Hello all,

I have an automatic 2005 SXT, and I was on here awhile back with transmission issues involving fluid leaking into the radiator. Luckily none got back into the transmission (changed the fluid/filter to make sure) but now, after replacing the radiator and about 9 months later, another issue has popped up.

Months ago I had a p0743 code pop up. I noticed that the RPM was a bit higher than usual and it lost the rough drop in RPM from the overdrive. The guy who pulled the code at autozone said that changing the solenoid would solve the issue but that I could also ignore it and deal with the higher RPM. Everything was fine for months then I noticed it started to go into overdrive again, with a smooth shift this time, and the check engine light went off. About a week later I heard a loud whining noise from under the hood, checked it and saw smoke coming from the tranny dipstick. Added some fluid and everything was fine. Last weekend my alternator and battery went out and had been going bad for about 4 months so I figured the issues might have been related to that.

Made it a whole week and started hearing the whining from the tranny again. When i checked the dipstick (which is nearly impossible to get a good read from) it was was at the appropriate level so I added some Lucas and the noise went away for about a day. Driving home from work the next day the car started slipping and disengaging between 1-2 and 2-3. Pulled off the road, added more fluid which actually stopped it until I was on my road when it started to do the same thing but worse. No codes popped up for any of this.

I have the car up on jacks now, checked under the car and I can't find any places where it would be leaking. Pulled out the battery and air filter casing and found nothing. I've been keeping a close eye on the fluid levels and looking for spots in the driveway since the time it smoked so if it is leaking it only happens when driving.

Basically I'm wondering if this could be caused by something electrical (such as the solenoid I never got around to replacing) or possibly the shift cable, which I read can be the cause if the whining is related to engine speed, which it is. Today I'm going to pick up more fluid and turn it on while its on the jacks to see if it will leak anywhere but besides that I'm stuck without help.

 

Does the transmission fliud smell burnt? I bet your overheating the transmission. If I where you I'd replace the $180 shift selinoid.

 

No, the fluid is still red and smells normal. Is there a way to drain the fluid without taking off the pan?

 

first how many miles are on your neon/ if its over 54000..?? I would sudjest you change the fuid and filter...You guys wonder why your having troubles with your trannys over 100000 miles for??..Im old school..we changer our tranny fluid and filter at 54000 miles....and never ever had troubles with our trannys yet ..so far

 

You have to crack the pan loose in order to drain it. You can hook up a small hand pump with 2 feet of fish aquarium tubing and suck it out the dipstick tube. Go slow and feed it down, it will work I've done it before.

 

or you can un hook the right side tranny line that goes into your radiator..see where the top line goes to,the left or right side of your radiator..top line should be the presser side...you can pump your fluid out that way..had to do that three time on different cars because the line in side the radiator broke and pumped tranny fluid in the coolant and coolant into the tranny...had to flush both systems out..was told by a friend who is ase ..said to run that line in a bucket..then keep pooring tranny fluid into the tranny until the fluid turns nice and red..=thats a tranny flushout..

 

So I replaced the shift solenoid and did a flush. Everything was good for about 3 days then the noise returned. The noise seems to get louder the longer the car is driven, starts at kinda like a grinding noise then turns more towards a whine. The weird thing is it'll do it in just 1st, then after a few miles goes to 1st and 2nd, then 3rd. But it stops when going at highway speeds. Could this be a bad torque converter issue? Or possibly the TCC solenoid? After about 20 miles it starts to slip and go in and out of gear.

Also there haven't been any codes, and after doing the key dance there was nothing.

 

sounds like your still low on tranny fluid..

 

I hate to say it but it sounds like you have the same problem I had and I never did figure it out. I tried another solenoid pack and the problems returned. After the car left the wife stranded twice I had to take drastic measures, so I went to the junkyard and pulled a trans out of wrecked car. Fortunately I got a good one. It's been a few months and no issues since then. It made me mad as hell though. The car only had 81K on it at the time and I've owned it since new. I maintain my vehicles better than most, so I know it wasn't because of lack of maintenance. I will say I'm running the same torque converter and solenoid pack from my old trans, so I know neither of those were the culprit.