1994 Concorde transmission problem

My son has my old Concorde and is experiencing a transmission issue
with which I hope you can help. Specs: '94 Concorde, 3.3L engine, 190k
miles. Here's the background: transmission suddenly would not shift out
of first gear, speedometer still functioned normally. We changed out
the input sensor. Shifted normally until it got hot, then it would not
shift out of first. Does not go into "limp mode" which, as I
understand, allows trans to upshift only to second. Stays in first
gear.

Noticed that it was overfilled so we drained the trans, carefully wiped
out as much dirty oil as possible, installed new filter and carefully
refilled with ATF+4. The trans was overfilled by no more than one pint
and that was for probably no more than a week.

Here's what happens: Son drives about 30 miles to work, about half on
the Interstate. On his way in, starting from dead cold engine,
everything works fine. When he goes out to lunch, car sits for about
four hours, he will experience the problem of no upshift. He discovered
that if he stops and shifts the car to park, shuts off the engine for
10 seconds or so and restarts it, shifting returns to normal. When he
leaves to return home, after the car sits for another fours hours, the
upshifting problem returns and is temporarily corrected by shutting off
the engine and restarting. From cold start in the morning, no problems
all the way to his office. By the way, we live in Florida and our
temperture swings right now are from about 55F at night to about 80F
during the day.

I've got a few ideas about what might be the problem but I'd certainly
value any input you folks might have, especially if you've experienced
the same type of issue.

Thanks in advance for any help.

John

 

It is likely that the car is going into 2nd gear, not first. This is the
designed default "limp home" mode when the transmission computer discovers a
problem. You really need to take it to a competent transmission shop.
Preferably one that has experience with Chrysler transmissions since they
are very different. They can use a diagnostic computer to scan and
determine the cause for the error. Without this knowledge you are left to
guess. At 190K miles I'd say they are chances it will need to be rebuilt,
but maybe you will be lucky and it will be a sensor, connector or wiring
related.

Good luck and post what they find for others to benefit.

Bob

 

maybe you should have replaced the output speed sensor

 

If you do need a new transmission just junk the car. A rebuilt
transmission will cost you 4 times the value of a 94 Concorde. I made the
mistake of putting a rebuilt transmission into my 94 Concorde (which had
128K miles on it). It cost me $2K to have it done and it only bought me 4
or 5 months. After I bought my 300C I tried to sell the Concorde, there
was absolutely no interest in it at any price, I eventually gave it to PBS
in return for a $450 tax deduction.

 

You got another 5 months of use for only $2K.
That's a deal compared to the depreciation on a 300C.

 

It's hardly a deal, the rebuilt transmission didn't work particularly well
and the rest of the car was pretty much shot including the brakes. Frankly,
driving it was scary. The only reason that I spent the money was that I
didn't want to buy a car in the middle of winter, in retrospect I could
have rented something for a couple of months and it would have cost me
less.

When a repair costs more then the value of the car it's time to junk the
car. In the case of a 12 year old Chrysler an oil change approaches the
value of the car. A new Chrysler is a lot of car for the money, when I was
shopping for a new car last year there was nothing close to the 300C AWD in
it's price range. The only comparable cars cost at least $20,000 more.
However there is a reason for this, Chrysler doesn't design their cars to
last. I'm on my 3rd Chrysler. I was very happy with my LeBaron GTS Turbo
and my Concorde when they were new, and they each gave me more then 10
years of service. But in both cases they were rusted out hulks at the end.
After 10 years a Chrysler is living on borrowed time, when a major
component fails it should just be scrapped.

 

He said his speedometer still worked fine, so it wouldn't have been the
output sensor.

 

I agree, with all those other problems I would have junked it
immediately. It didn't sound safe to drive.

You've had the same cars as me. I had a '86 LeBaron GTS 2.5L and now a
'95 Concord.
My experience has been very good for reliability and body quality.
I haven't added any after market anti rust treatment, but I watch the
body closely and occasionally squirt a little oil in the door drain
holes.

 

Actually, I find that Chrysler vehicles last far better than any other
brand and are far more cost-effective to repair. I've got a 1966 Dodge
with 280,000 miles that is my daily driver, a 1973 Plymouth with 447,000
miles that is my alternate daily driver, a 1949 Plymouth with over
200,000 miles that is awaiting restoration, a 1969 Dodge with 160,000
miles, and my wife's 1993 LH with over 240,000 miles.

The most I've ever gotten out of any other brand was a '68 Ford with
260,000 miles. I've never nursed an import past 140,000 miles, and I was
paying a lot for that last 20k miles in its case.

 

Those are some impressive mileages. I am curious to know if you live in
a place where rust is not a problem.

I have a 1990 Dodge Spirit. Mechanically it's still good, and the
interior is still nice. My problem is that the UV rays have taken their
toll on the plastic and rubberized trim on the exterior. There is not
much left of the window sill moldings.

-KM

 

Correct. That's why we didn't mess with that. The transmission shifts
perfectly and the rest of the car, although looking kind of tired from
living outdoors in Florida, is in very good mechanical condition. I
(we) are the second owners, having bought it with only 28k on it and
have kept it in good operating order.
I am thinking that we have an electrical or computer issue here as once
my son does the restart routine, he can drive it all day and it will
work fine, without problem, as long as he doesn't shut it off. Then,
he'll have to stop and restart. He just doesn't have a bunch of money
to dump into diagnoses so that's why we're looking to pick brains here
first.
Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving.

 

Yes I do- Central Texas. Some of those years (particularly the '73)
would probably require a lot of TLC in the salt belt. Chrysler's
corrosion resistance had highs and lows over the years, with the late
50s process and the mid/late 70s process being particularly poor. By the
80s, they pretty well nailed it though.

 

I'm not sure I believe that altogether. I have always suspected that the
speedometer drive algorithm is a lot more tolerant of "dropped" counts
from the sensor than the transmission control algorithm. The speedo
algorithm can do a lot more smoothing of the counts than the tranny
controller since it doesn't have to react as quickly.

 

Since it's working okay forever after the old shutdown/restart routine, we
have to assume that it's genuinely worn out. That routine doesn't help bad
sensors and electronics. Rather, it helps us get past that first lousy
shift that sends it into limp home mode. At least that's what happens with
mine! It takes it too long to shift that first time, and that makes the
computer mad.

 

My hat's off to you. The first car which was truly "mine" in name and
driving was a 1990 Dodge Spirit. Around 1992-93, coastal flooding got
it while I was away at College. It was a nice little sedan.

 

The suns rays are a killer for many modern components.
I don't know any other solution than covering the car when not using it.
That's why a used car from a retired person often looks like new after
many years.

 

Hi...

Hey, I'm one of them... but my car sits outside in the bright
prairie sun all summer, and outside in the terrible terrible cold
of a Winterpeg (Winnipeg) Canada winter, too.

What I've found very useful to extend the life of the rubber parts
around the trunk and door and window frames is plain old silicon
spray. Two or three times a year spray a little on an old rag,
and wipe down the rubber, leaving it just a little wet and shiny.

Whatever you do don't spray it directly onto the rubber, it's
awful on the glass.

May be coincidence, but mine seem to stay like new forever - give it
a try

Take care.

Ken