Guest
6/6/2006 6:19:00 AM
I just purchased a 1998 vanden plas nearly 2 weeks ago with about 45,500K on it. About a week ago after I put roughly a thousand miles on it, the transmission stopped working properly.
Heres the situation: I was making a U-turn at normal speed (I had turned Traction Control off a few miles before) and I turned the TC back on. I did not accelerate due to a red light. Once the light turned green and I hit the gas, the engine revved to about 3000 RPM without the car actually moving forward. Then the tranny suddenly jerked and would not stop slipping. After coasting at 15 MPH for about 30-45 seconds, a message appeared saying Gear Box Fault, and the car went into limp mode. From that point on, whenever I put the car in drive the transmission just slips and never hooks up. I checked all the relevant fuses and also disconnected the battery for about 3 minutes but had no luck. I am dumbfounded because the transmission was running perfectly until this incident. I have a strong feeling its something in the computer system, although I spoke to a specialist who told me that most '98-'02 Vanden Plas' have problematic trannys which breakdown prematurely, and said that it needs to be remanufactured. If anyone has some advice for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
