Car Troubles

**Elfdude** · January 10, 2011, 07:29 PM

I'm not entirely sure if this is the correct forum to ask for help in but here goes nothing.

I have a 1999 plymouth grand voyager expresso as a backup vehicle only it's not doing any backing up until I can fix some very basic problems.

The first problem is with the gas gauge. For some reason at semi random intervals the gas gauge dies. It might come back on mid drive it might not. Some times it goes several days without working then it works for a week inexplicably. I haven't the slightest clue which could cause such intermittent signals. Now I do have a personal mechanic who will fix the problem for me assuming I can figure out what it is. What I need is some suggestions on what could possibly cause this. I don't know if it's related but this gauge problem started way back when when my battery and alternator went bad six or seven months ago. Also there seems to be a connection between running the car and turning it off then turning it back on to make the gauge work more often then not bumps can also seem to affect it though I'm not sure if they do. Also the gauge almost always works when above a certain fill although it frequently will beep drop to zero and immediately return to full.

Second there seems to be an issue related with the driver side door and it's electronic controls. It works intermittently just like my gas gauge does (but strangely all of the other gauges always work). The back passenger side vent (electronically controlled) no longer works, it was left open in the rain once but I was able to close it after that so I don't think it was the water. The up and down window commands always work properly. The auto lock feature doesn't always work (in fact it seems to rarely work I usually rely on the remote in my keys). These are really minor problems I only mention them in case they are related.

My third issue now only started appearing as the temperature dropped. When my car is warm it seems to never happen but when it is cold it seems to not want to stay in gear (I'm not sure if it's slipping or if the selectors bugged or what). It's the weirdest thing. I'll start to back up and all of the sudden the car feels like it's in neutral and I have to pull my foot off the gas so I don't rev the engine, then without me touching anything but the gas pedal the car seems to 'remember' which gear it is in and starts moving. This also seems to be associated with going over bumps seem to trigger this a lot as my home has several speed bumps around the area so when it's warming up it frequently 'slips' but on the way home when it's already warm it isn't affected at all. Now I'd be worried that it was the transmission except my transmission is fairly new (about a year old) but this problem didn't really start until October. It very rarely looses which gear it is in if I have the gas pedal down although it's occurred once at 55mph for a couple of seconds before working again. If you've ever seen the electronic gear shift display it looks like the box that surrounds the gear zips across the screen really quick when this happens.

None of these problems are stopping the car from working but they make me leery of driving it. The engine sounds normal when it's running. It's got full fluids. The transmission is fairly new with less than 20,000 miles on it. The alternator & battery are even newer. I drive it every few days back and forth between the nearby town 4 miles away getting up to 65mph in the process with little difficulty.

Plz Halp. No one seems to have any clue what these problems could be and taking it to the dealer is going to be hella expensive which I'd like to avoid.

P.S. rep to those who try.

**Bolkonsky** · January 12, 2011, 09:02 PM

I don't know a ton about cars, but if your alternator and battery went, I assume that could have ruined the gas gage? As for the gears issue, that definitely sounds like the transmission. In fact, I don't know if there's anything else that could cause that. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes away after a while, that happened to a family members Toyota Corolla. It was a pain in the ass on the highway, when all of a sudden the car seems like it goes into neutral, and you had to take your foot off the gas, just like you said. It just went away after a while though. Hope you can get it fixed!

**irishron** · January 12, 2011, 10:22 PM

Is your fuel pump in the gas tank? If so the float and sending unit probably part of it and the only way to it is get a good manual and drop the gas tank.

**PoleCat** · January 15, 2011, 06:37 AM

Originally Posted by elfdude

...My third issue now only started appearing as the temperature dropped. When my car is warm it seems to never happen but when it is cold it seems to not want to stay in gear (I'm not sure if it's slipping or if the selectors bugged or what). It's the weirdest thing. I'll start to back up and all of the sudden the car feels like it's in neutral and I have to pull my foot off the gas so I don't rev the engine, then without me touching anything but the gas pedal the car seems to 'remember' which gear it is in and starts moving. This also seems to be associated with going over bumps seem to trigger this a lot as my home has several speed bumps around the area so when it's warming up it frequently 'slips' but on the way home when it's already warm it isn't affected at all. Now I'd be worried that it was the transmission except my transmission is fairly new (about a year old) but this problem didn't really start until October. It very rarely looses which gear it is in if I have the gas pedal down although it's occurred once at 55mph for a couple of seconds before working again. If you've ever seen the electronic gear shift display it looks like the box that surrounds the gear zips across the screen really quick when this happens....

This along with the other problems you've reported makes me think that the computer in the car has been damaged. You say you had a problem with the battery and the alternator? What kind of problem? Was it an overcharge situation?

If the tranny is new (relatively) but you're experiencing slippage then either the tranny has problems or the computer governing the gear change is on the fritz. It's been a long time since I've worked on an automatic but that's about the the only thing that I can think of that would account for all of the problems you have - they all sound to me to be electrical in nature more than mechanical and the main computer sounds like the right answer to me.

The reason it may seem to feel like it's switching to neutral is maybe because it is in fact switching to neutral. Does your personal mechanic have any way of testing the computer to see if it's damaged? Good luck!

**Elfdude** · January 15, 2011, 06:05 PM

Thanks guys, I'm going to be looking into the transmission and computer. There's got to be something electrical wrong... I hope anyways. If anyone knows how to pick up a free mechanics manual that'd be great but I don't know if such a thing exists.

**irishron** · January 15, 2011, 06:27 PM

Check your relays, too. I had one random until it finally went and it cotrolled the fuel pump.

**xcorps** · January 17, 2011, 10:55 AM

Take it to Autozone.

Don't buy a part you don't need. AutoZone will test your car's parts for free. We can test your car's battery, alternator, starter and voltage regulator while they're still on your car. We can also give your car a complete starting and charging systems test. You can also take your alternator, starter or battery into our store and we'll test it. In most stores, we can also test voltage regulators, control modules, coils, throttle position sensors (TPSs) and other engine management components.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ino...s/services.jsp