I have an '04 Dodge Stratus. These past few months I noticed that when I start the car in the morning and shift to drive the transmission won’t kick in right away and the car won’t go…a few seconds later after shifting back and forth from to park to drive it comes on and works fine all day. Almost as if it needed some warming up. Is this transmission fluid trouble? Is it something serious? The reverse gear works fine on first attempt.
The first step when transmission problems crop up is always to check the level, the color, and the smell of the transmission fluid.
After you have done that, come back to this thread and report your findings.
When you return, we also need to know the car’s odometer mileage and an indication of when the transmission fluid was last changed. (I think I know the answer to the last point, but I will let you provide the details.)
What size engine is in your Stratus?? They use 3 different transmissions in 01-05
transman
THESE PAST FEW DAYS SINCE I POSTED MY QUERY I HAVEN;T HAD ANY TROUBLE AT ALL…PERHAPS COS IT HASN’T BEEN THAT COLD?? STILL NEED TO CHECK FLUID LEVEL. CAR HAS 65000 MILES. ENGINE SIZE 2.4L
Because the symptoms have temporarily gone away, you have decided to not devote 2 minutes to checking the transmission fluid? If the level, the color, or the odor of that fluid is not what it should be, every day that you drive that car, more damage is being done to that transmission.
And the crucial, still unanswered question is:
When–if ever–was the transmission fluid last changed on this 5 year old car?
Never mind, I think we already know the answer to that question.