Good Morning... (NOT :confused: )

My wife took the van out yesterday without incident and then I got in.... The transmission has decided to act up. I need to solve this quickly as it is our only transportation for the whole family and our budget is non-existent and we live in a very rural area. Description below:

1995 PYMOUTH VOYAGER
V6, AUTO WITH O/D

From a cold startup:

I have Reverse, put it into Drive and I get 1st gear which shifts into 2nd "very hard". I get no 3rd or OD and it will not downshift back to 1st. Speedometer is dead and once the trans shifts to 2nd I get the Check Engine Light.

I have checked all electrical connections at trans. Checked all fuses, swapped relay's around. Trans fluid is good, linkages are good and everything seems to be in good order.

Questions: (sorry I don't know Mopar very well)

I have done the turn the ignition key 3 times to ON position and the following codes came out: CODE 12, CODE 15 & CODE 55 Does anyone know what the 3 codes mean ???

Is there some type of speed sensor(???) which would cause the Speedo to fail and affect the trans shifting ? I realize it's all computer controlled so that's why I'm wondering if it has something to do with the speed sending unit(???)

Where would I look for the speed sensor and is there a way to test the unit ?

Any and All help is greatly appreciated as we are now stuck without transportation

Thanks in advance.

Tough to diag over the net, but here goes. code 12 is the start of code reading, code 55 is the end of code reading, we don't use the flash procedure anymore-haven't for many years. I don't remember all the codes, I suspect 15 is something like "no VSS received at PCM". The harsh 1-2 shift is the trans going in to "limp home" mode. I am going to guess based on the fact that you don't have a speedo working that the output speed sensor is open. It is a 15.00 part at the dealer. You will need a 1" wrench or socket to change it. If you look at the front(of the vehicle) of the trans there are 3 sensors along the top of the pan rail. Starting at the bellhousing working back they go input sensor, output sensor, PNDL switch. The sensors all have different thread pitches so you can't put the wrong sensor in. Good luck.

The trans output sensor along with tire size is what the TCM uses to figure out how fast you are going, it also needs that output sensor to determine gear shifts. So when the output sensor goes out it sends the trans in to limp mode and takes out the speedo.

Dennis obviously knows far more about this than I, but about 4 years ago my family and I were right near Dennis (Altamont Spdway) when the sensor he references went out on our '99 Dodge van. I know the Dodge vans prior to '97 had quite a few trans problems. The sensor fix had to be done at a dealership (under warranty) because we were away from home.

Regardless it took about 10 mins for them to pop one out and put the other in. Now we didn't lose our gauges, but the tranny stuck in 1st gear and we drove about 50 miles at 2500RPM at midnight in 1st gear to get to where we were going and to have it fixed.

We had 1st, reverse, gauges, etc, but the shifting and the other funny stuff you citte does sound very similar...

code 12 is "Number Of Key On Since Last Fault"
so disregard that one, code 15 is "vehicle speed sensor" and code 55 is "end of diagnostics" you will see the code 55 all the time, its normal after any other faults are shown.
Most likely its a bad speed sensor since you already coverd the basics(fuse,wire,ect.)
(speed sensor should be around 20-40 dollars)

Dennis must have posted while I was typing!
Looks like he already has it pretty much covered! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

as said above, the speed sensor is the likely culprit, you could probably get one at the local NAPA store.

He is right you will need a output speed sensor
the part number at the dealer is 4800879 it is 19.25 I work in a chrysler parts dept. these are VERY common. ;)

stringer69ss
1969 ss 396
work in progress

Code 12 = loss of battery power within last 100 starts. Just saying within the last 100 times you started your car, the batt cable was off or something. Everytime I check codes on a chrysler though it says this.

Thanks everyone...

On my 95 I have 2 sensors, one above the output shaft to the passenger side (Hall Type) and the other at the top front by the PRNDL shaft.

I have ordered the 2 sensors in, which I can only get from a dealer ($$$ OUCH) $38.90 & $69.00. I'll replace both because of the Murphy's Law Factor which states that if you replace one that the other one WILL Fail! Living in Canada can have it's drawbacks, for sure! Thank goodness it's not -30 degrees outside yet cause this is a driveway repair!

Thanks again eveyone! I'll post the result of tomorows repair, finger crossed eh!

Moloko, I think code 12 " battery feed to ECM" is only valid for up to around 1990 vehicles, for a 95' code 12 My books show this:
"Number Of Key On Since Last Fault Or Since Faults Were Erased" Not that it really matters though smile.gif I'm betting after you change the sensors it will be good to go!