'04 Town & Country transmission question
 

Hello everyone,

Every once in a while, when pulling away from a stop, the transmission "skips" when shifting from 1st to 2nd. It happens at about 15 - 20 mph. It happens whether pulling away quickly or slowly. It feels just like the tires are trying to grab traction on a slick surface. It'll clunk, clunk, clunk, four or five times very quickly and then drive normally like nothing ever happened. This usually happens at least once every time we take the van out. I took the van to a transmission specialist and of course it didn't perform for the tech who was test-driving it. No codes whatsoever. The transmission tech "rebooted" the computer, or re-loaded the transmission software (something like that) and told me to bring it back if the rough shifting continues. Well...it never stopped. Any ideas what might be causing this? The van runs perfectly otherwise. I'd say the rough shifting happens less than 10% of the time and always under the conditions I stated above. We bought the van used in October with 70,000 miles. No factory warranty. The 60-day limited warranty from the dealership runs out this weekend.

~Chris

RE: '04 Town & Country transmission question
 

well if you checked your fluid level and your check engine light doesn't come on and your trans still shifts,then that leaves me to beleive that you have torq converter shudder.does it feel like its bucking until your build up speed? moe,if so thats the deal.

RE: '04 Town & Country transmission question
 

Moe,

Yes, that describes it. Bucking until it builds up speed. Again, not every time...probably about 10% of the time. If it is, as you describe, torque converter shudder, what, if anything can we do about it? It's more of a nuisance than anything as the van drives great otherwise. Any advice is welcomed.

~Chris