For the past several months, my 1999 Caravan has occasionally not shifted smoothly into reverse (and once into drive) upon startup. This has only occurred when the car has been sitting awhile, at least overnight. It seems to occur more often when it's cold outside. When it occurs, the car starts normally, and when I shift into reverse, it doesn't drop into gear right away; I have to give it a little gas, then it kind of clunks and lurches into gear. This is very intermittent; may not happen for weeks, then may happen several days in a row, then disappear again. Otherwise, the car shifts fine. Mechanic checked tranny fluid and fluid temp and said it's normal and thinks the tranny is going bad. I don't want to replace the tranny on a car that old, but am wondering if this sounds like a bad tranny to you, and how long am I likely to be able to drive it? Am I likely to have a sudden catastrophic failure and get stuck somewhere?
Jun 12, 2008 at 4:41 AM
