Transmission Troubles

Johnny 5 · **Joined:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:12 pm **Posts:** 10

Posting for my brother who is broken down at the moment.

Here is the symptoms:

Driving at highway speed with cruise on. All of a sudden, the rpms shoot up, he backs off the throttle, and pulls over. It now seems that the vehicle will not go into gear no matter what position the shifter is in. He essentially has park, and neutral.

Any idea what is wrong? Torque converter?

I think his CRD is an 05

Thanks in advance

woodtick · **Posted:** Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:03 pm

Not enough info. How many miles are on it? F-37? Has it had any shuttering?

msilbernagel · **Posted:** Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:00 pm

Check for codes - and let us know what they are (if any), along with miles and any significant symptoms prior to the sudden failure.

For example, long sloppy shifts, slamming into gear after delays when going from Park to Reverse or to Drive, shuddering under load, etc?

Mark

Johnny 5 · **Joined:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:12 pm **Posts:** 10

He'd be under 100K miles, and it would have had the F37.

Not sure of any codes, its Sunday night, it won't see a mechanic until tomorrow.

I was just hoping there would be some ideas to guide the mechanic in the right direction.

WolverineFW · **Posted:** Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:13 pm

Flex plate bolts snapped off? Easy to check...

papaindigo · **Posted:** Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:37 am

X2 on transmission related as long as the engine cranks and runs fine in idle or higher rpms in neutral/park. If no go it's in the drive line. If tranny won't engage and there was no horrible bang he did not lose drive shaft. I'd vote on torque convertor bolts as the 1s place to look. IIRC there is a rubber plugged view port around the starter where the bolts can be checked.

spitfire36o · **Posted:** Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:21 am

If it went out with no bangs, cracks, grinds or other noises, my vote is on a blown torque converter.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:28 pm

??? No one else has killed a tranny - especially in dramatic fashion i.e. highway in cruise.

lots of shutter issues - normally accelerating or towing - i.e. tranny clutches slipping - not a locked up fail.

There were the flex plate bolts - but they were a noise first

many/many folks have had rusted/corroded Ujoints.....

although a broken ujoint wouldn't feel like it's in park - it would roll.

some of the V6's have killed the shift body plate - i.e. it flexed caused shifting problems - no one's mentioned dead on the highway.

how do you blow a torque converter? - vanes break loose? - that would do it - but I still think it's a first.

WolverineFW · **Posted:** Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:07 am

I have had a U-joint let go will driving on the highway.......not a noise you will miss or forget. Like a large caliber gunshot going off under your vehicle.

I doubt that is the problem.

SLS · **Posted:** Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:49 am

msilbernagel wrote:

Check for codes - and let us know what they are (if any), along with miles and any significant symptoms prior to the sudden failure.

For example, long sloppy shifts, slamming into gear after delays when going from Park to Reverse or to Drive, shuddering under load, etc?
Mark

You had mentioned some issues I have just started to notice. When I fist start up in the morning my 2006 CRD Lib. seams to have a long shift when going from Park to Reverse. Only when first shifting into gear. After driving a while and parking then shifting into reverse it's just fine. This only happens with reverse & with the first shift in the morning. Fluid is clean and at the correct level. We are at about 137,000 Mi.
Any thoughts on this issue?

msilbernagel · **Posted:** Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:37 am

Yes. Mine was doing this.

My understanding is that there is a valve in the transmission filter that services the coolant line; the canister one. When it begins to fail, it allows fluid to exit the TC (I think) - making for that long pause on start up. If you let it idle a few minutes before moving, you won't see the problem. If you don't, there may be a CEL if you try and move forward in drive before it's ready. It'll go away (CEL) after a start or two. In part, the filters may exacerbate the problem as they become more restricted with material from normal wear of friction materials (etc).

If you're comfortable doing so, drop the pan and replace both filters - and then use real (tm) ATF+4 from Mopar when refilling.

If you're not, take it to a shop. If you have any other odd behaviors, ask them to reset the TCM and do a 'fast learn' and all should be Ok.

I had a shop in Portland do this for ours and it's been problem free for a month or so; cost less than $200. I thought I was going to have to rebuild it - and so did the shop until they reset the TCM.

I could do the filters, but the other issues required the equipment to reset the TCM and they could source the filters and fluid at a lower price than I could find...

Oh - if you do it yourself watch the pan bolt that goes up into the oil galleys (for test instrumentation). Read the FSM for details - it requires sealant when putting things back together.

Mark

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:49 am

SLS - x2 on that sounding like the tranny fluid drain back issue. A quick solution/check to try for a couple of weeks, although I ran this way for like 20K miles before SunCoast did my TC and tranny service, is on 1s am or after work crank up put the tranny in neutral (not park - tranny pumps more fluid in neutral than park per FSM) and bring the idle up to ca. 1000-1500 for like 10-15 seconds then let idle drop shift into gear and drive like normal. If you problem goes away then it's definitely the drain back problem and you need to do what Mark says.

FYI don't go cheap with ebay no name or old Mopar tranny filters as some of the bad ones are likely still out there. WIX has a 2 filter and gasket kit for like $50.

SLS · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:31 am

Thanks for the help!
I think this was what the dealer was trying to say but didn't do as good of a job explaining it as you guys did.
Thanks

Johnny 5 · **Joined:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:12 pm **Posts:** 10

Just to close it out. It was the torque converter.

Transmission Troubles

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