the transmission computer. Go to Autozone and have them download any fault codes using a scanner. It's free.

thanx for your reply.im not sure of what type of fluid is in it but i think you are refering to the overdrive trans which this is not.thanx RIP.

The only reason a 3-speed (P-R-N-D-2-1) automatic sticks in high range (3rd gear) at a stop light is a sticking governor valve.

The governor valve is a centrifugally actuated valve attached to the tailshaft of the transmission. It is spring loaded. As car speed increases, this valve will move outward under centrifugal force, causing the transmission to upshift. When the car slows down and comes to a stop, the spring pulls the valve back, causing the transmission to downshift automatically. These valves will stick when a fragment of metal is shed from somewhere inside the transmission and lodges between the valve and the valve bore. When the governor valve sticks out, the transmission will remain in high range until manually shifted.

You can work around this condition temporarily by either shifting to manual low then back to drive, or shifting to neutral then back to drive. Shifting the transmission either way will cause a reverse flow of hydraulic pressure on the governor valve, forcing it to retract.

The cure for this condition is a transmission rebuild. The rebuilt should include replacing this valve and also replacing the component that shed the metal to begin with. Now, you could continue to drive the car with this condition, using the work around with the shifter. But you never know whether or not something else may break inside causing further problems, which cannot be overcome.

Now, I have a 1964 Chrysler that suffers from this same condition. This condition has existed with this car for over 26 years and has never gotten worse. But then again, I don't drive this car often and it is strickly a pleasure car, not a daily driver.

I also experienced the same problem with my 1991 Dodge Shadow four years ago. I chose to rebuild the transmission in this car. The tranny shop discovered that a clutch disc in the front clutch pack had fragmented, causing the sticky governor. The rebuild cost me $1,900 and I got a three year guarantee. One year and 8,000 miles later, the valve began to stick again. The tranny shop disassemble the transmission and could find nothing visually wrong. 150 miles later, something broke loose inside the transmission, jammed up a gear set at 65 miles per hour, and stripped out the splines in the rear gear hub. After a second rebuild (free of charge) the transmission has been flawless ever since.

So you have the chance to buy a 10-year-old Voyager with 70,000 miles for $500. If everything else about this car is flawless, you buy it for $500 and immediately have the transmission rebuilt, then you will end up with a decent, low-mileage van for approximately $3,000. Sounds like a good deal to me, given my assumptions. But the final decision is yours.

burk1231 - Yup, you got me. I apparently have the 41TE tranny stuck in the brain. Sounds like KManiac has a handle on it.

I would be a little leary that a 10 year old van only has 70000 miles on it and has a tranny problem specially a 3 speed , may be more like 170000 miles . If you do buy you may be able to try somehting like auto-rx and use it in the tranny per their instruction and it may free that govenor up . Or the first try would be to have the fluid and filter changed with ATF +4 .

thanx for the replies.im going to look at it again today and test drive it.i figured if id buy it a filter change and flush would be first on my to do list.the guys says that is the mileage on it and the van is mint exept paint blowing off the hood.i dont expect alot for that kind of money but i have a 97 2.4 voyager with 197000 miles on the clock i bought last jan. for 850 and it looks and runs like new.i love my 97 and was lookin to upgrade to the 96 for the mileage diff alone.once again thanx and ill probably be purchasing it and trying to repair it and do you all recomend changing fluid with +3 or +4.thanx.

Looks like ATF-3: http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1a/38/78/0900823d801a3878.jsp Elsewhere on the forum someone stated Chrysler has gone to ATF-4 on all automatic transmissions. Check with your dealer.