95 intrepid ES trans problems

[Eagle88]

I want to know if anyone else has had as many trans problems as I have. My car is now going on its 4th transmission. I bought the car in 97 so i don't know if there were any problems prior to that. My first one went out at around 116,00 miles. I tell you hitting limp mode at 70 mph is quite a shock. Had that one rebuilt at the cost of 1,600 $$ Well I got about 12,00 miles on that one before it went. Was already out of qwarrenty, so was kind of screwed on that one. Had it checked at the dodge dealer, and was told it was toast, but they wouldn't tell me the exact proble, just that they could fix it for another 1600 I said no thanks, and just got a salvage yard trans. Well I got about 35,000 plus what it alredy had on it before it puked. Is there a fixable problem with these to get more than a year out of a trans. The catr has now been sitting for three years. My dodge dealer insists on telling me that there is nothing wrong with these transmissions. I really don't want to spend a nother 1600 to fix this thing, any suggestions? I had it looked at this last time, and they told me something with the overdrive. but didn't go into any more detail than that. The car is still in really good shape. I would hate to just scrap it. I also don't want to keep getting a new trans every other year either.


What year transmissiions can I use for replacement. Would like to convert to autostick

[moparroy]

The most important thing on these trannys is the fluid - they DO NOT take Dextron - they need the new ATF+ fluids from Mopar - some aftermarkets just recently showing up.
You could also look at allpar.com - there is some good information there for your reading pleasure.
There have been a lot of upgrades to these trannys and engineering change orders over the years - if they are rebuilt and maintained properly I believe they are a good transmission. I have rebuilt two myself - the ECO notes come with the rebuild kit or seal kit - that is where I learned about them. The guts of the tranny is the same as the minivan which was the first one I did - the last one was just in January on my 1995 Intrepid ES 3.3.
These ECOs were issued as late as 1997, but the most significant ones were around 1995 - so if you got an early 1995 model year tranny from the bone yard and it was original it may not have the upgrades in it.
The other thing is in 1995 Chrysler used a plastic 2-4 accumulator piston in these transmissions for a while - a technical bulletin in September 1995 was issued to replace them with the more usual aluminum on any service. 2-4 refers to the clutch engaged in both 2nd and 4th gear so if your problem is 4th gear overdrive related that could be the cause. That was ultimately what happened to mine - the head of the plastic accum piston shattered so there was no hydraulic pressure on the 2-4 clutch so it would slip in both 2-4 - one way to check is 2nd is the limp in gear - if I floored it in limp in the tranny would noticeably slip - engine revs quickly but car's speed increases slowly. If that is the case, you can replace the 2-4 accum piston without removing tranny - it is in the valve body.
The 92 minivan tranny I did previously had a 1st gear clutch seal that acted up for a long time in cold weather - finally decided to rebuild it at 225,000 kms - up to then it was original - the seal that was acting up was changed in a design change also in 1995.
By the way, even the parts in both cases cost me about $1000 Canadian - even with a decent discount at the dealer.
I don't know about what years are interchangeable - or what is different in the auto stic - I heard there were problems in the early auto stics - and they may use different electronics.
I would rebuild it completely like I did mine - but I agree if you have to pay someone for a complete rebuild - its a lot of coin. If you don't do a complete rebuild you may just find the next weak spot that was not upgraded.

[moparroy]

The most important thing on these trannys is the fluid - they DO NOT take Dextron - they need the new ATF+ fluids from Mopar - some aftermarkets just recently showing up.
You could also look at allpar.com - there is some good information there for your reading pleasure.
There have been a lot of upgrades to these trannys and engineering change orders over the years - if they are rebuilt and maintained properly I believe they are a good transmission. I have rebuilt two myself - the ECO notes come with the rebuild kit or seal kit - that is where I learned about them. The guts of the tranny is the same as the minivan which was the first one I did - the last one was just in January on my 1995 Intrepid ES 3.3.
These ECOs were issued as late as 1997, but the most significant ones were around 1995 - so if you got an early 1995 model year tranny from the bone yard and it was original it may not have the upgrades in it.
The other thing is in 1995 Chrysler used a plastic 2-4 accumulator piston in these transmissions for a while - a technical bulletin in September 1995 was issued to replace them with the more usual aluminum on any service. 2-4 refers to the clutch engaged in both 2nd and 4th gear so if your problem is 4th gear overdrive related that could be the cause. That was ultimately what happened to mine at about 100,000 miles- the head of the plastic accum piston shattered so there was no hydraulic pressure on the 2-4 clutch so it would slip in both 2-4 - one way to check is 2nd is the limp in gear - if I floored it in limp in the tranny would noticeably slip - engine revs quickly but car's speed increases slowly. If that is the case, you can replace the 2-4 accum piston without removing tranny - it is in the valve body.
The 92 minivan tranny I did previously had a 1st gear clutch seal that acted up for a long time in cold weather - finally decided to rebuild it at 225,000 kms - up to then it was original - the seal that was acting up was changed in a design change also in 1995.
By the way, even the parts in both cases cost me about $1000 Canadian - even with a decent discount at the dealer.
I don't know about what years are interchangeable - or what is different in the auto stic - I heard there were problems in the early auto stics - and they may use different electronics.
I would rebuild it completely like I did mine - but I agree if you have to pay someone for a complete rebuild - its a lot of coin. If you don't do a complete rebuild you may just find the next weak spot that was not upgraded.

[moparroy]

Sorry for the duplication - first post seemed to take forever so I figured it got lost.

[Eagle88]

Thanks, it does not slip in 2nd. The car will start out fine, if I keep it under 35 or so. it won't go into limp mode. as soon as I get fast enough for it to go into OD it like goes into neutral, for a second or two, then into limp mode.

[nike89]

Originally Posted by Eagle88

Thanks, it does not slip in 2nd. The car will start out fine, if I keep it under 35 or so. it won't go into limp mode. as soon as I get fast enough for it to go into OD it like goes into neutral, for a second or two, then into limp mode.

i just bought a 95 intrepid drove fine and now it's doing the exact samething as yours.. if someone could help i would love it..

[moparroy]

Originally Posted by nike89

i just bought a 95 intrepid drove fine and now it's doing the exact samething as yours.. if someone could help i would love it..

Sounds like a problem with the overdrive - could be many different things - solenoid pack, clutch, clutch hydraulics, snap ring (I think these were upgraded) or I suppose even the electronics (although seems more likely hydraulic than electronic problem unfortunately). Suggest you pay a dealer to do a diagnostic on it they can measure the hydraulic pressures and diagnose the electronics - it might give you a better idea of what is wrong. I once had a diagnostic done at a dealer on the 92 years before I rebuilt it - the tech was very good - good enough that he told me the one snap ring was likely broken based on the clutch volumes, but he said not worth taking it apart just for that - he was right - when I later disassembled it there was a snap ring broken in two pieces - but was still in place. Could be yours is broken and has slipped out of the groove - just guessing one possibility.

[Eagle88]

long time since I have read this, I did have a dealer diagnostic done, and the snap ring was one of the possibilities. but definatly something with the od . I am going to pick up a used one, so I can take mine apart and see what the problem is/was and maybe do a rebuild myselfmay farm it out if it starts to look like more than I can handle though. This will now be trans #4 within 160,000 miles.

[rsefert]

Went thru 4 in my 95 Caravan,wasn`t fixed till replaced trans computer with updated software.Shift points are too soft on 95 and pre chrysler cars with the 4 speed auto trans.This from chrylers trans tech.Burns up the clutches causes dirt and trans to fail.Last trans lasted 80,000 miles and still perfect till guy decided to miss a deer and come into my lane.