[gardidien]

I was driving Friday and suddenly the trans downshifted hard into limp mode and stayed there. The check engine light came on so i pulled over and turned the car off then back on. It then shifted out of limp mode but the light stayed on. i pulled the codes with the Torque app on my phone. P0700, P1776, P0871

It was driving fine so i disconnected the battery and let it sit. This cleared the codes and it was good. I drove all weekend without any problems.

Today I was driving into work and the exact same thing happened again. Downshifted into limp mode and the light came on. I pulled the same codes as before. After turning the car off / on it drives just fine although the light is still there.

My cluster still works when this happens. I turn the car off and then on again and it drives normal without any symptoms except for the engine light coming on.

The cheapest fix would be the input / output sensors. I can get Doorman brand from Advance Auto for $25. I haven't checked into the Dealer. Is OEM preferred in this case?

I guess second cheapest fix would be valve body and solenoid. Any recommendations here as to what to get and where, and what I could expect price wise if I have a shop do it?

Thank you in advance for any help and guidance you can provide me.

[Intrepidfan]

As far as sensors go, you DEFINITELY want to go OEM.

Aftermarket sensors have a very bad rep.

Solenoid and valve body, I would go OEM rebuilt. Not much more expensive and better peace of mind.

[peva]

You've probably already read that 2002 and later, limp mode is much more likely to be the solenoind and valve body, and on earlier years, more likely is the speed sensors. About the only thing that will nail it down is that if your speedometer quits reading while the problem is occuring, the problem is the output sensor. Oh - and some of the auto parts stores have and will let you use the type of code scanner that will give you the underlying tranny codes that will tell you more.

[gardidien]

Yea I was reading through some threads and it seems like its the valve body and solenoid over the sensors. The speedometer works fine when the problem is happening so I'm leaning the other direction. Is doing the swap myself a wise decision or would I be better off taking it in some place? I've done some minor work and I don't have many tools on hand.

Maybe if I got my hands on some 3.89 gears really quickly they can put those in while they're in there. If i take it to a shop of course.

First things first though. I'll see if any of the local places can do a deeper scan than my ODBII reader and Torque App.

[Ronbo]

Ah....the good old P1776!

P1776-SOLENOID SWITCH VALVE LATCHED IN LR POSITION

When this happened to my 2002 Special about 4 years ago the dealer ended up replacing the Solenoid Pack. Had code P1776.

[The_Jackfish]

The shop i work in did one a few months back. Same codes, replaced the solenoid pack and BAM, guy was happy as could be. Easy enough to do with shop amenities though

[gardidien]

Found a local ATRA member shop that would do the solenoid for $300-400 after pressure test and full diagnosis if that is indeed the problem.

The dealer said $89 diagnostic and $600-$800 to replace the solenoid.

Since its a 02+ car should I insist on replacing the valve body as well or as long as it all checks out, just go with the solenoid?

The ATRA shop said they'd use a Mopar solenoid but if they did the valve body it would be re-manufactured. It would be an extra $200 to go with a Mopar unit.

The ATRA shop also said he'd sell me 3.89 gears for $100 and install for extra labor (Didn't say how much yet).

[paintballdude05]

The 3.89 gears will send your spedometer all wonky. I'd only install them if you plan to go with a Special PCM.

[gardidien]

I'd be off by about 5-7 MPH correct? It would read higher than I'm actually going?

Might actually be a good thing for me.

[paintballdude05]

I think it would read slower actually. IRC when I only had the Special PCM installed without the gears my speedometer was reading quicker, I think it'd be the opposite only have the gears installed.

[gardidien]

I thought I read somewhere that it would slower but maybe I was thinking of the Special PCM like you said. Oh well, i'll probably pass on that. I'm going to be broke now.

[peva]

Putting the Special/2.7 gears in without changing the PCM will cause your speedometer to read high. The sensor that is used for the speedometer is the output of the transmission before the gear set. So the engine and the tranny output will be spinning faster for a given road speed.

Oops! I see that you posted that you already had gotten the codes.

[paintballdude05]

You're right now that I've jogged my memory a bit. I remember it was one of the factors that expedited my gear swap, it was driving me nuts.

[peva]

[gardidien]

ROFL!

Just an update. The shop just called me back. Needs a new solenoid like we thought. $470 out the door for all Mopar parts. Not bad.