1995 Chrysler Cirrus: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Aug 28, 2010 · Transmission · 40,000 miles · CA

Transmission without warning either shifts down into second gear and will not shift up or worse the transmission goes limp when driving at any speed in other words you end up coasting and could possibly cause a serious accident, the first time this happened to me I was going 65 MPH on the freeway. Fortunately, I was on the right hand side of the road so I could coast off and come to a stop. If I had been in heavy traffic in either the center or left hand lane there would be no way for me to avoid other cars and this would have resulted in a serious accident. I took the car to the chrysler dealer and they said it was a faulty solenoid pack and they replaced it for $900+ dollars. The car ran for a couple of weeks and the shifting down and limp episodes began again. I now have a car with 45000 miles parked in my garage and am afraid to drive it. There are dozens of blogs on the internet describing the same problem and I do not see any recalls but this is certainly a life threatening hazard. Unfortunately this is an intermittent problem that happens with no warning.

Filed Mar 10, 2009 · Electrical, Transmission · 140,000 miles · GA

I bought a 1995 chrysler cirrus lxi and for the first little while it was great, then all of a sudden I was driving down the road at 62 MPH and the car shifted into neutral I slowed down to about 30mph and it dropped into gear but it would not shift from first gear. Now sometimes it will shift fine and other times it will not shift at all. And my A/C quit working and the RPM gauge stopped working at around the same time as the shifting issues started.

Filed Dec 26, 2005 · Transmission · 178,000 miles · CA

The first failure was on dec 19 2005, I was driving on the freeway at approx. 65 MPH and the engine quit running resulting in loss of power steering and power brakes also the transmission would not shift into a lower gear it just free wheeled. After bring the car to a stop on the side of the freeway and putting the transmission in park it restarted. This failure has occurred three more times this week.

Filed Sep 28, 2004 · Body, Transmission · 105,000 miles · NC

While driving at low speeds transmission will not shift out of first gear. *ak the consumer indicated that the vehicle's transmission would not change gears at all. The sunroof would not close all the time. The radio wouldn't work. The A/C button would not remain engaged. The overhead material was coming down.

Filed Sep 21, 2004 · Transmission · 116,000 miles · OH

Vehicle will not shift properly and makes a jolting movement. As a result, vehicle will not go faster than 30 MPH.

Filed Mar 20, 2002 · Transmission · OK

In warm climates traveling fast, the vehicle would suddenly and violently downshift and place the vehicle into limp mode. The consumer stated that once in limp mode, the engine produces a huge amount of heat which vents though the vents and screws up the necessary A/C.

Filed Feb 8, 2002 · Acceleration, Transmission · VA

The car make a hard jerk and then when I try to accelerate, the transmission will not shift gears. The engine revs up and I have to turn the car off and back on when this happens.

Filed Jul 30, 2000 · Transmission · NY

Intermittently car will not shift up upon acceleration. Intermittently comes out of gear. Local mechanic suggested that authorized chrysler repair facility examine car. Local mechanic provided 3 service bulletins ( all pertaining to power train shifting problems) to present to authorized mechanic. First visit to (ryan chrysler, wantagh ny ) mechanic replaced solenoid valve body on transmission. Fisrt dat back car continued to have problem. Car returned to ryan chrysler and supposedly checked for three days. Could not find any problem. Car returned to owner with no explation and no mention of first repair ($600.00) which did not solve problem. Car is not safe to operate. Dealer response very poor due to severtity of problem. Old parts were requested to be returned as per ny state law. Service report was also checked to return parts. No parts were returned. Service manager stated that " mechanics never look at that portion of repair request.