AggiePhil

Took my 2001 24V in for a transmission flush and after getting it back, it starts in 2nd gear. Took it back and they said that the solenoid pack needs to be replaced. Their price for the part is $250 and $218 for labor. Is this the going rate at all Dodge dealerships? I was able to get them down to $350 for the whole job, but even that seems like a lot...especially after just paying for $350 worth of fluid service (trans, rear diff, oil, etc.). Please let me know how much this work usually runs. Thanks!

Mcmopar

If it is starting in second gear it sounds like the governor solenoid, OR pressure sensor. You can buy those for about 60 bucks each and you do not need to remove the VB to change it. The solenoid "pack" which has two is for lockup and OD.

willieboy

I really wonder about the Bryan Dodge dealer. Everytime we go in there for one problem, it seems we come out with another. My wife Sebring has been terrible for this, thankfully is has all been under warranty. Give the Navasota or Brenham dealerships a call. They may have better pricing, and since they work with mostly rural folks, are likely to be a little more honest. I am not saying that the Bryan dealerl is ripping people off, but it my experience there seems to be a lot of follow up whenever I go to that place.

GreyTD

Are you out of warranty? 7yr/70k power train $100 deductable after 3yrs.

AggiePhil

Yeah, my 2001 truck is well out of warranty. Well...I think it has about 102,000 miles on it.

AggiePhil

I'm not 100% sure what it's doing. It SEEMED to them to be starting off in 2nd. But what I noticed was that when starting from stop, you really had to get on the gas to get it to go. It felt (and sounded) like the emergency brake was on, but it wasn't. Do you think that might be lockup or OD, or what?

Mcmopar

No, it's probably the sensor or Governor solenoid. After many miles the g. solenoids can start to stick. If you pull it into 1st, does it go into that gear?

Mcmopar

OR, if somebody got in there and bumped your line pressure up to high, this can also cause second gear starts.

AggiePhil

OK, I'm going to try to get someone from the dealership back on the phone to ask what makes them think it's the solenoid pack and not the governor solenoid, pressure sensor, or bumped line pressure. They still have the truck and I'm not 100% sure about the gears it's going into...just that it was really slow to get going from a stop and felt like it was in a higher gear than it should be starting in.

AggiePhil

Just got off the phone with Dodge again. According to the service manager, the solenoid pack contains a governor solenoid and replacing the pack doesn't require getting into the valve body, but it does require dropping the pan. He said, "This is a fairly common problem that we've seen before and I'm surprised that you haven't had the problem before now. I'm ticked because I'm at 102,328 miles. So close to the warranty period.

BigBlue

Dropping the pan takes all of a minute with an impact wrench. I'd like to see what labor they are talking about.

Mike D

I have the axiom part numbers at work for both. I can email them to you tomorrow. They are easy to change, just don't let the little clip fly off into the yard...

Stormin_Norman

Just had the same problem with my 2002. They replaced the selonoid, but it didn't work. They ended up putting in a whole valve body in it. Someone on here said you could get a rebuilt valve body aftermarket for $125.00 complete with selonoids.

AggiePhil

Well, I guess I'll just pay the $350 and hope that fixes it. I'm going to try and see if they can do anything about the warranty though.

Mcmopar

You and I are the lucky ones that have to deal with the clip, it went away in 2000 or 2001!!