Greetings,

I had my transmission redone a couple of thousand miles ago and when I got it back it and got 300 miles down the road it started grumbling when going into gear and grumbling/grabbing when say I slow down to about 20 and give it some gas it grumbles and jerks trying to find a gear. I have been babying it along. I dumped the pan and put in approved Type 4 ATF, though maybe that did not get it all as I could not get the rear cover off (apparently rebuilder did not either). It got a little better but not much.

I drove 250 miles to a new job today in easy traffic and it did OK. I drove three miles to lunch and it did OK. On the way back to work I had to stop at a light and felt it stalling down, then it released at the last second. When I got to the parking lot it was acting like the torque convert was locking. I put it in neutral and started it and it groaned and jerked into gear when I selected drive or reverse. I got it into a parking space but it stalled when I applied the brakes, something is locked/locking up. Don't suppose it is driveable and I don't know any mechanics in Charlotte, NC. Any ideas?


Thanks,
John

 

Hi John,

What do you mean when you say you had the transmission "redone"? Was it replaced? If so, was it done at a Chrysler dealership?

 

regardless of who or what was done Id contact who did it and let them look at it .

 

Like the guys say take it back. If your car was ok before the box repair look to them is a silly thing to say by my words. The box might be ok but if they fitted the old solenoids there might be a problem there that led to the repair. But it needs tested all needs tested. (Just hope its not wiring).

 

Thanks everyone. Sorry for late reply. Trying to get settled into new job in a new town....

The work was done by an independent jackleg. He is in Virginia and I am in NC and that was the situation when he did the repair. Since I wasn't in town to ride him he let it slide while he worked on other stuff. So taking it back to him would be a another long waste of time. I am just glad I told him I was short on cash and didn't pay the last $400 of the bill.

It seems the TC solenoid was acting up. Anyway I knocked something loos trying to get it out of the road and I could hear stuff spinning around in there for a day or two. Runs OK now except still grumpy shifting and groaning like brakes grabbing when going into gear.

I went to Corey's tranny shop here in Charlotte. They are a three generation business with lots of work for dealers, etc. He said he could rebuild it for $1500 or put an old one in for $900 but that he really couldn't warranty it for me if I was out of state. He said tranny work would be more than the whole van is worth and that in those years it just wasn't a top notch tranny to start with. He suggested I sell it for salvage. Only thing is that I put new tires on it the day before the tranny went nuts.

So I am going to ditch it.

Meanwhile an acquaintance has a garage kept 2005 PT Cruiser convertible with 125K miles on it for sale. Wants $4500 but that may be a bit high, especially since it is burgundy. What are PT Cruiser drive trains like? It is a 4 cyl automatic.

Thanks all,

John