Auto gearbox stalling

joohn · **Posted:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 10:20 am

I recently changed the oil and filters on my auto gearbox, the oil was clean and there was no bits in the sump only a bit of muck on the magnet. I fitted a new filter and strainer and a new gasket, toped up with new oil, there are no leaks and the oil level is correct.

After standing all night I find sometimes there is no drive for a bit also if I move a short distance and stop the gearbox will push on till the engine stalls, after driving for 60 seconds there is no problem all day even if left for 4 hours, only happens in the mornings. the air temp at night is not cold 12c.

don't understand it do you?

thanks.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 10:49 am

Sounds like tranny fluid is draining back into the sump overnight. Add 1qt ATF+4 and see if that helps. If not when you first start up shift into neutral and hold a high (1200 or so) idle for about 15-20 seconds then drive off. If that "solves" the problem you can just live with it or maybe consider dropping the pan and making sure both filters are seated correctly and that the plate on the side of the valve body is not loose.

olypopper · **Posted:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:03 am

There have been similar occurrences on trucks lately that I am familiar with and the cause was the spin on type filter inside the trans. I ended up dropping the pans and installing a Mopar brand filter and the problem hasn't returned. The aftermarket spin on filters either had no back flow preventer or it was defective. After speaking to a Ram brand transmission engineer that was aware of the situation he confirmed the use of cheap spin on trans filters as the culprit.

Mike92104 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 3:33 pm

I used the mopar filter, and I still experienced this problem occasionally, but only if I was in a hurry and slapped it into gear right after starting it. These days, I'm in the habit of starting it as soon as I get in, then I put the seatbelt on, sunglasses on, start pandora on the phone, and THEN put it into gear. I've never bothered with the 1500rpm in neutral suggestion. I've had no issues following this method, and it definitely couldn't hurt the engine to have a bit of time to get oil circulating well before driving off.

Mike

papaindigo · **Posted:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 4:19 pm

This is not a CRD problem specifically. In my experience it's more of a DCJ corporate problem as I had the exact same issue with 2 of our Plymouth minivans. In fact it's not a critical problem as you can drive for thousands of miles with no damage if it's not fixed by just giving the system a few seconds to pump fluid back up before driving off. I will note that if you push things you can trigger a "hard" stall which may in turn trigger a CEL which will go out after several drive cycles.

There was a TSB put out on this way back when but that related to a bad batch of OEM filters with defective check valves. Generally but not always use of name brand quality filters cures the problem. A transgo kit may also help as may a new model front pump. Installing a transgo kit is pretty easy but the front pump is a major project requiring the tranny to be pulled. Best I can say is I drove with the problem for like 15K miles before having a SunCoast torque converter and transgo kit (no pump) installed along with new filters and fluids. Since then the problem is about 95% gone only appearing very rarely.

joohn · **Posted:** Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:55 am

Thanks for the replies, I purchased the filter kit on Ebay, so a bad filter may be the problem also I had a problem removing the seal on the strainer and found it hard to refit with the new seal provided in the kit. I think I will change the filter and reseat the strainer just to be shure, a lot of work if it's only a crap filter :shock:

Thanks

joohn · **Posted:** Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:32 am

papaindigo.
why did you change the converter ? what is a transgo kit?SunCoast torque converter and transgo kit,

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:18 am

Read my signature. I have a GDE Stage II turbo which the OEM (not OEM Euro) torque converter cannot handle (too much power) so I upgraded to SunCoast torque converter (http://www.suncoastconverters.com/) rather then the Euro one mainly because SunCoast is reasonably close to me. When they installed the torque converter I had them install the transgo transmission kit (http://liberty.eurekaboy.com/transgo.htm) including the front pump part since they were in that far and it only cost me the price of the kit as there was no extra labor involved.

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:46 am

Yup, this is the classic drainback problem. It isn't exclusive to Chrysler vehicles either, my VW TDI does it as well. Starting the engine and then spending 10-15 seconds situating yourself is a better habit to get into anyway, it gets the oil circulating everywhere while the transmission builds pressure. If you have a vacuum leak, the brakes can also take time to build suction. After 340k miles, I guess one of the check valves in the vacuum system has failed too. Nothing lasts anymore, right? :mrgreen:

joohn · **Posted:** Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:49 pm

I intend to remove the sump again and fit a new kit filter, strainer and gasket, a Jeep workshop told me it would ne the O ring seal that you push the strainer into, I did have trouble fitting it I may have damaged it, I will fit the lot as a total service. As it is it is driving me mad thinking about it.

Auto gearbox stalling

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