98 2.5L limp mode
 

hi there ive got a sebring 2door with a 2.5L v6 (mitsubishi). car is in limp mode and wont shift out of second gear. The check engine light is NOT on which is strange, im thinking someone pulled the bulb or its just burnt out. The codes i can pull off a basic scanner are p0700 and p1768. one is generic and the other had to do with a relay. i checked the relay and it seems to be fine (continuity in the right places when energized and non energized) i can also hear it clicking. Anyways the car seems to "miss" and im wondering if that can be the sole problem to all this. i can pull the spark plug wires off cylinders 1&2 and it makes no difference in engine idle. except when i pull cylinder 3 it makes the idle worse. i can physically see that cylinders 1&2 have spark and i can pull the injector wires and it still makes no difference except when i pull the wires for cylinder number 3. i have not done a compression check yet,and Keep in mind this car sat for 2 years which helps nothing. im just wondering what your guys opinion is? maybe it just needs a tune up? maybe it needs a immobilizer code? possibly dead cylinders. it just seems strange that its not throwing a code for a miss fire or an emmisions based problem cause, then i could understand WHY its in limp in mode and no check engine light. thanks you for your time,
Joe

You need to hook it up to a better scanner to get the transmission codes. The 700 code just means that there are more codes stored in there.
That engine is notorious for distributor problems. Could be your MIL bulb is burned out but it would be rare. There's probably a code for that buried somewhere.
The Chrysler DRB III (diagnostic readout box) can get any codes in there but since the reader costs thousands of dollars, the dealership will charge you for the privilege of having it done.
Nobody here can guess what might be in there with any certainty.