Transmission Problem...I think???

[QuickPT]

Hi I have a question for all of you who have far more knowledge on the subject. I hae an 01 na pt with 66000 mi on it.
Lately, when i jump in and start the car and shift into reverse, the car shudders and the gears feel like they are slipping and it feels like the poor pt is going to stall. I just stop and wait 5 seconds or so and everything becomes normal. Also, from a dead stop under hard acceleration the 1st gear kinda slips or something.

Now there are a couple things I thought it could be. I have a very steep driveway i have to back out of. And im ussually in a hurry and I jump right in and start the car and quickly shift straight in R, which I have stopped doing. Umm, other than that I had my trans flushed about a month ago, but it was doing it before then. Oh, and it ussually happens when the engine is cold, and sometimes when i shift into Drive too.

Any advice would be very appreciated. Thanks

[SteelBlueGT]

If it is covered by a warrantee then I would run, not walk, to a dealer and have him check it out and see what the problem/problems are. If it is not covered I think you have done all you can by changing the fluid, making sure it is not burnt, making sure you have the correct fluid level, make sure there are no leaks. If it is slipping with no leaks then you may extend the life of the tranny with some tranny shift improver. If it is leaking some stop leak might work for a while. If you need to rebuild it on your dime I would look to an independent shop who understands your tranny and knows how to reubuild it with performance/heavy duty parts.

[purple04]

Your description sounds like a trans problem, but have you done an induction service? Many times when the intake/valves/injectors are dirty, the car will buck and stumble at first while the PCM tries to match the requested idle. A bad stumble will do funny things when the trans is first put in gear, due to the loading and RPM changes. The part that jumped out was that it is okay if you give it a minute to settle down. This sounds like dirty intake or internal transmission seals. The first is normal maintence, and fairly cheap. The second is major work and money.

[rszappa1]

Another Chrysler Tranny Problem....That is why when you buy a Chrysler with an Auto...you dont keep it more that 3 to 4 years...unless you wanr to pay for a tranny rebuild. I am sure that I will have my wifes Honda Civic many many many more year than my 2004 PT....I gets me that this all started in 1989 and still has not been fixed....Started out as ULTRA DRIVE back then....

[QuickPT]

Well I had my friend who has more mechanical knowledge drive the car and he said it might be dirty injecters..but it shouldnt happen so soon with only 65k. I put injecter cleaner in the gas whiched helped a little i guess. I also forgot that i did the "burp free" shift mod awhile back, and I do drive pretty hard on the poor car. So I spliced the wire back together. I also have never put new spark plugs in the car so that might be the problem. I am going to take it to a mechanic and see what they say...

[SteelBlueGT]

At 65K miles on the plugs and plug wires they dont owe you anything, so replace them with quality parts. Might want to start thinking about the timing belt too!!