SprinterLex
2006 T1N 3500 Long & Tall
I have been working on my van for over 2 weeks and am desperate for help. I already missed high school best friends' bachelor's parties, and most likely will miss his wedding that's in a coming up real soon because I can't drive the 13 hours to get there.
Vehicle:
2006 Dodge sprinter 3500 cargo van
Symptoms:
- No Check Engine light
- In Park / Neutral RPM's normal
- If in Drive / Reverse and pushing on the gas this is what happens. The RPM's don't go over 1,000-1,500. The van feels like it's hindered when using the gas. I'm just a DIYer but I would guess this is what a sprinter van may sound like if it the wheels were cemented into the ground and could not turn.
What happened at the start (in short)
1. Did doctor a fix because of rumble, found stardust in fluid.
2. messed up on ATF fluid and didn't put enough which caused slipping in road test one.
3. Possibly messed up by following a recommendation to use the "right stuff" for a sealant on the 13-pin connector instead of buying a new 13-pin connector piece. I cleaned and put a new 13-pin connector from dealership after road test 1 went badly.
4. I swapped my valve body and plate with a my other working sprinter van. I also removed Doctor A fix with a new plate for road test 2
5. Again unknowingly messed up atf fluid level and didn't put enough and it slipped reallllllyyyy bad. van barely moved.
6. I bought a good priced used transmission. I knew something was wrong but also clutch(s) were going in my old transmission anyways
7. I realized my low fluid mistake before installing new transmission
8. Decide to test my old transmission with the right fluid levels before I installed new transmission. I used old atf fluid that might have a tiny bit of contamination with motor oil. But what the hell the transmission was going in the garbage anyway I have nothing to lose but the time it takes to test it.
9. With proper fluid level sprinter came back to life. but it would suddenly switch as if into netural then kick back into gear. I also heard a very terrible noise from the TC.
10. I decided that the TC was probably the main problem
- So I decided not to install the new/used transmission I bought.
- I decided to just swap the torque converter to see if that was the issue.
- I also swapped the valve body and conductor plate in case it was broken on my old transmission.
- I also put the doctor A rumble fix plate on the conductor plate
- I bought more atf fluid for the test. I always thought my transmission issues were the Torque convertor so I had a feeling this could very well fix all my issues.
THE VAN DROVE LIKE A DREAM
- No issues at all
- No rumble strip at all
- Smooth-shifting.
TIME FROM MY FIX TO CURRENT ISSUE
- Day 1 the van was fixed and did awesome on it's short test drive
- Day 2 we drove the van around city doing errands.
- Day 3 we packed up all our stuff for the long trip to my parent's place 13 hours away and were ready to go for the next day.
- Day 4 my lady started it and drove it about 30 meters/100 feet then it stopped working. It developed the symptoms that I listed at the very top of the post. I towed it to a shop.
THE SHOP EXPENSIVE DIAGNOSES DISASTOR
I brought it to a shop (euro works) After 3 days this is what they told me
- They told me their machine could not communicate with the TCM.
- They said "The technician went to unplug the connector and oil started leaking out requires cleaning of the plug. Requires replacement of megatronics sleeve" ( I believe that sleave is the 13-pin connector which i changed correctly 4 days ago with a dealership part)
- They said the ATF fluid was high.... It's possible I didn't want to underfill it so I added 8L but my funnel tipped over during the fill. so I probably had about 8-8.5L. I saw on a youtube t1n video that high fluid won't cause major issues.
- I didn't like the super high prices they were quoting me and something didn't feel right at the shop so I pulled my vehicle from them.
LAST INFO
- after the shop I check the TCM box for fluid and it was dry
- codes they gave me was P2514, P2209, P2211, P2210, P2153, P2227, P2225, all had a description of "active unknown fault". I recognize at least one of those codes as an old solved issue.
- I have had this van for less than a year but it's been doing great. done over 60,000km with it already.
BTW
the shop charged me 536 dollars for only 2.7 hours of diagnostic & 3 dollars in parts...
Vehicle:
2006 Dodge sprinter 3500 cargo van
Symptoms:
- No Check Engine light
- In Park / Neutral RPM's normal
- If in Drive / Reverse and pushing on the gas this is what happens. The RPM's don't go over 1,000-1,500. The van feels like it's hindered when using the gas. I'm just a DIYer but I would guess this is what a sprinter van may sound like if it the wheels were cemented into the ground and could not turn.
What happened at the start (in short)
1. Did doctor a fix because of rumble, found stardust in fluid.
2. messed up on ATF fluid and didn't put enough which caused slipping in road test one.
3. Possibly messed up by following a recommendation to use the "right stuff" for a sealant on the 13-pin connector instead of buying a new 13-pin connector piece. I cleaned and put a new 13-pin connector from dealership after road test 1 went badly.
4. I swapped my valve body and plate with a my other working sprinter van. I also removed Doctor A fix with a new plate for road test 2
5. Again unknowingly messed up atf fluid level and didn't put enough and it slipped reallllllyyyy bad. van barely moved.
6. I bought a good priced used transmission. I knew something was wrong but also clutch(s) were going in my old transmission anyways
7. I realized my low fluid mistake before installing new transmission
8. Decide to test my old transmission with the right fluid levels before I installed new transmission. I used old atf fluid that might have a tiny bit of contamination with motor oil. But what the hell the transmission was going in the garbage anyway I have nothing to lose but the time it takes to test it.
9. With proper fluid level sprinter came back to life. but it would suddenly switch as if into netural then kick back into gear. I also heard a very terrible noise from the TC.
10. I decided that the TC was probably the main problem
- So I decided not to install the new/used transmission I bought.
- I decided to just swap the torque converter to see if that was the issue.
- I also swapped the valve body and conductor plate in case it was broken on my old transmission.
- I also put the doctor A rumble fix plate on the conductor plate
- I bought more atf fluid for the test. I always thought my transmission issues were the Torque convertor so I had a feeling this could very well fix all my issues.
THE VAN DROVE LIKE A DREAM
- No issues at all
- No rumble strip at all
- Smooth-shifting.
TIME FROM MY FIX TO CURRENT ISSUE
- Day 1 the van was fixed and did awesome on it's short test drive
- Day 2 we drove the van around city doing errands.
- Day 3 we packed up all our stuff for the long trip to my parent's place 13 hours away and were ready to go for the next day.
- Day 4 my lady started it and drove it about 30 meters/100 feet then it stopped working. It developed the symptoms that I listed at the very top of the post. I towed it to a shop.
THE SHOP EXPENSIVE DIAGNOSES DISASTOR
I brought it to a shop (euro works) After 3 days this is what they told me
- They told me their machine could not communicate with the TCM.
- They said "The technician went to unplug the connector and oil started leaking out requires cleaning of the plug. Requires replacement of megatronics sleeve" ( I believe that sleave is the 13-pin connector which i changed correctly 4 days ago with a dealership part)
- They said the ATF fluid was high.... It's possible I didn't want to underfill it so I added 8L but my funnel tipped over during the fill. so I probably had about 8-8.5L. I saw on a youtube t1n video that high fluid won't cause major issues.
- I didn't like the super high prices they were quoting me and something didn't feel right at the shop so I pulled my vehicle from them.
LAST INFO
- after the shop I check the TCM box for fluid and it was dry
- codes they gave me was P2514, P2209, P2211, P2210, P2153, P2227, P2225, all had a description of "active unknown fault". I recognize at least one of those codes as an old solved issue.
- I have had this van for less than a year but it's been doing great. done over 60,000km with it already.
BTW
the shop charged me 536 dollars for only 2.7 hours of diagnostic & 3 dollars in parts...