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Limp mode

4K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  96_interped 
#1 ·
Hello everyone, I am new here. I joined up to learn more about a car my sister just purchased.

So I will start from the beginning. LOL. My sister jumped the gun and purchased an 02 300M with the 3.5L, before I had a chance to go with her to look at it. Dumb, I know, but can't change it now. Haha.

She has only had the car for a less than a week, and most of those days it have been spend in the used car shop where she purchased it from. The check engine light was on when she purchased it, and the used car dealer said he would do a tune up on it to cure the check engine light. She gets the car back, drives less than 30 miles and the tranny went into limp mode. And of course now, the used car dealer won't offer any help to repair that issue. It actually turned into a pretty ugly debate back and forth as first he said he would fix it or let her pick a different car. But upon him looking at it, he nows says she will need to pay half of the $1200 repair bill. I called a local transmission shop to get another quote, and low and behold, they already looked at the car. They laughed when I told them what I was quoted to repair it. He said he told the dealer the valve body would need to be replaced for a $550. So we are getting the typical "lets make more money of this deal" from the used car dealer.

I have checked the codes and she is getting several. P0700-Trans control sys malfunction, P0841-Trans fluid pressure/switch A CKT Range/Perf, P1776- Manufacturer specfic, and the P0700 code again. This was all in a 15 minute drive I took this morning.

I have been reading on the forum and doing some research myself. My question is, do you guys feel it is a valve body problem, or possibly something else? I have read about possibly bad contacts in the PDC, bad crank sensor, and faulty solenoid packs.

She had been saving her money for quite some time to purchase a used car, and this one pretty much cleared out the savings already. She can't really afford to just start throwing parts at this car, so looking to see if we are best to just let the local tranny shop put a valve body in it,or start looking at the other possible issues.

I am fairly mechanically inclined, but have usually let the tranny work be handled by the pros. How much work is involved in swapping a valve body?

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks

Shawn
 
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#4 ·
Little update. Can't say this is 100% accurate because she has not been driving the car much until the issue is fixed.

When I reset the codes, and restart the car, tranny shifts fine, no limp mode. It also seems that normal in town driving, no issues. It appears that only when she gets on the highway for an extended period of time, it happens. It will down shift hard and stay in limp mode until I clear the codes. I don't know if its extended driving that is causing it, or the extended driving at highway speeds that causes it to go into limp mode.

Around town trips are usually slower speeds, 35 mph at most, and only last about 15 minutes at the most. If you find a strectch of road and get on it, it feels like it shifts fine, firm but not a hard shift, and you can take it up to speeds above 70 without incident. So I am leaning towards the extended driving time at the higher speeds is tripping somethign and causes the limp mode condition.

I don't know if that helps at all,but figured it could help to narrow it down.

Thanks

Shawn
 
#5 ·
hey, u and i are in the same boat, but you are me about 2 months ago, thats how it started. its called limp along mode, its when the trans says, hey, i cant do this, gives up, and sticks in 2nd gear to GET YOU HOME OR TO A DEALER. lol, but im about 6K miles on limp along mode. i deal with it. in my case, the clutches are worn, and the over drive unit is no good, point proven. but i clear the codes, just fine, then, bam, 2nd gear. it can be fixed by alot of things, trans rebuild, tcm, whole new trans, solinooids, and the list goes on. its primarily what you are experiencing, if it slips often, and sometimes cold dont go into gear or reverse at all, start shopping, and still you dont know what it is. your best bet is to talk to a perfessional offline, face to face, a 3rd party, not a dealer, not a used car dealer, a certified technician, doin a side job for you, but you gotta know a guy with tools, not go to dodge say hey, come by later, scan my car, have some beers, that wont work. good luck, and p m me if you have any more questions
 
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