Ok, So I have 1995 Dodge Caravan 3.0, 19,800 miles (yes, its true!)..


Anyway, recently the van when put into drive it has become very difficult to press the gas pedal down, once I smash it hard the van is fine....well, almost fine.....Also noticed when driving at 45 mph (this tested so far), and I floor it, it is difficult to press the gas pedal, and then once it final goes to the floor, the van shifts itself into neutral right before my eyes. The shifter moves and everything.


I checked throttle cable for anything that might cause it to bind, nothing. There is nothing underneath my gas pedal (I am a neat freak, so car its perfectly clean).


I recently got the car, almost 7 months now....How can a transmission be bad at less then 20,000 miles.


Fluids are fine, etc.


Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated

 

If you open the throttle manually in the engine bay, is there a smooth linear response like you'd normally expect? I wonder if the throttle body is really gummed up and isn't opening normally. Not sure how the shifter moving itself is related though, but I do know this is a good place to start looking for problems.

 

yes I probably would go to the throttle body and see if you could release the cable from the peddle. see if the throttle moves freely. then if it does check the cable linkage might be rusted in place causing drag.

 

Ok, So I had my wife get into the van and put it into drive, then had her press on the brakes. I went under the hood and tried to move the throttle to give it gas, and it gave the same symptoms (hard to move). What I did notice was the engine was basically rocking as I tried to "accelerate". Its as if something is physically broken (motor mount, etc.). I did this last night around 11:00pm


This morning, I put van into reverse and everything is fine. I put car into drive, same problem. I put car into "2" same problem, then to "1" same problem, then back to "drive" and it was fine.


I then took it for a ride, and it drove fine, but still hard to "floor it" when traveling around 40-45mph. It will eventually shift itself into neutral.


I checked the throttle body, and it appeared clean, I even sprayed some carb cleaner around everything within there while giving it gas from throttle.


I am not the greatest car person, but I fear the worst.

 

As far as I know the engine will move a little bit when under throttle. You can inspect the mounts to see if any are cracked or severed completely, but that wouldn't cause this problem.

Hmm, so it's looking like a transmission problem to me. It sounds electrical/communication related though. Check the main ECM and the TCM for any codes you can find.

 

I will have to take the minivan in to get codes checked. I am not getting any check engine lights, would there still be codes present?

I had the fluid replaced, new filter, the mechanic lubed some mechanism up, but the problem still exists. I got the impression they don't have time to want to deal with me, and simply want to replace the transmission. I feel like the transmission isnt at fault...perhaps some part of it? but to replace a transmission on less the 20,000 miles seems silly.

The transmission is shifting better then it ever has after the fluid replacement, but unfortunately the same pedal and shifting into nuetral problem is there.

I am trying to find a honest mechanic (trying to avoid dealer for financial reasons) to take a look. It's hard to find those now a days.

 

to clarify, if you have the transmission in park/neutral, does the pedal symptom persist?

 

If your van has the 3 spd auto, A670, it's possible (happened to mine) the kick-down linkage is binding. It's attached to the throttle body by hard linkages. They rust and will cause exactly what your describing.

 

The minivan does not have these symptoms in park or neutral, or reverse as far as I can tell. I obviously haven't floored it in reverse. I don't have anywhere to really try that.

 

It is a 3 speed auto, not sure about A670...........how did you fix? Also, did suddenly start happening?