Hi there,

I just bought a 2005 Dodge Neon SX 2.0 Automatic 4 door and it runs great. Been driving it for the past 2 days. Now all of a sudden without any warning, the transmission will just start revving while driving at low speeds. Even at a dead stop it will not go into gear, but if you put it in gear and give it a couple minutes it will all of a sudden work again.
The car has 134,000 kms on it.
I did some research online and the possible issues they say is radiator fluid got into the tranny, input and output speed sensor or shift solenoid.
I was going to try changing the tranny fluid and filter tomorrow but would like to know if anyone else on here has had this same issue and what the solution was before I start throwing money at a car I just bought to get me through the rest of the winter before I take my summer car back out.

If you have any questions or need anymore information, please do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you in advance for your time and knowledge.

 

Did you buy from a private seller? Do you know the history of the car? I hate to say it, but some people are not honest (hard to believe, right?) and maybe did a quick sell to get rid of it with a known transmission problem. You can try changing fluid/filter. Best bet is to get it looked at by a reputable transmission shop. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes it was from a private sale. The lady I bought it from was very honest about everything else that was wrong with the car, but who knows if she knew if there was a transmission issue or not.

As I think back to the day I started having the issue, the events were that during that trip around town, I drove through a huge puddle of water from all the rain and melting snow. It seemed to work good so far. I then hit a huge pothole on the front passengers side and about 20 minutes after that the warning light came on and the car started revving while in gear. It finally caught again and drove fine for another 5 minutes, then it happened again but took much longer to catch the gear again.
Now it seems like it happens when I slow down to make a turn or at a light or stop. Switching from drive to park or neutral or reverse does nothing. If I leave it in drive and just sit there not doing anything it will all of a sudden just start working again.

This entire time, since the first gear slip, the check light has been on.

I am off work for a couple days after tonight, so I am going to pull it in the garage and have a look at it. My thing is I really don't want to spend much money on it because like I said, I only need it until spring when my summer car comes back out of storage.

Any and all suggestions will be looked at and I appreciate the help.

Thanks,

 

There have been issues with the transmission cooler tube cracking inside of the radiator and mixing coolant and transmission fluid. If caught soon enough the transmission can be saved, but I'm not suggesting that's your problem. I would start by connecting a code scanner to see what codes come up and go from there.

 

Yes, this^^. Get the codes read. That will be the first clue. Also check the fluid on the trans dipstick.

 

Thanks guys. I was able to get it in my garage yesterday and changed the filter and fluid and it is now working great. It was water that got into the tranny through the vent when I was forced to drive through the river of water on our streets.