My trans has been acting funny for a couple years where it would every now and then not go to 3rd or 4th gear and I would simply shift to neutral and turn off the ignition while driving (not recommended by the way) and restart and it would work fine. Now it seems after years of minor trouble has now gone into "limp mode" where it will only go into reverse, 1st and 2nd gears. The parts store ran the diagnostics check on the check engine light and gave me these codes: P1775, P0740 torque Converter, P1776, P0733 gear 3 incorrect ratio, P0734 gear 4 incorrect ratio, P0401 EGR valve, P1698 transmission, P0420 O 2 sensor, P0700 transmission control came up twice. This van is not worth spending 1 to 2 thousand dollars on fixing. Anyone have any info? Thanks

 

Wow! All sorts of problems.

> P1775,76 are solenoid switch valve problems. Could try a new solenoid pack at around $150.
> P1698 is no CCD bus messages from TCM. Something is effecting the data bus and the transmission. Top of the list is cracked solder joints on the instrument cluster connection. Retouch the solder joints. Free fix.
> P0740 could be a bad torque converter or something as simple as a loose TC solenoid connector
> P0700 is just saying you have transmission codes stored in the TCM. These codes are a separate set of codes your parts store can't read. Have a tranny shop read them.
> Gear ratio error codes can indicate worn clutch plates. Have a shop read the CVIs to verify.
> P0420 - Changing O2 sensors can fix it but it's usually a bad cat converter
> P0401 - Bad EGR valve or sensor.

What would I do? Disconnect the negative battery cable to reset the codes then see what comes back. Check connections for security and corrosion. Could try a new input speed sensor. Speedo going nuts? Try the output speed sensor. Tranny fluid been in there a while? Drop the pan and change it and the filter. That will let you check for metal shavings in the pan. If you see much more than metal fuzz on the magnets it's time for a rebuild...or junk it.

 

Thanks Cougar41 for the advice I am going to try and start looking at some of the simpler things now and see if that makes a difference and go from there.

As far as my speedo, yeah that thing has been acting really strange in fact my whole gauge cluster in my dashboard has been acting up. Wasn't sure if that was connected with the problem or not but here is what it has been doing. Every now and then when I start the engine I have no gauges; gas, tachometer, speedometer, and my digital odometer all dead. I can bang on the dash and sometimes it will come back and other times it will come back on it's own after a couple days when I start it. Now the strange thing has been my speedometer with engine off will be on 0 but when I started one day it went up to about 30 mph while I was sitting and then when I drive it would go up from there and I would have to subtract 30 mph from the speed it showed on my speedo. But over time it has gotten worse to where now when I start the engine it goes up to 70 mph at a dead stop and then goes from there until reaching 120 mph where it of course bottoms out. Thanks again for all your help Cougar.

Keith

 

Regarding the P1698 code where would the possible bad solder joints for the instrument cluster be found? I do have some soldering experience so that would not be a problem at all but I am not sure where these solders would be located. Also are there any diagrams on the internet that show where all these solenoids are located and the connections for them? Speed sensor locations and etc...

Thanks again,
Keith

 

Here is a link to a slideshow that shows you how to get at the cluster and how to make the repair. It's the solder connections securing the connector to the circuit board. It should get rid of your code and hopefully help your transmission problems. Best part - it's free. The speed sensors would be a good second move. Your speedo may be reading out to luch because you are smacking the dash a bit too hard. Some have had the needles come off and lay in the bottom of the cluster. You can try a calibration but you will most likely have to physically move the needles back to where they should be. All the solenoids are in the solenoid pack mounted on the front center of the transmission.
http://www.4shared.com/document/ymiA...er_repair.html

 

Hello, I am having a similar problem. My van is a 1999 and I am getting the following codes: P0700, P1796, P0720, P1790, P0715 and P1392. Can you tell me what they are about? My van will start and idle very good, but as soon as I put it in gear it will shut off. I will get it to move if I start it in neutral and drop into drive and hit the gas, but if I stop it will shut off. When moving it will react as if you are driving a car that has a manual shift, and is in low gear. Please help!