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Instrument panel/gear shifting issue

983 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Mr_Spork 
#1 ·
Hello all,

First-time poster here, and I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable than I about Intrepids (and cars in general) might be able to point me in the right direction on a problem my 1995 Intrepid is having so I have something to suggest to my mechanic. My experience level with cars is beginner-intermediate; you can tell me what to look for and I'll probably know what you're talking about, but I very likely won't come up with many novel ideas on my own.

So, anyway, the problem: when I start my car, sometimes my instrument panel won't work. No speedometer, gas gauge, etc. Nothing. The car will still run, and things like the radio and blinkers and A/C (well, not the A/C; that's an entirely different problem) will work just fine. However, while my instrument panel is completely dead, my car won't shift gears, leaving me stuck in first. Not a huge deal when I'm putzing around on city streets, but a significant hurdle to, say, driving on the freeway.

Normally, there will be literally no lights lit up on my dashboard, other than my blinkers if I turn them on. Sometimes, however, I'll get the classic "every light on at once" thing, but otherwise the symptoms are the same. Usually the problem corrects itself after a couple minutes. Sometimes it takes longer - up to 25 minutes once. This was annoying, but I hadn't gotten around to fixing it because, like I said, it eventually fixes itself and everything's fine until I turn off the engine.

Today, however, while driving home on the freeway from a city a couple hours to the south, something new happened. While I was going about 75 and trying to pass someone, my car suddenly dropped into first gear and my panel went partially dead (speedometer and tachometer were still working, gas gauge was dead and transmission range indicator had all lights lit up). All of a sudden I was understandably redlining my tachometer and going about 20 miles slower, much to the annoyance of everyone behind me. It fixed itself after a few seconds. It did this twice more before I got home. This is new; previously I had never had a problem after it started working properly.

My only vaguely educated guess based on my research is that it's something computer-related, but I'm far from an expert. Any other thoughts?

Thanks!
 
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#3 ·
I know this is old (did you ever find out what was going on?) but I'm gonna guess ignition switch. The switch has multiple sets of contacts and you can lose power to one of the three control modules (ECM/TCM/BCM) without the others and without the entire vehicle shutting down. This will throw a comm failure on CCD bus error code, will cause the gauges to go dead and will cause the transaxle to shift into limp mode.

I do not recommend driving the vehicle much while this is happening. A few high-speed kickdowns into limp and I wound up with a stripped spline in my planetary gearset. I cleaned my ignition switch contacts, however, one time, years ago, and the problem completely resolved.
 
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