Transmission Problems

[Haags]

I picked up my brand new commander yesterday afternoon. Today the check engine light came on in a store parking lot, and the car felt very sluggish. Then I noticed that the display indicated that it was in 3rd gear. Won't go up or down, just stays in third. I was able to drive it home, but had a hard time starting up from stop signs with any incline. I called the dealer, and of course their service dep't is closed until Monday.

Does anybody have any idea what could be causing this? Anyone else have similar problems???

[tealsvt1315]

Did you try the manual up/down shift to see if it would do anything?

[Haags]

Tried that, and also tried engaging 4Lo, but it stays in 3rd...

[vinnyl26]

Sounds like the tranny is in limp home mode

[Haags]

Exactly. Dropped it at the dealer this morning - they say it's probably minor and should be fixed in a few hours. We'll see...

[mikey]

You probably engaged that 3rd manual without being aware of it. Make sure you know when the lever is next time.

[Haags]

I didn't engage anything accidentally - the check engine light doesn't come on when you do that.

So the dealer claimed that there was a loose plug in the side of the transmission housing with some pins that weren't making contact. They reconnected it, it reset the codes, and was working fine. I picked it up this afternoon and went home from work. After dinner I went out, and I'm sitting at a traffic light and the check engine light comes on again, display says "3" and I had to drive home stuck in third gear again. UUUGGHHH!!!!

I'm going back to the dealer first thing tomorrow morning to see what they say this time. All of my excitement from buying the new vehicle has been replaced with frustration. I just bought it 3 days ago, and it's been sitting in my garage or the dealer's garage most of that time.

The kicker is that the sales manager asked me today if I would still give them a perfect rating on the DC satifaction survey...

[Mango~Ridge]

Tell them, if you fix the problem it won't be as bad! Did you special order your Commander, or was it off the lot? Tell them to get you another!

[rubicontrail.net]

I agree, I would say that they should get you another one. A transmission problem in the first 24 hours is not a good thing and doesn't bode well for that particular vehicle.

[Haags]

The dealer located the car for me down in VA, which is about 150 miles from where I live. I was asked if I wanted to order it, but because I have no patience I asked them to try and locate one for me and do a dealer-swap. They get two more tries to fix it (including today) and then I'll have to talk to them about getting a different car.

One of my concerns is that driving in 3rd gear might be really bad for the engine, especially since it is still breaking-in. Because I've been driving it home and then to the dealer with this problem, I've probably put about 50 miles on the car when it's stuck in 3rd. Does anyone know what effect this could have on the engine, if any?