Chryler - Towncountry :: Loss Of Power When Give It More Gas And Transmission Downshifts
Feb 9, 2015
I have a 2006 Chryler Town & Country with the 3.8L engine. The car has 170K miles on it and I change the fluids/filters as recommended. I have never changed the plugs and wires though, or the fuel filter. The car starts and idles normally, and no issues driving in-town or on the highway.
Recently I have noticed a loss of power when I give it more gas and the transmission downshifts. The engine revs up but the power doesn't really increase and it makes a low growling kind of sound. The engine also starts to hesitate at around 3000 RPM if I rev it in neutral. I am thinking it could be the plugs/wires, fuel filter or air filter (even though the air filter is less was installed at 163K miles.
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I have a 2006 town and country with a 3.3 and 220,000 miles.
Last week I was having some hard starts and loss of power on acceleration. My check engine light flashed during one episode so I had autozone check the code and it showed a misfire. I changed out my plugs and wires and that solved my issue. It started and ran like new.
Yesterday, I was running errands and my charging light came on. I was about ten miles from home and I decided to go for it. It was night so the headlights were on. Along the way, everything started to dim. Headlights, dash lights, airbag indicator came on and then the van just died. I walked the final mile and we towed it home.
The alternator and battery were both replaced last year in November making them both one year old. AC Delco battery 660 cca and I had a very reputable alternator shop rebuild the alternator.
So before I towed the van home, I hooked up some heavy duty jumper cables from a running chevy venture and let it charge 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes it was just clicks in rapid succession.
I hooked it up to a trickle charger overnight, 12v 2 amp setting. This morning, the van started, idled fine for about five seconds and then started trying to cut out. I kept it running by giving it gas but after about twenty seconds it stalled. I tried to restart and nothing but the rapid clicks. Three more hours on the trickle charger and the same exact thing happened. It started, began to stall, quit and then wouldn't restart.
I noticed today that the power steering reservoir was leaking a decent amount of fluid down onto everything around it including the coil pack. I replaced this today and used brake cleaner to clean all the surrounding components.
After doing some internet sleuthing, I found a thread with the same problem. For this guy, he had a disconnected ground from the negative battery terminal. I chased mine down (G101) disconnected and wire brushed it all clean. Put it all back together and still the same problem.
Here is what I have discovered:
Trying to jump it from another vehicle only results in the clicks. This is true whether the jumper cables on the dead battery are on both terminals or the negative is grounded on the motor. If the battery were the problem, I should be able to jump through it. If the alternator were the problem, I should be able to start with a jump.
After charging the battery, it will start once but then die soon after. Battery with the key off will read just under 12 volts (11.9, 11.6). With the key on, it will drop to the 8's (8.6, etc.) I have not yet had the battery or alternator bench tested. I plan to start with the battery in the morning.
It seems to me that the alternator wasn't charging the battery or it wouldn't have just killed the battery as those accessories should be powered by the alternator. It shouldn't be a starter issue since it will start after being on the trickle charger.
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I poured 2 ounces of power steering fluid into an automatic transmission. What a wake up when I saw gold instead of red dumping into the funnel. I then poured 14 ounces of ATF+4 into the transmission to top it off. It's been only 8,000 miles since the transmission was flushed. Should I flush now or is the power steering fluid compatible?
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Having downshift problems? The dealer has "flashed" the software 3 times and the hesitation still occurs.
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I am getting to the point with this car that I can't stand driving it This thing where the transmission downshifts as I slow down and come to a red light is the most obnoxious feeling I've ever experienced in a car. What's worse, is when I go to speed up again and it's in the middle of one of its downshifts and hick up so bad it feels like it's can fall out of the bottom of the car. I'm done trying to deal with Toyota dealerships, all they do is tell me that Toyotas don't have transmission problems and that my car is fine unless it kicks on a light.
I feel like if this transmission was reprogrammed to act more like a normal transmission Like the electronically controlled transmission that was in the 1995 Alexis that I sold a few months ago, or my wife's 2006 solara or the 2008 I asked to 50 I used to have, the car would be fine. But this thing is neurotic, jerky, and unpredictable.
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We have a 2007 Limited that we love everything about except the way the transmission downshifts to first gear when it seems to me it should stay in second. My inlaws have a 2007 XLS and it doesn't do this. This is our third Avalon and the only one to do this. The dealer we bought from says this is normal but I strongly disagree. Is there a service bulletin on this or what else can be done.
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I've noticed lately in auto mode (not in sport mode) when I'm going downhill on a section (doing maybe 45-50 mph) of road and apply the brakes, the transmission wants to downshift automatically to 5th gear. I know in Sport mode if you are not using paddle shifters this seems normal. I don't think this is normal in just auto mode, non sport.
I don't think mine is normal as I don't remember it downshifting this much in auto mode. I'm thinking fluid level needs to be checked. I know there is a sensor in the transmission that senses the angle of the car so not sure if it's being overly aggressive or not.
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My 2011 toyota tacoma auto transmission downshifts on any slight decline, even to the point of losing traction in the rear end if I am on slippery pavement. How can I disable the electronic engine brake?
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I bought a 2003 Jetta with a 5 speed automatic transmission (09A tiptronic) but it upshifts and downshifts really bad, it doesn't matter if it's cold or warm. After reading a lot of posts in here I thought that what was wrong with the car was the valve body on it, so I bough a re-manufactured valve body and replaced the old one. When it was in the shop I was told the wiring harness was burnt/fried so they replaced the harness too. I got the car back and it still does the exact same thing, so I don't know if the transmission is bad or maybe it can be a bad TCM. What could be wrong with it?
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My 2004 VW jetta has 139k on it. Whenever I come to a hard-ish stop or almost-stop, the transmission downshifts to 1st and won't get out of it unless i play with the tiptronic mode selector and coax it to upshift. it shifts well and works well in gingerly driving other than in this circumstance. i took it to a shop and they say (as they always do) it needs a new tranny. I'm wondering out loud if there is some kind of mounting instability issue that could explain this. This is definitely a case of needing a new transmission. I have read a bunch about solenoids being the culprit in general shifting problems, but not this exact set of symptoms and circumstances.
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2012 2.5 SE Auto 53,000 miles ... A few days ago I started getting very hard downshifts and long upshifts. The downshifts were hard enough that the person at the dealer didn't make it out of the parking lot on the test drive. Most noticeable from 3-2 and 2-1. 1-2 is hard and 2-3, 3-4 and 4-5 take a few seconds to happen. No lights or limp mode.
In recent months I was getting a thump about a second or two after coming to a stop. Enough of a thump that the car would move forward if I didn't have my foot firmly on the brake. They flashed something(the ECU?) claiming there was a TSB for my complaint but it didn't seem to make a difference. I bought the car with 40,000 and the trans never felt right to me. I had them change the fluid just before 50,000 so they couldn't deny a claimed based on failure to maintain.
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If I understand correctly my 2004 Expedition has the 4R75E transmission. We are experiencing a clunk upon acceleration when the truck downshifts from 4th to 2nd. I had the fluid & filter changed, flushed the transmission with cleaner. It still does it but not all the time. I turned OD off and I didn't notice the problem when shifting from 3 to 2.
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2001 expedition, 198,000 miles. Got p0781 code ,1-2 shift error. replaced the accumulator valve with a factory tech valve body. Pan was clean, some gray material on the magnet but not bad. 1-2 worked fine after vacuum swap, but when trying to shift from 2nd to 3rd gear, the transmission downshifts hard all the way to a stop, like the brakes are on.
I can manually drive in 1st and and 2nd but when I put it in drive it will downshift/brake instead of shifting from 2nd to 3rd. pulled the main valve body and 2-3 and 3-4 shift valves seem good, no sticking. 3 other valves were sticking. i think they are the Solenoid regulator valve , and coast clutch shift valve, and low/rev modulator. Could they be causing the hard downshift/braking?
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I've noticed that when I'm coasting to a stop and my speed gets to about 27 MPH, the transmission downshifts (RPMs increase) until I reach about 22 MPH. I'm not applying the brakes at the time.
It's a bit annoying as it sometimes bleeds off just enough speed that I need to accelerate to reach the point I was planning to stop at. Is this normal?
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Car is a 2001 Accent 1.6L 4 door automatic with about 130,000 miles on it.
Transmission shifts correctly into reverse, drive, neutral as well as manually shifting into 2nd and 1st. When in drive I will accelerate perfectly through 1st gear, shifts smoothly into 2nd gear then the problem arises. The car will shift ok into 3rd, but if I let off the gas to coast to a light or a corner, etc, the transmission physically downshifts or locks up in 3rd (like driving a stick, ie the car has drag like the converter is locked instead of freely coasting). It feels like 3rd gear but could be 2nd. When I go to accelerate again without coming to a stop the car has this same feeling of drag with no power and speeds up very slowly (almost like i am pulling something behind the car or am in a gear that is too high). If I give it enough gas to force a downshift it really slams that downshift. While the car accelerates through the rpm range after this downshift it will rev past the normal up-shift rpm until it finally slams into the higher gear. Or if i hold the gas steady at the higher rpm the car will suddenly slam into the higher gear. after all of this nonsense the car drives perfect through to OD. The problem is much worse going uphill and is consistent every time it is driven.
Also, sometimes the car would shake and vibrate when hitting the gas during this "drag feeling" until i let go and did it again. This is pretty random compared to the main problem but also seems to happen while the car is in 2nd or 3rd. This has been happening for about 5 months now and as far as i know was sudden. And on another note it suddenly was shifting fine the other day while driving it. I haven't driven it since then but this completely stumped me, as most problems will do when they magically disappear.
There is no check engine light, OD works fine and the car does not go into the safety mode where it will shift to 3rd gear on the highway. It's city driving that is the real headache (2nd and 3rd gear difficulties). Would the pulse generators cause this? bad TCM? i haven't scanned anything yet but will be within the next few days(at pep boys or similar) as well as ohming out pga and pgb. i have found resistance readings for pgb but nothing for pga, what should pga read? fluid is also within acceptable amount and color.
My initial thoughts were dirty or stuck solenoids/valves in the valve body and i was going to do a filter and fluid change with a quick valve body cleaning and check. But after researching on here I am starting to think it may be electrical. The only reason I put my scenario up is because it seems that everybody else who is having a similar problem is also having the "no reverse" or "shifting into 3rd on the highway" problems while i am not. On a random note, for my own piece of mind, how do the pulse generators work? Are they just reading ticks on a gear cog in the tranny or something? fluid flow?
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My beloved Treg is marooned at the dealer again, having been towed there this morning. Transmission is all over the place...shifts into 5th and stays there, or extremely jerky shifts - especially downshifts. Gear position indicator is highlighted in red and no longer indicates which gear I'm in. Check engine light is on; no message in MFI...
Incidentally, it appears that the dealer and/or VWOA is starting to understand how to treat luxury vehicle buyers. Roadside assistance was very responsive and courteous. Dealer set me up with a rental from Budget...made a point to have me pick something similar to the Treg (not a POS econobox). I'm driving a Ford Exploder...a far cry from the Treg, but at least it's an SUV and has similar seating and hauling capacity.
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I bought a 95 Explorer with a known bad transmission, rebuilt it (broken band and chipped intermediate apply piston), put it back in, and now it's acting odd.
It wants to start in third. I can manually start it in second (first rarely works), shift it to drive at about 30, and it's fine. It shifts into OD, locks the TC, and when given a bit of gas kicks down to second. It downshifts during deceleration, but once I come to a complete stop, it'll try to start in third again. The only transmission code it's giving is for incorrect first gear ratio, there is an off and on engine code for the EGR pressure sensor as well.
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I have a 2005 Sante Fe 2.7 4WD with 168K miles. Last week I'm driving at 45 mph with cruise control on and it just downshifted to 3rd and then back to 4th in about 3 seconds.
It did this on the highway at 55 as well. I used the manual shift option and it works perfectly. It still shifts smoothly in auto mode but around every 5 minutes or so it will downshift and back again.
Here's what I know.
1. Using automatic mode in Drive it shifts smoothly from a stop to speed but then downshifts and back occasionally. It does this with Cruise Control on and off.
2. Using the manual mode and shifting on my own works perfectly. Even when the cruise control is on it doesn't skip or downshift.
What it could be?
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2002 Hyundai Accent with automatic transmission. This problem happens only if I floor the gas gas on the highway (trying to pass somebody or get out of the way in a hurry) or if I apply too much gas after coasting around a sharp turn. My car will then downshift with a jerk and an audible THUNK!. Right now I just avoid those situations and it shifts through all its gears fine, it only happens when I cause a sudden downshift. Transmission fluid level and color fine.
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I have a 2011 Hyundai Elantra GLS... Few months back I refueled my tank with degraded fuel (of course i did not know about it and some refueling stations in our country mix oils) and the problems started to arise with my car.. initially it all started with jerks and cracking sounds from the engine.. I then took it to the dealership and cleaned everything except the injectors but the jerking and cracking problem was solved.. but it still had a pickup problem.. whenever i tried to accelerate from 40km/h to above, the transmission seems to give a jolt make a clicking sound when downshifting.. and the acceleration compared to before has degraded.. I took it to the dealership again and their answer was drive it for 300 km more everything will b fine.. but i have driven the car for 1000 km more but the problem is not solving.. I don't know.. my warranty period is over.. in our country they only provide for 12000 km or 1 yr warranty.. now i have checked online and it seems Elantra transmission has bugged a lot of ppl..
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I have a 2000 ranger 4.0l 4x4 automatic transmission 5r55e. When I put it in drive I don't have any problems except in do it starts jerking when I give gas. When I put it in reverse I can move but as soon as I give gas it stalls the engine tranny was sitting in another truck swapped it with mine I changed the filter and 5 1/2 quart of oil.
I when to a transmission shop plugged it inn no codes and he said he would changes all solenoid and valve body gasket but he's not sure what is the problem. So I started to take out valve body and notice the oil is darkish red and was wondering if it was normal or not and if I'm taking that valve body out for nothing or should still go ahead ...
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