Cirrus problem

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rile - 08 Nov 2004 07:46 GMT

Without warning, my 2000 Chrysler Cirrus, just turned 70,000 miles

> > started having automatic transmission trouble. It downshifts very
> > hard with a double thump feel as if it is shifting directly from D
> > ignoring 3 and going directly to low. Afterwards, it will not upsift.
> > However, if I put it in P, turn the engine off, restart the engine,
> > put in D, the car will upshift...roughly. Or, if I shift manually to
> > N and slow down, but not enough for it to shift to L normally, then
> > shift to D, it is OK. One other thing, the check engine light came on
> > when this all started.
> > There doesn't seem to be any other problems other than it's shifting
> > hard and seemingly is stuck in L. Is there some sensor or computer
> > module that might be doing this? Anyone have any ideas? I'd like to
> > have some thoughts on the matter when I take it in for repair.
> I forgot to mention this......for several weeks my cruise control has shut off and would not restart until after I turned the car off. Is it possible these things could be related?

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Daniel J. Stern - 08 Nov 2004 16:10 GMT

> Without warning, my 2000 Chrysler Cirrus, just turned 70,000 miles
> started having automatic transmission trouble. It downshifts very hard
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> but not enough for it to shift to L normally, then shift to D, it is OK.
> One other thing, the check engine light came on when this all started.

Get the car to a competent transmission technician (NOT at a franchise
house like SCAAMCO, and NOT at a dealer!) for diagnosis. Your problem is
probably being caused by the input or output speed sensor, or possibly
another relatively minor component that's not working right, but the
longer you drive it like this, the larger becomes the repair bill. One of
the reasons this transmission family has a poor reputation is its "limp
home" mode allows it to keep transmitting drive power even when things are
broken or damaged -- operating in this mode places extreme stress on the
rest of the transmission, and cascade failures result. If the transmission
simply stopped working when something went wrong, the average repair bill
would be considerably smaller.

> I forgot to mention this......for several weeks my cruise control has
> shut off and would not restart until after I turned the car off. Is it
> possible these things could be related?

They are related. You may also be experiencing erratic speedometer
readings.

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Art - 08 Nov 2004 17:38 GMT

There is nothing wrong with some dealers. When my 300M went into limp mode,
the dealer had the car towed in to avoid heating up the AT fluid. The
sensor with installation was about $35. My extended warranty paid for the
tow. The repair was under the extended service agreement deductible. If I
did not have the extended warranty the repair would have been higher
because, according to my dealer, they are not allowed to charge diagnosis
charge for warranty work.

>> Without warning, my 2000 Chrysler Cirrus, just turned 70,000 miles
>> started having automatic transmission trouble. It downshifts very hard
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> They are related. You may also be experiencing erratic speedometer
> readings.

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rile - 09 Nov 2004 04:23 GMT

> > Without warning, my 2000 Chrysler Cirrus, just turned 70,000 miles
> > started having automatic transmission trouble. It downshifts very hard
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> They are related. You may also be experiencing erratic speedometer
> readings.

Your post showed up after the car was fixed. You were dead on correct
though. My local mechanic knew immediatley what the problem
was.....an input speed sensor. I also had the ATF flushed while they
were at as a precaution.
Thanks for your help.

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mic canic - 10 Nov 2004 02:29 GMT

i know of 2 vehicles that went to trans shops only to have the trans rebuilt
2 times on one and 4 times on another only to the trans shops ship it to us
THE DEALER because they did not have the correct tools and software to run
on the cars resulting in bad calls one needed a speed sensor and the other had
a corroded wire to the trans module
based on what you state a output speed sensor might be the cause

> > Without warning, my 2000 Chrysler Cirrus, just turned 70,000 miles
> > started having automatic transmission trouble. It downshifts very hard
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> They are related. You may also be experiencing erratic speedometer
> readings.

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