94 dodge caravan transmission dropped to overdrive/passing gear?

Question

What would cause the tranmission to drop from the drive gear to 3'd while it was in idaling at a stop sign? I then proceeded to highway speeds at 5300 RPM's and wouldn't drop the normal highway RPM range. How long should I drive with that high of RPM, what do you think happened.

Answer 1

Check the tranny fluid level. I dont believe those cars had an overdrive button so it should not have done that.

Answer 2

Failure of the Output Speed Sensor will cause the transmission to go into "Limp Mode", whereby it will lock itself into second gear. This sensor tells the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) how fast the transmission, and therefore the car, is going. If the PCM loses this signal it will send the tranny into limp mode. On an OBDII engine this fault will cause the check engine light to go on, not sure about an OBDI like yours. IIRC the speedometer will stop working (at least on OBDII vehicles) when this failure occurs.

This is a common point of failure on Chrysler vehicles and the part is cheap and simple to replace as it just screws into the side of the transmission case. But you do have to get under the vehicle to do it :)

Answer 3

From what I have seen on previous posts of yours this caravan is equipped for a person with disabilities, I do not know what all has been added hand-throttle/chair lift/ hand brake so it is very difficult for anyone to say what is wrong for sure, I would take it to the people that installed the special equipment.

Answer 4

I think your mistake was buying a Chrysler product. They notoriously kill transmissions, along with all of the gaskets leaking.

http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl956h.htm
http://www.daimlerchryslervehicleproblems.com
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geuvLaE3FFVm4AyEBXNyoA?p=dodge+caravan+transmission+problems&prssweb=Search&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&x=wrt

And the dealer will never admit there is a problem with it. Hope some of these sites fit your particular problem.