Worried about auto transmission

[DIYPTGUY]

Is there any chance this could have been simply a fluke or caused by the "lurch" symptom? The idea of replacing the transmission is very scary to me. I simply dont have the money for it. Im a college student. Ive had this car for about 15 months now, and I can say it has been reliable up until the past 3-4 months. Since then, its just been one thing after another and its just getting extreme. All I wanted to do was buy a good, reliable American car. Not necessarily fuel efficient, just reliable. Im one of those people who believes that the success of this country is dependent on the success of it companies and corporations, and if the country doesnt have the support of the people, it will fall. So I bought American, and it seems that I got bitten, hard. I didnt think I would ever end up saying this, but Im seriously having second thoughts and regretting my decision.

To give you an idea of what is currently wrong with my car, there is currently: 2 suspension problems, ongoing problems with the brakes, a cooling problem a heating problem and now my transmission! Thats along with its other "quirks" and slowly dying parts. I just simply dont have the time to do it, nor the money to take it somewhere. Its too much! I dont even drive it hard. In, fact I like to think of myself as a very mature driver, and I keep up with the maintenance.

Im not hating on the PT, and I really dont mean to offend anyone, and Im very sorry if I do. I really do like the car, just hate all the damn problems im having. It seems many of you on here have had very reliable PT's and I truly am happy for you. Im happy that Chrysler can still make some reliable cars.

Sorry for the long rant, I didnt mean to write so much, I just had to vent. This transmission problem just puts the icing on the cake for me. I honestly dont have a clue what I will do if it ends up busting.

[prettybluewoody]

Oh, you better hope it's NOT the transmission: from personal experience (lots of fun this last week, yes indeedy!) I can tell you the tranny will likely run AT LEAST 4-5k...... ooooh, THAT just about melted the credit card. But on the other hand: my mechanic gave me a 100k warranty, plus it's a car I plan to keep for several more years minimum.

(Yeah, looking at it from another angle I could've taken that same money, dumped the Cruiser and gotten a different car, as opposed to spending the whole wad on repairs; to me --- you might make a different choice, and I respect that! --- it was worth it.)

[DIYPTGUY]

You gotta be kidding me. That's downright absurd! My friend just had the transmission in his 4WD Dodge ram re-built and solenoid replaced for $2200. Plus 3 year warranty and free services for as long as he has it. I dont see how the PT could possibly top that, theres more to a 4wd transmission than a fwd.

Is 4-5000k pretty much on par with what it normally costs?

[VNT]

Who flushed the trans?

Did they change the filter and did they use ATF+4?

Do the key dance and see if your getting codes.

You could have a sensor going, sometimes electrical gremlins appear, speed sensors go bad.

Was the trans full??

[bobdole369]

Im not sure if this is related or not, but It does have that "quirk" where it kind of lurches/jerks forward when coming to a stop.

Both my PT's do that. Its something with the way the clutches release. It happens on the 3-2 downshift. I never considered it an issue.

Oh, you better hope it's NOT the transmission: from personal experience (lots of fun this last week, yes indeedy!) I can tell you the tranny will likely run AT LEAST 4-5k

Sorry fella - you got robbed. Bad. A JY tranny with a basic function warranty is about $200 at a u-pick and a total rebuild is $500 in parts. Even at a a couple hundred an hour labor I can't see it going over 1500.

When mine goes, a JY tranny is going in and that'll run until I can get my original rebuilt on my own time, then swapped back. One good thing about the transverse mounted engine/tranny - Its actually EASY to get the transmission in and out, compared to a RWD car. Try pulling an auto tranny in a camaro. OMG. I needed 6 feet of extensions, a weekend, a week of evenings, and part of another saturday.

Is there any chance this could have been simply a fluke

Yes - most likely you are low on fluid, or the filter is clogged, or the TC was full of foam from ***too much*** fluid and didn't have enough viscosity to spin the pump, etc. So thats why you should run and check the fluid level. Get the car warm, actually drive for a while, and check the fluid while running in park. Then send it through all the gears slowly a couple times (park/reverse/neutral/drive/3/1/3/drive/neutral/reverse/park). Then check it again. You should be in the crosshatch. If over or under, add or remove as needed. Too much is just as bad as too little.

Of course, the internal problems could be bad, like worn clutches, a failing pump, leaking TC/ bad seal, etc.

[DIYPTGUY]

I took it to a transmission shop. I had to replace the transmission solenoid at 81,000 so I had them flush the transmission. They used ATF+4, but not sure if they changed the filter. The fluid level is good and I wasnt getting any codes from the computer.

I havent had any more trouble with the transmission since that day. It seems to shift up very smooth, though I will say sometimes it can be a little rough to downshift, not bad though. Im really just hoping for the best right now.

[DIYPTGUY]

Originally Posted by bobdole369

Both my PT's do that. Its something with the way the clutches release. It happens on the 3-2 downshift. I never considered it an issue.



Sorry fella - you got robbed. Bad. A JY tranny with a basic function warranty is about $200 at a u-pick and a total rebuild is $500 in parts. Even at a a couple hundred an hour labor I can't see it going over 1500.

When mine goes, a JY tranny is going in and that'll run until I can get my original rebuilt on my own time, then swapped back. One good thing about the transverse mounted engine/tranny - Its actually EASY to get the transmission in and out, compared to a RWD car. Try pulling an auto tranny in a camaro. OMG. I needed 6 feet of extensions, a weekend, a week of evenings, and part of another saturday.



Yes - most likely you are low on fluid, or the filter is clogged, or the TC was full of foam from ***too much*** fluid and didn't have enough viscosity to spin the pump, etc. So thats why you should run and check the fluid level. Get the car warm, actually drive for a while, and check the fluid while running in park. Then send it through all the gears slowly a couple times (park/reverse/neutral/drive/3/1/3/drive/neutral/reverse/park). Then check it again. You should be in the crosshatch. If over or under, add or remove as needed. Too much is just as bad as too little.

Of course, the internal problems could be bad, like worn clutches, a failing pump, leaking TC/ bad seal, etc.

Well this makes me feel a bit more confident about things. Thanks man!

[DIYPTGUY]

If the transmission does turn out to be bad, how tough would it be to replace the automatic transmission with a manual altogether? Is it doable? If so, is it worth doing over rebuilding the auto transmission (save money)? I would prefer to have a stick shift

[DIYPTGUY]

Well, I thought i'd give an update on things. I took the PT to a respected transmission shop, he scanned and to his suprise didnt find any codes. Which was weird because he said, if it clearly acted up, there should have been some sort of code stored. I also informed him of the jerk symptom going from 2nd to 1st. He reprogrammed the computer for free and no more jerking anymore!!

So, currently im under the impression that nothing is wrong with my transmission, and I saved myself $90 at the dealer. Happy day!

[freetobejbp]

Somw times a car will do something once and never again. I had the cruise(not my pt) control cut on in a car and speed up by its self. Did it once never again