twice in the last 2 months van will not shift out of first gear. Parking, turn off, removing key, restarting usually resolves it, but it happened twice yesterday. Unknow if it's happened previously or how often. Wife said "Oh, it's done that before, i just thought it was cuz it's cold." the air is cold, not the car. /sigh since restarting seems to temporarily resolve it, seems like a sensor or electrical issue?

pulled 1 code, P083b and did some searching here and in the google machine but not clear what approach to take. Code says Transmission Fluid Pressure Sensor, and some comments from people about a solenoid pack, but I can't seem to find a part diagram of the trans or a part number to correspond with this code.

Any tips on where i can find more info on resolving this code? Hopefully it's just a relatively easy remove/replace type part...

 

Depends on your definition of relatively easy - the pressure sensors/switches are all one assembly that requires valve body removal and partial disassembly to replace. They’re part of the transmission range switch.

First thing you need to do is verify the fluid level isn’t low.

This is a code that’s set when the low clutch pressure switch reads the wrong state (open or closed) for the selected gear. To keep it simple, it should remain open in every gear except for 3rd and 4th, so it’s likely that it’s reading closed when reverse or first gear is selected.

It is most easily diagnosed with a scan tool capable of reading live data (or a smart phone app using a dongle) to verify what the pressure switch does when a gear is selected, but it’s not impossible to diagnose using a meter.

Other potential causes are the wiring, PCM, or an internal problem with the transmission that’s allowing pressure to leak into the LC switch circuit when it shouldn’t be.

 

thanks, i'll check the transmission fluid (which seems like there's no dipstick? a ridiculous design choice) first then go from there.

 

This thread is in the sticky section at the top of this board -

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-c...is-a-cure.html