2005 Chrysler Sebring Shifting in the cold

DJESS

MEMBER
2005 CHRYSLER SEBRING
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
47,000 MILES

Hi - I'm hoping you can help me. I bought my Sebring Convertable last March as a certified pre-owned, and I haven't experienced (until now) how the car handles in the frigid cold weather. I notice that when the temps are below freezing the automatic transmission does not want to shift out of 1st. I am forced to pull over (because it's not shifting). When the car warms up, (after about 5-10 minutes) it shifts normally. Do you think this is a 'heads up' to me for upcoming transmission problems? Any advice would be appreciated, as this has never happened to any of my cars before when driving cold. Thanks.

Des-

1 Reply

ZACKMAN

MECHANIC
4,202 POSTS

Chrysler transmission relies on the Transmission Control Module to provide smooth shifts. The TCM relies on quality transmission fluid for it to work properly. Transmission fluid relies on temperature for flow and to provide the right conditions for the TCM to read. Unfortunately, during frigid temperature, it will take some time for the for the fluid to be at optimum condition.

Just make sure that you ALWAYS have enough transmission fluid, the correct fluid (either Mopar or ATF+4 equivalent), and run the engine for a few minutes before driving away. And make sure that the transmission is service at the proper interval. By following this simple advise, you will have a good service out of your transmission.

You may have heard stories how Chrysler transmissions are terrible and they go bad not even at 100K miles. This is my story. I own a '98 Chrysler Cirrus LXi with 192K miles and the transmission is at the same performance as it was when I bought it in 2001 with 30K miles. All I ever did was following the maintenance recommendations.