Hello everyone! I hope all is well with you guys. I need some help! I bought another vehicle to take some of the load off of my Monte and hopefully to keep my Monte parked in the winter. It's not another Monte....or a Chevy...but it is an American car! It's a 1996 Chrysler Town and Country LXI with the 3.8 motor. It's in really good shape for it's age and mileage of 181,000. However there is one big glaring issue.....it's stuck in second gear!!! When I first got it and brought it home it would shift thru all gears but keep kicking in and out of overdrive for no reason. We checked all of the connectors and wires and now the van goes from first to second and then neutral and then when you let off the gas bangs back into second and stays there. After doing some research the van is going into "Limp Mode." We have already changed the fluid and filter and there was no metal in the pan or anything out of ordinary. When it shifted it shifted smooth and made no strange noises. The solenoid pack has also been replaced. Does anyone know anything about the Chrysler 41te transmission? I am really upset about this and I have already put money into the van. I really don't know what to do from here. Sorry for the long post but hopefully someone knows something or has some advice or kind words.....I will take anything at this point lol.

 

It's been about 10 years since I work for dodge/Chrysler but those were always get trans put in them. They had a ton of issues with them. If I remember there's a few tsb's for them too. 181k is a lot of miles for one of those tranny.

 

it might be a computer or electronic issue, as those mid-late 90's vans were famous for them. sadly i'd say there's a good chance the trans is toast. my dad's '97 voyager lasted us untill around 230k miles then lost almost all the forward gears except 1st and second (and that was only because we limped it home). i can also say from experence you don't want to replace that trans yourself, what a nightmare!

you might want to bring your questions to the chrysler minivan forum (yes there is a chrysler minivan forum!!). i've asked quite a few questions about my dad's van and they have been very helpfull in resolving many issues. here's a link:

The Chrysler Minivan Fan Club Forums

 

Thanks for the reply's! I was always told that Chrysler had awful transmissions. We had the codes checked and they all point to internal transmission faults but it doesn't make sense to me because third gear worked at first when I got it and there was no metal or anything weird in the pan. The codes were 36,46,53. We had the CVI values checked which measure the wear on the clutches and they were all within limits. Thanks for the link to the Van forum. I posted and they seem to think it could be electrical or something really is wrong inside the trans. The van had been sitting since 2009. Could that harm anything? Is sitting bad on the transmission? I just wish the guy was honest with me if he knew about it. I don't have money to throw at this thing as I am trying to buy a house soon. It's a shame....other than the transmission the van is great. It runs smooth and quiet and no warning lights are on. I'm just upset about the whole deal.