Sometimes Lucky is Better than Good
A mid-’90s Dodge Caravan came into the shop with the complaint of a rough noise/feel when driven above 45-50 mph. The van had been into a couple of other local shops in an attempt to find the noise with no success, and the customer was getting frustrated.
As normal, I started with a road test to see whether I could duplicate the customer complaint. Sure enough, upon reaching 45 miles per hour the van started to make a low growling sound and you could feel a little vibration through the steering wheel. It was time to get the van inside and do a visual inspection.
Solenoid-Pack Information for the Chrysler 62TE
The 62TE solenoid pack is made up of six shift solenoids, one line-pressure solenoid, a temperature sensor and five pressure switches. The pressure switches are just like the ones in a 604 solenoid pack.
Intermittent TCM Operation Creates Diagnostic Puzzle
She said her 1999 Dodge Caravan wasn’t shifting properly and her transmission-range indicator on the dash had a malfunction, and not even the Dodge dealership could find the problem. After performing our Certi-care evaluation, which includes test-driving the vehicle, scanning for service codes and performing a visual inspection, I was unable to find anything wrong. There were no codes, shift points were good, fluid was in good condition and the range indicator was working properly.
Thinking Outside the Box
After the customer left, I hopped into the vehicle and pulled it up in a bay, noticing that the speedo cluster’s odometer was not lit up, nor was the speedo working. I grabbed a scan tool, and, sure enough, it had a 452 code for loss of speedo signal. I thought blown fuse, because the odometer was not working. I checked the fuse and it was blown.
Extra Diagnostic Steps Prevent Mistaken Assumption
A 2000 Dodge Caravan with a 604 transmission was brought into one of our Certified Transmission locations with the customer concern of no shifts and no power. Our initial diagnostic checks confirmed that:
• The transmission was in limp mode
• The speedometer was inoperative
• The PRNDL lights were illuminated.
