LOVING the horror stories about our car's transmission ...

So, my '04 Dodge SX 2.0 (auto) started slipping last year, but turned out to just be CAM shaft sensor.
Thought all was well until last week, when it just refused to gear out of 1st.
Have yet to take it in, but acquaintance at local trans. shop informed me of this delightful defect in the Neon/SX. (coolant in transmission)

If you've experienced this issue, please lemme know all the fun you had to experience to rectify this issue !!! (ie. parts, cost, etc) It will be GREATLY appreciated.

- Natalie -

 

If it won't even shift, it sounds like the damage is done. Once the transmission is destroyed, a rebuild is the only fix.

 

That's what I figured. fun fun fun
Was just curious because it seems like a widespread problem with the Neon/SX. Wanted to know what I may or may not have to replace (besides transmission rebuild) ... (ie. rad, coolant, etc)
but thanks for the input, I really do appreciate it

 

It would be wise to get an external trans cooler so you don't have the chance of the coolant mixing with it again. If you have coolant in the trans then you need a new radiator and of course, coolant.

 

If you catch it early enough, you can flush the transmission, replace the radiator and install an external cooler to cure the current problem and prevent a future problem.

 

I had this car for four months and the transmission fluid is milky pink i took it to a shop the guy told me he fixed the problem but the fluid was still milky pink he told me to drive the car around and the transmission will burn the rest of the water out the transmisson well its been a month and the fluid is still milky pink what should i do now?

 

have it flushed immediatley, wouldnt hurt for a fiter change either

burn off the water what a joke! dont take it to that guy for the flush, IMHO you cant prove the problems been fixed UNLESS there was fresh fliud .
If the new fliud went milky then the repair was unsucsessful.

quite honestly for that dude to have "fixed" the problem, he would have lost fliud anyways. so not to drain and flush is pure lazy.

Just sayin

 

The horror isn't really the trans, it's the radiator/trans cooler design. I was lucky with mine, didn't eat the trans when cooler failed. Dumped trans fluid into radiator until it overflowed resevoir and trans stopped working from lack of fluid. Most problems come from a leak starting and radiator pressure pushing coolant back into trans when vehicle is shut off. The vehicle ends up being driven with coolant in trans without being caught until the damage is done.

I didn't restart after this until I drained and flushed trans and replaced radiator. You need to get a replacement radiator that has a better design for cooler fittings to prevent the problem from happening again.

All was fine for 2 years, now I have an unrelated electronic control problem, otherwise trans is mechanically fine with 180,000 miles on it.

And I agree with Hemi^

 

It's one thing to flush it soon after it happens, but after it has been run for months and months with said problem. I mean, it could fix it, but not likely if it won't shift period.

 

Thanks for all the input guys
I took my car to another place for a 2nd opinion,
turns out the PREVIOUS owner had the rad replaced, most likely because of this particular problem. The problem with my car NOW is that the Solenoid Body was DONE as a result of the past rad/trans problems.
So instead of a complete rebuild, they replaced the solenoid & my car is basically back to normal.
Although, I'm curious ... it shifts fine for all gears EXCEPT from 2nd to 3rd.
Any ideas?