1992 Chrysler New Yorker Intermittent transmission problems

Tiny
RSCHEMBER
  • MEMBER
  • 1992 CHRYSLER NEW YORKER
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 236,000 MILES
92 Chrys. New Yorker, 3.3L V6, 4 sp. Auto w/ OD

I bought this car from my girlfriend and when she bought it, the transmission's 4th gear didn't work at all. She had a used transmission swapped in as well as a used transmission computer since the old one was deemed faulty. All has been fine up until now.

I've been driving the car for about 6 months, and just suddenly the transmission started acting up again. Everything works fine until being driven a while and getting the engine nice and warm. Then at random intervals when I'm slowing down from 55mph to corner or come to a stop, once I get down to about 35mph, the transmission will drop into 1st gear (quite hard) and stay there.

Shifting the car to neutral and back will not fix the problem, but shifting the car into neutral, shutting the engine off and restarting it, then shifting back down into Drive will. The transmission will work properly again after that at least until it decides to mess up again.

I checked the fluid level and it's fine -- I also get no lights on the dash when it happens. I'm pulling my hair out. I've taken it to my mechanic, but since it only acts up at random (about once a day now) he says he can't diagnose it. Help!
Saturday, December 15th, 2007 AT 7:32 AM

5 Replies

Tiny
2CARPRO JACK
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,533 POSTS
Try a trans shop. They will be more familiar with the problems like this than a general tech would. Ask them to keep the vehicle overnight so that they can drive it and replicate the problem in the morning or on the first drive of the day
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Saturday, December 15th, 2007 AT 8:33 AM
Tiny
RSCHEMBER
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Well, now this weekend the problem progressed further. Now the trans won't shift into 4th gear. It tries to, but it'll surge really hard 2 or 3 times and eventually just stay in third. Does the same thing at about 30mph in light acceleration -- I assume this is a TCC problem since it doesn't do it if I drive the car in 3rd instead of OD. Time to hunt down a trans shop I guess :( Here's hoping I can afford it!
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Monday, December 17th, 2007 AT 2:42 AM
Tiny
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  • MECHANIC
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Sorry about that
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Monday, December 17th, 2007 AT 7:18 AM
Tiny
GCARNAHAN
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  • 1 POST
What did the outcome turn out to be? I ask because you just described in detail, what I've begun to experience.
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Friday, January 18th, 2008 AT 1:50 PM
Tiny
LOKI1200
  • MEMBER
  • 11 POSTS
Okay just for giggles type in 41TE into a search engine. Chrysler made 28 changes to this tranmsission between 89 and 92 because of it's legendary failure rate. The biggest cause of this was the wrong fluid, these tranny will only function for any length of time with chryslers 7176 fluid or ATF+3 any other fluid will cause a multitude of problems and dexron ii or iii can cause irrepairable damage there are a number of fixes you can do but harsh downsift and unscheduled shift changes are more likely to be a computer error and you would need yet another computer or at least a flash(reprograming) this can be done by the dealer or most tranny shops. Hope this helps
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Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 AT 12:22 AM

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