03 T&C 41TE Solenoid Pack ???

[meep]

2003 Chrysler T&C 3.8
89,000 miles

Purchased at 83,000 in neglected state. did a fix-every-thing-found, been reliable since then. It givens driven every other weekend.

Thursday I hopped in it and it started a never-before THUD every time decelerating from over 35 mph. Feels like the AT is binding in a downshift, tach doesn't show any problems with engine rpm, engine binding. Discovered it does NOT thud if it's not in D, but 3 instead.

It's pretty bad too. You can almost feel the engine slapping around in it's mounts. It's BAD.

So I'm thinking it's the 4-3 downshift, and I discovered I can reproduce it EVERY time by manually shifting from D-3 if I'm cruising along.

It seems to come in and out of TC lockup just fine.

Though it only has 6,000 miles on the ATF+4 in it now, I added some LG platinum to it since we needed to drive it 600miles the next day. no difference. It ran hard the next day too, fully loaded, nasty traffic, trans approached 210F tops while in some stop-go beltway traffic between 0 and 20 mph, a/c running. It never did anything inconsistently, though there were a few times were it didn't "thud". no slipping, and temps stayed normal-- about 150F on the interstate.

SO--- I've read that the solenoid pack on these things may cause shifting problems and are known to go bad. I also know what will happen if I roll this van into any transmission shop... "$2900 for a swap, we don't troubleshoot these...."

Has anyone swapped out one of these packs? they are pretty reasonable on amazon, ATP unit for ~$84. Any advice?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[rshaw125]

They can get dirty and act up. Any trans codes?

 

[meep]

no CEL. I haven't tried the key dance... can I pull Trans codes w/o a code reader on this one? also hasn't hit limp home mode. A few times it's banged so hard that I can see this thing grenading if not repaired.

 

[rshaw125]

The trans codes will not throw a CEL. They have to be read by a high end reader. Dealer or good trans shop.

 

[meep]

Ok--- no I don't have codes and probably won't get them. I think the pack itself will be easy enough to swap out if there is adequate clearance under the hood.

thanks,
m

 

[keith]

I swapped the solenoid pack on my '99 GC 41TE. It was so long ago, I don't remember why I did the swap, but it was quite easy. Wash the grime away, unplug the harness, swap, plug in harness, remove the battery for 5 minutes, reconnect, drive. Cleanliness is critical, you don't want any dirt getting in the transmission. The replacement solenoid pack was newer and much quieter than the '99 buzzsaw.

 

[meep]

the pack for mine came in friday. the swap does not look too bad.... just dirty in there.

I'm not happy with the LG platinum i put in there as a bandaid attempt before driving it out of state. the TC engagement is mushy with it. So I'll likely swap 4 qts of atf while I'm at it.

just need some time to do it...

M

 

[meep]

Did the swap. On the surface it isn't too hard... did it twice in 2 hours. It's mainly just a tight squeeze down there with a few sharp obstacles.

Challenges are that it sits in a pit where a lot of dirt collects, the job of scraping off gasket material and cleaning out sand/grit/dirt without letting it fall into any of the passages were pretty tough.

First attempt resulted in immediate dumping of all fluids upon startup.... the gasket got folded (you can't see what you are doing upon install). So a redo with some gasket dressing for tack worked out much better.

First bit of driving was promptly rewarded with p0700 (general trans fault), engine light, and limp-mode. Repeatedly. On the 4th or 5th start (when I was giving up) it started shifting normally.

Every shift has improved in precision and consistency. the 4-3 clunk is 1/4 of what it was, and over half the time doesn't do it at all, but it's still there. We drove it all weekend hoping it would be relearning slowly, maybe it is.

I don't have a way to throw it into quick learn mode, and I'm not sure if I have to. It's certainly better than it was, tho not what it should be. But it doesn't rattle your teeth and its mounts at every stop now, so I guess that's something.

M