Searched for awhile now and thought I'd ask the pro's here--I have a 2002 sport caravan with 81k on it has never been a problem until last night comming home from the in-laws house on the highway about a 60 mile one way trip--tranny started acting funny jumping around and jerking a bit about the last 20 miles or so--same thing on the way home--at one time rpm's shot up for no apparant reason for about 15 seconds and shifted back to normal. seems really jerky and like its not shifting smoothly--no engine light or codes being shown--I always have changed the oil regularly--but have not changed the tranny fluid and filter--can this be my problem--or am I running into more problems? Any help appreciated as the wife is afraid to drive the kids around.
thanks,
joe
web road runner
07-06-2007, 10:31 AM
anyone have any ideas?
gsnod
07-06-2007, 10:01 PM
First thing to do is change out the fluid and filter with new ATF +4 only -- either do it yourself, or take it to a dealer. Don't let someone put anything other than ATF +4 in it, as these transmissions are real finicky about their fluid. You can search the forum and come up with a bunch of postings on transmissions and how to change the fluid.
If this works, make a committment to get onto a 30K regiment of changes on the fluid. Let us know how this works, but essentially from reading these forums, I sense that without careful and proper maintenance, these transmissions can be troublesome at about your mileage or more.
web road runner
07-06-2007, 11:33 PM
Hey,
Thanks for the response--I have learned alot from this site the last couple of days reading and searching--If I knew the tranny's were this big of an issue I would have made sure to change the fluid and filter sooner--Well tonight I drained the oil replaced the filter and buttoned her all back up--I will put in the ATF+4 tomorrow and go for a drive and see how she is--I'll let you know and keep my fingers crossed--the filter looked prettty bad
joe
gsnod
07-07-2007, 10:18 PM
Web road runner -- you changed out the transmission fluid and filter, correct? Sounds like the pan and filter were pretty easy to get off -- good job if so.
web road runner
07-07-2007, 10:45 PM
yes, I changed the filter and buttoned her up with rtv high temp and let it sit overnight--didn't use the cork gasket--getting the pan off was a bit of a challenge but with a little persistance it finally popped off-- put in the ATF+4 today around 11:00am and drove around all day today around town and on the highway seemed good with no problems so far--still gonna keep my fingers crossed for awhile anyhow just to be on the safe side
thanks,
joe
XDGT03
07-08-2007, 11:39 AM
good to hear.
gsnod
07-08-2007, 10:04 PM
Good job road runner. Hope all goes well.
web road runner
07-08-2007, 11:13 PM
drove down to my parents house today to take the wife and kids swimming about a 20 mile highway drive. At the first couple of stop signs while everything was still cool it was a bit jerky once temps were up no problems on the highway--still hard to read the tranny fluid and I think it is low added another quart when I got home--Does anyone know how many quarts it takes with a new filter guy told me 4--I put four in but alot dumped out and it continued to drain and drip for a long time actually it never seemed to stop.
thanks,
joe
vipergg
07-10-2007, 10:56 AM
your guy is correct i believe , with a simple drop and drain it uses 4 quarts . You are going getting a fairly small percentage out with drop and drain but for most cases this is adequate if done regularly.
vipergg
07-10-2007, 10:57 AM
The jerkyness might not necessarily be the tranny , that could be something else . Do the keydance and see if any codes come up in the odometer window .
mopar4u
07-10-2007, 07:32 PM
I just did a filter and pan drop last night, I replaced 5 quarts almost exactly. To check the fluid, I brought the van up to temp, put it in park, leaving the van running I checked the tranny dipstick similar to checking the oil. If I were to guess you are a little low on tranny fluid.
web road runner
07-16-2007, 10:28 PM
vipper,
what exactly do you have in mind I am still getting a bit of some jerkness from time to time like hesitation at stop signs after a long drive like getting off of the highway comming to a complete stop and then going--It kinda jumps, jerks, and cuts out a bit--not real bad but noticable--just recently added some fuel injector cleaner to this tank of gas to see if that helps clean things out a bit
Do the key dance?--what exactly is that and how do I do it
