92 Plymouth Grand Voyager Transmission Trouble

I was driving on the freeway and at 60mph the van was not shifting into the next gear. I took my foot off the gas and the transmission suddenly did something wierd and it sounded like the engine was revving up very fast but the van was not going forward. I pulled over and shut it off. Upon restart I could proceed only a short distance and the same thing occured. Now I also realize I cannot go in reverse. The van drives forward only in first gear. Any ideas?

 

Sounds like it's in "limp" mode. It does this to tell you something is wrong. That year was prone to tranny problems. My 93' did the same thing at around 100K and needed a new computor for the tranny.

 

Thanks for your input. I am taking it in tomorrow to have it diagnosed to see what codes come up.

 

Mattison is correct. You probably have the Ultradrive A604 transmission (4-speed with lockup torque converter), which was plagued with problems back then. For any hiccup, the transmission would lock into 2nd gear for limp-home mode, and you can't go any faster than 40-45 mph. It would stay in limp-home mode until it was reset by restarting the engine. I had one in my 90 LeBaron.

What was the fluid maintenance for your transmission? Though the dipstick says to use Dexron II, the owners manual (and experts) say to use ATF+3 or ATF+4, and not Dexron, which should be used only as a top off if ATF+3 is not available.

Changing the fluid every 30K also goes a long way to help maintain the transmission.

 

Thanks for your reply. Took it in for error codes today. The codes were 36 and 52. The guy said that he found metal shavings on the dipstick. I never had to put any transmission fluid in until about a week ago. I only had about half a quart at the most and I know it was not At3+. I do not have alot of cash and I am a female who attempts to do all of my own repairs, I got 4 or 5 quarts of At+4 and was going to drain the transmission and then refill it. The guy who got the codes today made it sound fatal. Do you think it would be of any use to try refill with At+4? Thanks

 

I hate to be Grinch who stole X-mas but Chrysler trans. suck!
Limp mode, metal shavings, low fluid = needs trans. Instead of rebuilding, replacing with new or used, salvage, etc. junk the car and buy something different that's not prone to regular breakdowns and is easy to work on.

 

Ask him what the codes indicate? I was also told that mine was on it's way out, because of filings etc. I'm yet to remove a tranny pan off any vehicle that isn't going to have some filings in it, but depending on the extent of them is what I would worry about. Proper Chrysler tranny fluid & filter, reset the codes, and that was over 2 yrs ago, and approx 30,000 miles/50,000 km. Not saying that's the case here, but I sure am glad I tried that first.

 

Thank you for your positive response. I am going to drain the existing fluid today and clean the pan and replace the filter and fluid. I have never had to add any transmission fluid in the year that I have owned the vehicle, until 2 days before the incident. It had never needed any. I put in a half quart of whatever I had and I am certain it was not the "right" kind. I think that is too much of a coincidence to give up on it. I will post the results (hopefully good ones. Thanks again

 

36 is a fault immediately after shift.
52 is a gear ratio error in 2nd gear.
These arent immediately damning codes. They must first be diagnosed.
Background: The system uses two speed sensors, one for turbine rpm and the other for output rpm. These inputs are very essential for transaxle operation. Therefore, the integrity of this data is verified through the following checks:
(1) When in gear, if the ratio of the turbine rpm speed sensor to the output rpm speed sensor doesn't compare to a known gear ratio, the corresponding in-gear fault code is set (50 through 54).
(2) An excessive change in turbine or output speeds indicating signal intermittency will result in codes 56 and 57 respectively.
(3) After a reset in neutral, observing a certain turbine rpm speed sensor or output rpm speed sensor ratio indicates a loss of the common speed sensors ground which sets code 58.

Note: When any of these codes are set immediately after a shift, code 36 will also be set which indicates mechanical hydraulic problems (see code 36).

These codes can be set for electrical as well as hydraulic reasons. If and when you remove the pan, pay particular attention to the debris in the pan. If you find large pieces of metal then you will likely need a rebuild or replacement trans.
Hope this is helpful to ya,
Billy

 

I drained and replaced the transmission fluid and filter. It acts like it wants to do the right thing, but I do not think that disconnecting the battery reset anything. Is there a way to reset the computer that someone could tell me. Also I plan to replace the input and output sensors. Which would most likely help my problem and should be changed first? Thanks again

 

I replaced the input and output sensors. How do I retrain the transmission?

 

There is a procedure called a Quick Learn. Ive never actually done one on anything older than 1996 (OBDII). Any Chrysler Dealer will have the ability to perform this procedure for a fee.
Disconnecting the battery will reset all memory in a pre-OBDII vehicle. All transmission codes will set to stored when the ignition is turned off. If there is an issue when the vehicle is restarted it may reset the code to active and go back into limp mode immediately or it may take a bit to run the tests and go into limp mode.
How does it shift now? Is it shifting properly? Has it gone into Limp Mode since you changed the fluid and filter?
You didnt have a code for the speed sensors so why did you replace them? I realize they are pretty cheap, but no sense in changing something that isnt broke.
Hope this helps,
Billy

 

I guess I misunderstood your explanation of codes. When you explained the codes (50-54) and one of my codes was 52, I read your answer and assumed it was the input speed sensor. I replaced them both because they were easy to get at and, as I said, I misunderstood your code explanation. I still think that I may be in LIMP mode but I do not have reverse and as in the beginning, it does not want to shift into 2nd. Thanks