Help, is there any chrysler dealer techs here?

M

mopower440

Member
Long, but bear with me..
Ok, I bought a VERY clean, nice 2004 dodge stratus sedan with the 2.4 DOHC engine, auto trans. Only has 109k on it. I bought it with a harsh 4-3 downshift at 30 mph. I have researched this problem on the web for a week now and seems there are 2 things that could be doing this. ok, Most research points to this service bulletin #21-006-03 REV. A. The other thing could be a front pump losing prime but they say that usually sets trans codes. Mine is not setting any codes and shifts flawless everywhere besides the harsh 4-3 downshift at 30 MPH. So, obviously the first thing i want to try is the bulletin, which is a software program update. SO, i go to the nearest dodge dealer and drive up to the service lane and the guy asks what i need. I handed him a copy of the bulletin and told him i wanted to get the software update and he asked why, i told him i have a harsh 4-3 downshift at 30 mph, exactly what the bulletin addresses. So i jumps in the car and plugs this little black box up and starts the car. The little box records the info from the car. Then he gets out and goes to his computer and plugs up the box to it. He says 'Its showing everything in the car is already up to date'. Im thinking thats not right because theres supposed to be a sticker under the hood showing this update has been done if it has been done. But anyways, his computer is showing a list of TSB's and this is one is not listed so he said maybe mine wasnt one of them needing it. I knew that was bull because the bulletin lists my car along with older and newer ones and other models, like jeeps etc..so i told him everyone ive talked to about this problem said to get the software update done first before anything else because it may very well take care of the problem. So he then goes and talks to the tech and then comes back and says they will do it but dont have time today and schedules me an appointment to come back in 2 weeks as they are very busy and he needs the car all day so he can get to it. Then i asked him if the updated program was already in the car or not, and he said yeas but it could be corrupted, blah blah, etc and they will redo it and see if that fixes it..SO, i dont know what to think. Shouldnt they be able to actually plug the scanner up and see what the latest version is in the car? I dont know whether to believe him that the bulletin has already been done or if he just said it was because they were so busy and couldnt get to it.. I just highly doubt its been done. I really think it is the problem and this would fix it seeing as there are no other problems with it. From what ive read, usually if its the front pump, that it will ALSO have a delayed engagement problem along with the harsh 4-3 downshift, and i dont have the delayed engagement problem, so
 
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You can't plug in and see the updates or software version. You need the Chrysler tool for that; even high-end scanners won't tell you what updates have been done to the car. However, if you're allowed to be standing there while he's doing it, he should be able to point out the update in the revision history. To my knowledge, if the update corrupts during installation it will not show as being installed. However, if something went sideways in the code later it might... although the chances of a code corruption at a later date are extraordinarily remote. It's not like you're browsing porn sites with your PCM, where the data is constantly changing, nor do you have moving storage media which is another cause of corruption. If the update code was installed correctly as were any later updates, it's very unlikely that it's corrupted.

I don't know if you're in Canada and saying 109,000 miles or kilometers, but at that age it's possible you could have valve body or solenoid issues. Cars still fail mechanically; computers can't fix everything.
 
Dr.Jass said:
You can't plug in and see the updates or software version. You need the Chrysler tool for that; even high-end scanners won't tell you what updates have been done to the car. However, if you're allowed to be standing there while he's doing it, he should be able to point out the update in the revision history. To my knowledge, if the update corrupts during installation it will not show as being installed. However, if something went sideways in the code later it might... although the chances of a code corruption at a later date are extraordinarily remote. It's not like you're browsing porn sites with your PCM, where the data is constantly changing, nor do you have moving storage media which is another cause of corruption. If the update code was installed correctly as were any later updates, it's very unlikely that it's corrupted.

I don't know if you're in Canada and saying 109,000 miles or kilometers, but at that age it's possible you could have valve body or solenoid issues. Cars still fail mechanically; computers can't fix everything.
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ok, at the cadillac dealer i work at, we have an independent programming company we use that comes out to do any other makes of cars besides GM. They were there today helping a friend of mine. His 2001 caravan wouldnt pass emissions because it had a PCM fault code he couldnt get rid of. So he got a salvage yard PCM and they came out and programmed it and it fixed his problem. SO, i told them about my dilamma and asked them if they could do updates like this. They said yes no problem, they have the DRB3 and the correct stuff to do any make out there. So im bringing the car in tomorrow and they are coming to do it. He did say he would first see if it already has that bulletin software update in it. Now, how do they know if it is or is not already in it? The bulletin doesnt list a software number or anything..
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Dr.Jass said:
The TSB itself has a number. The PCM will show the TSB number if applied.
Click to expand...

Anyways, they came and checked and it did not have the updated software, so they installed it but didnt fix the problem, and now it is harsh when shifting it into drive from park. So im going to take it to the tranny shop and see what they say.. Any ideas now what it might be? Could it be something simple like a solenoid or is it more than likely something big and expensive?

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Well, its fixed!!! I dropped it off at the transmission shop last night. They called me about 11 this morning and said its ready come and get it, no charge! I asked what the heck was wrong, they said it had a code 1684 in it, which means the battery had been disconnected at some point, so it needed a quicklearn, so they did that and it fixed it! It does great now. I thought that when that compant did the software update that they would have done that quicklearn, but they didnt. So she is good to go now!!
Now, please explain this quicklearn to me. As far as later model daily drivers, ive always had GM cars, and you can disconnect the battery as many times as you want on the GM cars and they will re-learn everything by themselves without causing crazy shifting or anything..SO, whats the deal with chrysler, why do you have to quicklearn it? why cant the cars relearn on their own like the GM cars? Are their electronics not as advanced as GM stuff or ??? Just want to learn so fill me in..
Thanks all!!
 
P1684 does not necessarily mean the battery was disconnected. It means power was lost to the TCM. Big difference. Did they bother to tell you how many start cycles had been performed since the power loss, or did they just erase the code and do the relearn?
 
Just did the quick learn. Didnt charge me anything. Drives perfect now. I still dont understand Why the TCM losing power would make it downshift so hard it could break something until you either get a quick learn done, or the TCM learns NOT to downshift so hard, which could take forever because it never learned by itself for me..
I still dont understand why disconnecting the battery would cause this harsh downshift without a quicklearn.. When i first called the transmission shop and told them what vehicle i had and what it was doing, the first thing they asked me was if i had disconnected the battery..I told them i didnt know because i just bought the car, with the harsh downshift. So i bring it to them and they pull a code, 1684 i think, that tells them the battery was indeed disconnected, so they did the quicklearn and it fixed it. So, you mean to tell me chrysler designed this thing to downshift hard enough to rip motor mounts until a quicklearn is done, orunknown miles until it learns to not do that?
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