Ok, so I'm having an intermittent problem with my auto transmission. I had the trans rebuilt by a professional Mopar guy approx 13 or so years ago. However, I only put 200 or so miles on the car each year.

This problem just started to occur a couple of years ago.

I would prefer to fix it myself (duh!) as opposed to taking it to a transmission shop.

When the engine is cold, the transmission acts fine.

However, it I drive it awhile (say over to the supermarket) and then I park it for 10 minutes or so, the car won't move.

I can put it in Drive or Reverse, and nothing happens. I can even REV up the engine, still nothing. I can put it in Neutral for a while and still nothing.

Eventually, I can get the car to move.

Very embarrassing!

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Tim....

Anybody?

How long before you move it when started from cold ?

Convertor drainback would be the first thing to point at

he says the problem occurs when warm after driving for 10 minutes or so stopping at a store for a short time and then the car won't move. I have always associated the drain back issue with the car sits for an extended period like overnight. And they normally quickly prime up in neutral which he again says it won't do ?? Do you think this could still be a drainback issue??

Strange problem, by his description it sounds as though he is losing hydraulic pressure.

1st question, if you do not stop, but keep driving for say 1/2 to 1 hour does the symptom occur ??

It sounds like something in the valve body is sticking when hot, or you have a lot of leakage in the direct clutch circuit?
If you can, you may want to check pressures at the different ports with the rear wheels off the ground before tearing into the transmission.

What kind of shift linkage do you have? Stock? Aftermarket?

Maybe a partially plugged filter? I'm sure you have checked the fluid level...

The last trans I had that worked well cold, but would stop moving (or if you stopped, it would take a while before it would go) after it warmed up, had a torque converter come apart and coated everything inside the trans with a nice heavy coating of aluminum powder. That one only had about 4,000 miles on the rebuild with a "new" torque converter. 318 car, not beat on at all. The fluid on the dipstick had that nice sparkly metallic look. Gene

That's my thinking too. Only way to tell for sure is a pressure gauge.

Thanks for each response, guys!

Ok, first. The shift linkage is stock (on the column), although the original Transmission was a 904. So I had to make some minor adjustments to get it to function properly. During normal operation, it gives me a hard shift with very little slippage.

Second. If I continue to drive it without shutting it down (stopping and taking out the key), it seems fine.

Now, I may need to do additional testing, since it may even depend on the amount of time it sits.

My gut feel is that if I let it sit for only a few minutes it will be fine.
However, there may be a time value that may help diagnose my problem.
In other words, drive it for 15 minutes, then stop it for say 5 minutes.
Then repeat, each time increasing the time it is stopped.

Question: If something in the valve body is sticking when hot, or I have a lot of leakage in the direct clutch circuit, can I find it with checking the pressures at different ports with the rear wheels off of the ground?

Also, is there a written procedure for checking pressures or can someone describe it?

Thanks! Tim…

If the problem were leakage at the front clutch (not direct clutch) it wouldn't explain why it doesn't move in Drive.

Line pressure is checked at the accumulator, there is a 1/8" NPT plug in the case to hook a test gauge to. FSM describes it.

Thanks, John!

I had a car towed into the shop some years back as it was a basic three speed auto trans in a K-car. But the repair order said it would not move. So I check the fluid and drive it and find nothing wrong as it drives good and works good. My service manager asked me what I found and I said nothing yet so we jump back in it and drive around finally after 20 more minutes of driving as going up a small hill it just stops moving like I put it in neutral. Anyway I tow it to the shop and pull the trans and could not see any unusual problem other then normal pump wear. So I put a pump and converter in it and it was fixed and never gave the customer another problem. Your problem sure sounds like a pump (pressure) or converter problem. Ron

Thanks, Ron! I appreciate the response.

I was gonna check the pressure with a gauge, after the first few minutes (normal condition) and record the values.

Then after a short drive, bring it back to the garage and check the pressures again.

Hopefully, during all of this testing it will fail on me, and I will have some different numbers.