Dodge - Transmissions - Shifters - Grandcaravan :: 2007 Won't Shift Going Uphill / Bad EGR Valve
May 15, 2013
My 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan with a 3.8L engine won't shift going up hill. On any incline, it stays in the gear it was in when the incline starts and will never upshift. So we're stuck going 20 to 25MPH up hill. Once we get to the crest of the hill, it shifts to the next gear and we're good to go. From a standing still on flat land, if I nail the accelerator pedal, it also won't shift, I have to back off the accelerator, and it will upshift normally. What's up with this?
Have engine light on and the code indicates a bad EGR valve, and possibly a bad catalytic converter, but Autozone indicated that a bad EGR can also produce a code for a bad catalytic converter. They recommended replacing the EGR valve first, then see if the code comes back. But they didn't know if this would cause a loss of torque, which might be related to the shifting problem.
View 1 Replies
Advertisement
I am considering buying a 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan with a reported transmission problem. Mileage is around 120k, and the price MIGHT be reasonable even if a trans rebuild would be necessary. I have not seen the vehicle yet, so I'm not yet committed to anything.
Seller claims the car shifts just fine going forward but will not move in reverse. Is this immediately clear that rebuild is going to be necessary? Are there less invasive repairs possible such as valves or controls or other parts which might solve this problem?
I suppose a Caravan transmission at 120,000miles is probably nearing the end of its lifetime, at least that was true of older ones. But like I said, the price is low enough that the cost of a rebuild might be justifiable if all else about the vehicle looks good. I want to have a better sense of the prospects before I invest time in going to look at this...it's about 50 miles away. I have a local transmission shop that I trust and which has reasonable prices
View 17 Replies
I have a 04 grand caravan 3.8 liter. after filling up with gas & only after filling up i have a prob with the way the van runs. it will start and idle fine but once i shift in to gear and try to drive it starts to buck. if i take my foot off the gas it wants to stall. if i shift in to N or park the RPMs are around 400/500. if i rev the motor in N or park it will smooth out and idle fine and drive fine until the next fill up, then it starts all over again.
View 1 Replies
I recently, within last 2 weeks, started to have what feels like a "jerk" when my automatic Durango shifts. The "jerk" occurs when the car is cold (sporadic) and after the car is hot. When the car is hot it's a lot more noticeable and frequent. The durango has over 120K miles and the last transmission fluid flush it had, and the only one done, was about 99K.
I took it to my mechanic, he didn't do the transmission flush, and after a whole day of tests and diagnostics he says that the car has all the right timings and the only thing he could recommend is a transmission flush. He thinks the viscosity or correct viscosity could be causing this. My mechanic is fair and one of the better ones I've dealt with. In fact me didn't charge me at all for the work done.
View 11 Replies
My name is Jason and I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with an automatic transmission. It has trouble shifting. I have to drop it down from D into 2 and then back into D to get it to shift out of second gear most of the time. If I have to stop ten times in a trip I have to manually shift it about seven or eight of those times. On top of that, sometimes while I'm driving it will slip into Neutral but it'll still be in the D position. This just started and has only happened a few times so far. My transmission fluid levels are fine. I'm trying to see if there is any other solution besides rebuilding or replacing my transmission.
View 2 Replies
I'm having a problem with my 2009 Subaru Forester.
When I start the car from "cold" (i.e., it hasn't run in several hours, regardless of the actual temperature), the automatic transmission cannot engage drive for several minutes. I can shift the car, and reverse functions normally. When shifting, I can feel the car engage reverse, and feel it shift into neutral, but when I shift from neutral to drive, I can't feel it engage. I can rev the engine, and it will just act as if it is still in neutral. I also cannot use sport mode to manually get the car into gear. After a few minutes (3-4), the car will engage drive. However, at least initially, it still seems to be pretty rough, with a few times where it will rev as if it's half in neutral, and then jump a little. Once it does get going, it settles down and is fine.
I took it to the dealer, but wasn't able to leave it over-night, so they couldn't get the problem to re-engage. They inspected the car, thought that the shift cable was a little stiff, so they took it off, lubed it, and put it back (they recommended replacement, but didn't have the part in stock). The next morning, the problem repeated itself, so it certainly appears that the cable is not the issue. The dealer checked the transmission fluid and said that was all fine.
View 9 Replies
I have a 2013 Forester with 39k miles, and last week I was 200 miles from home, put it in Drive and it didn't engage. After car was left running for a few minutes, and shifting between P, R, N, & D, it finally engaged. I was able to get it home and took to dealer the next day. They looked at the car, checked the computer logs, and told me nothing was wrong. Since then, it's happened 3 more times, and now I'm noticing it's not shifting smoothly from 1st to 2nd gear (engine will rev and then it'll slip into gear).
To make matters worse, my wife couldn't get it out of Park two days ago. She had to use the shift lock release button, and could only start it when it was in Neutral. She then couldn't get it to back into Park and had to park it on a level surface with parking brake engaged. Heading back to dealer now, but would love to hear others' input.
View 8 Replies
I just completed a front brake job on a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan, installing new rotors and pads. Right front rotor and pad installation went perfectly. Left front - I heard a faint "hiss" as I compressed the caliper piston using a c clamp. In addition, as I placed the new inner pad against the caliper/piston, I noticed that the piston had become slightly "uncompressed," meaning it moved back out a little bit on its own. I compressed it again with a c clamp and had to rush to get the caliper back in place with the new pads in place before the piston SLOWLY worked itself back out and I wouldn't be able to fit the caliper around the new rotors and pads. I completed the brake job, pumped the brakes, and took it for a ride - all seems fine. The pedal is not spongy and it does not travel all the way to the floor.
Do I have anything to worry about? This is my 6th brake job in total. This is my first brake job on this vehicle. The slight hiss and the fact that the caliper piston did not stay seated after I compressed it bothers me.
View 18 Replies
I recently bought an 07 Dodge Grand Caravan and noticed that when we shut the rear door(trunk? hatch? whatchamacallit?) it makes an incredibly loud noise...almost like a gunshot. It seems as though the back glass is lifting off a bit and then slamming down. Is that something I can fix on my own?
View 4 Replies
I have a 2008 2.7 all wheel drive santa fe automaic. It has 110 Kilometers on it. It is stop and go traffic everywhere, terrible roads, and lots of hills. I have actually only owned it for about 14k kilometers.
It has been fine since I bought it a year ago up until about 2 months ago. I was coming to a stop and as I got right to the end of my stop, the car jerked and made a clunk sound. No smell. I could tell it was when the tranny was coming down from 2nd to 1st. I tried to replicate it but got nothing. Ignored it but then it happened again. It seemed more prevalent when I was moving from 1st to second to stop over and over.
As I began to pay attention more and more, it happens much more when going up a hill or down a hill and almost always happens when I am about to make a u-turn and the wheel is turned all the way to the left. When it happens, it isn't always a big jerk. It never happens at speed, the other shifts are fine, and if I shift from reverse to drive too fast and accelerate, I get a clunk as well.
View 1 Replies
I have a 2007 Chevy Malibu with around 190000 miles on it. Recently, first thing in the morning then I start driving, that car will not shift into 2nd gear for a bit. The engine will rev up the 2000 RPM and stay there. After a while it will finally shift. The fact that the engine stays revved that high for that long makes me nervous.
View 9 Replies
This may be an old question: is it beneficial to shift into neutral while coming to a stop in an automatic transmission? But, my new Ford Fiesta has a PowerShift 6-speed transmission that behaves differently from a standard automatic. According to Ford, it's "like two 3-speed manual transmissions put together, with the dual clutch and shifting components controlled electronically."
Since the PowerShift is really a computer-controlled manual transmission (without a fluid torque converter), it's actually in neutral when I'm stopped and the shifter is in Drive position. I can feel it disengage as I come to a stop. However if I try coasting to a stop uphill, the engine still pulls the car upward at low speed without my foot on the accelerator. So the computer has to judge when to activate the clutch.
The issue is, I tend to apply the brakes lighter than average and decrease speed at a slower rate to come to a stop. So I think I might be confusing the computer, working against the engine before it wants to disengage the clutch, whereas most people would come to a stop more abruptly and the shifting action would have no problem. This is why I shift into neutral early in my slow-down phase, so the engine doesn't have a chance of pushing the brakes.
View 16 Replies
My son has a 1987 Chrysler 5th Ave. The transmission (auto) does not want to shift in reverse. It does go in neutral and forward. And it drives well forward. How to fix this?
View 1 Replies
I own a '96 Honda Accord EX (4 speed transmission) currently with 133,000 miles on it. Last February (2014) I downshifted the car while going up a hill (yes, I now know that was a bad idea) and the subsequent jerk was immediately followed by a check engine light. The code was P0715 for Turbine Speed Sensor Failure; I read up what I could on Google, and brought the car to a Honda Center a couple days later to have a diagnostic run. They said the transmission was still okay and working fine, but recommended a transmission flush to replace all the fluid and clean the filter/pan (I can't remember exactly), which I did. They said the transmission would continue to deteriorate and that I should be aware that it will probably fail at some point, but the flush should buy me some time. (I've since read about transmission flushes as well.)
Fast forward to now, the car is still driving okay and the check engine light has stayed off. The transmission shifts into every gear and has not caused me any issues, but I can tell it's getting jerkier. I've driven Sprinters with terrible transmissions where you can fully feel a 'thud' as it shifts and, my car is not there yet, but it's deteriorating. Work put into the car over the past two years includes replacing 2 wheel bearings, fixing the CV axle, and replacing the spark plugs, with maintenance and the flush it ... (it had only 108,000 miles in 2012 and has since been cross-country twice).
View 8 Replies
Took my 2007 Honda Pilot in on Thursday for an oil change and trip inspection to a very reputable mechanic that specializes in Japanese cars. He said he found a small amount of leakage on the rear cover of the transmission (it is a two wheel drive) so he removed the cover, resealed, and refilled the fluid. The evening after I picked it up, as I was driving up a hill, the car started rolling backwards and no gears would engage. Had it towed back to my house.
No fluid in the reservoir and the dipstick smells burnt. Obvious trans fluid on the underside of car. Is the transmission fried? Does he owe me a new transmission? No trans problems in it's history. It has been a great car and I am anal about the maintenance. I have all records since new. Should I have it towed back to him on Monday morning or towed to a dealer? The car has 89,000 mostly highway miles on it.
View 16 Replies
I have the same problem noted on last weekend's show with another Subaru owner. My car has a burning type smell (burning rubber or burning oil) only when driving uphill on a mountain road. I'm not sure the answer given on the show is correct about the rubber under the carpet smelling because of the catalytic converter. The smell comes through the venting system.
View 2 Replies
I have a 2004 Grand Caravan 3.8 engine. For the last 2 months the oil light has been coming on when car is first started. If I stop engine and start again the light will be off. I don't think its actual oil pressure because the car runs fine with light on or off. I'm thinking a bad pressure sensor?
View 17 Replies
Sometimes when I start my 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan, 3.3 liter engine, the oil light comes on and stays on, even if I rev engine up. Engine sounds normal, does not sound like oil pressure is low. If I turn engine off and the immediately back on, light goes out and stays out. I replaced the oil pressure sending unit - didn't work. I hooked up a gauge - engine has 60 psi oil pressure at idle - plenty! I'm guessing an electrical problem in the circuit.
View 4 Replies
I have a 2005 Grand Caravan, this winter has been a cold one. The GC has always started without problem but after I back out of my parking spot, it sits outside, I put it into Drive and it will not move and after I give it a little gas it would still not move. None of the gears seem to work, but if I wait a little bit and the Van warms a little more it will go into gear and all is good. This does not happen all the time and when it does go into gear and I drive I do not have anymore problems until the next time it will "act up" on me again. Is this a problem or is it a cold problem and not a transmission problem?
View 7 Replies
My 2000 Dodge Grand caravan loses its gauges every so often. engine light comes on as well as ABS...
View 2 Replies
I got a great deal on this van, and I love it, with one exception. On hot days (73 degrees and hotter) the van will not start if it has been parked in the sun; until the temperature returns down to around 61 degrees (usually overnight, but I have waited it out in the parking lot at work a few times).
When this happens, the lights and radio work fine; the starter motor will not engage. No click, no chugga-chugga vroom-vroom. Sad Curto.
Note: October through about May in North Carolina, this car is fine.
I have replaced the steering column (after replacing the clock spring); I have replaced the Power Distribution Center.
When the problem first surfaced two years ago, I had a mechanic install a wire directly from the starter motor relay to the solenoid. That was an expensive lesson. I'm not sure what the lesson is, so it was REALLY expensive.
So, I thought maybe the Auto Shutdown Relay. Nope... pull that out, and the starter still turns, so that is not my problem. Now I am starting to thing Powertrain Control Module, or something else that could have a temperature-sensitive component.
View 10 Replies
