2002 Caravan with about 198,000 miles. No prior indication of any trans problems. My wife was driving on interstate at the speed limit (she really drives the speed limit !) and she reported hearing and feeling what seemed like a "hard shift". The van should not have been shifting at that point, but she quickly realized the RPM's rising. She pulled of to the side and put it in park then drive and it lurched forward. Then nothing. We had it towed home and now it won't move at all. The idle speed seems to drop as normal when it's put into gear, but it won't move at all. There is a noise coming from it while in reverse, but not the other gears. It's immobile in my garage and I have no way to check any codes. The fluid level looks good and there are no leaks. We just recently bought this van from a private owner, so I don't know any service history. I have a 93 Lebaron I was experiencing problems with until I changed the trans fluid to the correct ATF+4, so I know that makes a huge difference, but would old, or incorrect fluid cause the trans to completely stop functioning ? Any other ideas would be extremely appreciated.

 

I am assuming your check engine light is on? If so you need to pull the codes. You can use the key method if you don't have a scanner: off–>acc, off–>acc, off–>acc. Watch the odometer and the codes should pop up.

From your description, I would expect a p0700 block code which would indicate the tranny needs attention (obviously). However, based on the description, this is exactly what happened to mine and it required a new tranny.

 

Thanks for the tip on reading the codes. The tow truck driver that towed the van to my house left the key on, so the battery was dead the next day. The engine light is NOT on and the only code it shows is P1684, which indicates a battery problem. I started the van and ran it through all gears, but there is no new code generated.

 

1684 just means your battery has been disconnected in the last 50 restarts - or in your case, it died. Unfortunately, that would reset the PCM, clearing any codes that were present before the battery died.

My only suggestion at this point is to start it, put it in reverse and back up a few feet. That may set codes that would be useful in this situation. However, you may want to see if someone more experienced than me responds with a better suggestion first to avoid additional damage that may require a new tranny since we aren't 100% confident that a new tranny is required at this point.

 

Just an update ... Had the van towed to a transmission shop yesterday. It is an internal problem with a $2000 price tag.