dmarzano Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 As my wife was on her way home from work yesterday the check engine light came on. She told me the rpms went very high and that the car would not go above 25 mph. I came home, drove it and it seemed fine. I drove it to work this morning and on my way the rmps shoot up and it literally would not go over 30 mph. I shifted to autostick to see if it would show me what gear it was stuck in, but the dash lights never swithed over to show me the gear. We bought it in July and have almost 7,000 miles on it. It always seemed to shift alot, but I thought it was just the car. I'm used to driving VW's. Called the dealership and they can't see me for a week! I'm afraid to drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryl Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 If it is still doing it I would drive to the dealer while its screwing up & make them observe what is happening so the "cannot duplicate" issue does not arise-if it breaks so be it especially if they cant see you for a week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 The transmission is going into what is called 'limp mode'. When there are certain problems with the engine or transmission, this will happen to prevent further damage to the vehicle. You will need to get the codes read to determine the original problem. In a previous vehicle, I experienced this when the transmission went bad, and in another when the head gasket failed. If your dealer can't get you in for something like this in less than a week, you might want to look at another dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarzano Posted October 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 The transmission is going into what is called 'limp mode'. When there are certain problems with the engine or transmission, this will happen to prevent further damage to the vehicle. You will need to get the codes read to determine the original problem. In a previous vehicle, I experienced this when the transmission went bad, and in another when the head gasket failed.If your dealer can't get you in for something like this in less than a week, you might want to look at another dealer. I sent the dealership an email stating that I was upset that they could not see me for at least a week and that I should not have to pay for a rental car because I don't feel safe in mine. Low and behold, they called me and asked me to bring it in and gave me a loaner without any hassle. I must say I was impressed with their cooperation and willingness to help. The technician said it is throwing a low voltage code and could be a bad relay somewhere, but that it could take a day or two to track down and he wanted to drive it for a while as it was not throwing an active code at the time he was working on it. When I know more I'll post the code number and let you guys know the result. Hopefully it's nothing more serious. They gave me a new pathfinder and I must say I don't like it near as much as my Journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwirges Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 I sent the dealership an email stating that I was upset that they could not see me for at least a week and that I should not have to pay for a rental car because I don't feel safe in mine. Low and behold, they called me and asked me to bring it in and gave me a loaner without any hassle. I must say I was impressed with their cooperation and willingness to help. The technician said it is throwing a low voltage code and could be a bad relay somewhere, but that it could take a day or two to track down and he wanted to drive it for a while as it was not throwing an active code at the time he was working on it. When I know more I'll post the code number and let you guys know the result. Hopefully it's nothing more serious. They gave me a new pathfinder and I must say I don't like it near as much as my Journey. Hmmm...had the EXACT same transmission problem with my car :o It ended up being that some switch was stuck within the transmission (I guess). Kind of a strange thing to happen to someone else this soon too..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarzano Posted October 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 Hmmm...had the EXACT same transmission problem with my car :o It ended up being that some switch was stuck within the transmission (I guess). Kind of a strange thing to happen to someone else this soon too..... How long ago did this happen to you and how many miles are on your Journey? Has the problem repeated itself at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwirges Posted October 30, 2008 Report Share Posted October 30, 2008 How long ago did this happen to you and how many miles are on your Journey? Has the problem repeated itself at all? This happened about 6 weeks ago. I had approximately 11,000 miles. It has not happened since I took the Journey in for repair (knock on wood). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwirges Posted October 30, 2008 Report Share Posted October 30, 2008 How long ago did this happen to you and how many miles are on your Journey? Has the problem repeated itself at all? This happened about 6 weeks ago. I had approximately 11,000 miles. It has not happened since I took the Journey in for repair (knock on wood). An indicator light came on with this too (I think it was called the "malfunction indicator light")....like I needed a light to tell me there was something wrong though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarzano Posted November 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 This happened about 6 weeks ago. I had approximately 11,000 miles. It has not happened since I took the Journey in for repair (knock on wood). An indicator light came on with this too (I think it was called the "malfunction indicator light")....like I needed a light to tell me there was something wrong though! My Indicator light came on as well. The dealership is telling me the wiring schematics are not online yet for the Journeys so they had a Chrysler technician walk the dealership technician through some diagnostics steps. They think I have a bad "tip module" and had to order one. I saw there is a recall on some Transmission Control Modules, but I'm not sure if my car is part of the recall or not. Is a "tip module" another term for a Transmission Control Module? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow-Bird Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 As my wife was on her way home from work yesterday the check engine light came on. She told me the rpms went very high and that the car would not go above 25 mph. I came home, drove it and it seemed fine. I drove it to work this morning and on my way the rmps shoot up and it literally would not go over 30 mph. I shifted to autostick to see if it would show me what gear it was stuck in, but the dash lights never swithed over to show me the gear. We bought it in July and have almost 7,000 miles on it. It always seemed to shift alot, but I thought it was just the car. I'm used to driving VW's. Called the dealership and they can't see me for a week! I'm afraid to drive it. Hi dmarzano- I wanted to scream when I saw you post this and the run around your dealer is giving you. First off, please know that I am in no way an expert - but, I have one in my house! LOL My hubby is an ASE Master Tech that owns his own Auto Electrical business. I get this info from him...and from personal experience with my Journey. What your Journey is doing is EXACTLY what mine did the day after I brought it home. Turns out, I had a bad vehicle input speed sensor. I read the posts to him and he is curious as to what is a "tip module"? He has never heard of such a thing and he has over 25 years experience working on the electrical parts on autos. Please have your dealer check for this - they replaced mine and I've not had it happen since. What your wife experienced, as well as in my case, was the car going in to "limp mode" to protect the engine - as mikem stated earlier. I personally wouldn't drive it, either! Also, in speaking with my Hubby...he really is something...if the vehicle is throwing a "low voltage code", multiple codes should be flashing as well, and it would affect the entire computer, not just a relay. He says that the vehicle will drive as though it is about to stall - not run at high RPMs. He also says that this would also trigger the alternator light as well as other lights on your dash. He also recommends that if it is truly a low voltage code, have the dealer check all chassis and body ground wires for the problem as these problems are usually related to the ground side; not the voltage side. I sincerely hope this helps! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me! In case you don't check the forum as frequently as you would like, as I am guilty of, I will attempt to email this to you as well. Thanks, Sharon (Snow-Bird) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarzano Posted November 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 Hi dmarzano-I wanted to scream when I saw you post this and the run around your dealer is giving you. First off, please know that I am in no way an expert - but, I have one in my house! LOL My hubby is an ASE Master Tech that owns his own Auto Electrical business. I get this info from him...and from personal experience with my Journey. What your Journey is doing is EXACTLY what mine did the day after I brought it home. Turns out, I had a bad vehicle input speed sensor. I read the posts to him and he is curious as to what is a "tip module"? He has never heard of such a thing and he has over 25 years experience working on the electrical parts on autos. Please have your dealer check for this - they replaced mine and I've not had it happen since. What your wife experienced, as well as in my case, was the car going in to "limp mode" to protect the engine - as mikem stated earlier. I personally wouldn't drive it, either! Also, in speaking with my Hubby...he really is something...if the vehicle is throwing a "low voltage code", multiple codes should be flashing as well, and it would affect the entire computer, not just a relay. He says that the vehicle will drive as though it is about to stall - not run at high RPMs. He also says that this would also trigger the alternator light as well as other lights on your dash. He also recommends that if it is truly a low voltage code, have the dealer check all chassis and body ground wires for the problem as these problems are usually related to the ground side; not the voltage side. I sincerely hope this helps! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me! In case you don't check the forum as frequently as you would like, as I am guilty of, I will attempt to email this to you as well. Thanks, Sharon (Snow-Bird) Thank you for your post and information. When I took my car in originally, the technician did tell me that a low voltage code could shut down the whole system. Long story short, they put in a Transmission Control Module (they called it a 'tip' module....must be a western PA term) on Saturday. They drove it over the weekend and into this morning. My wife picked it up this afternoon and said it ran fine. I will keep everyone posted if I have another problem. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.