2010 chrysler town and country shift solenoid location

I?d had a slow leak from the transmission for several months. Not big enough to worry about, but enough to cause a grimace every time I saw the spots.
I finally decided to go ahead and change the tranny fluid and use the nifty Chrysler ?reusable? metal and rubber pan gasket I had bought to stop the leak. I hate the RTV pan-to- tranny solution because of the extra work and uncertainty of using goo instead of a real gasket.
Unfortunately, the leak persisted, so I dropped the pan a second time the following weekend and sealed it with the RTV.
Again, the leak persisted so I went after the Solenoid Pack area. I placed a bit of paper towel under the transmission fluid hoses and saw no pink on the towel after a week? but the spots continued to show up under the van, with wet fluid dripping off the back side of the pan onto the floor.
I replaced the gasket under the Solenoid Pack, but the leak continued dripping.
Then, a few days ago when the weather turned cold, the spots turned to little puddles.
I broke down and bought a Solenoid Pack from the Dealer, replaced it and the new gasket that came with it, and the leak stopped.
What I discovered was that removing the Solenoid Pack the second time was a breeze because I knew what to do. I took pix for the forum so that it might be easier for your first time.

1. Clean the area with degreaser from a spray can and rinse well?. three times. DO NOT jack up the van. Tranny fluid is level with the top of the mounting face of the Solenoid Pack. If you don?t imbalance the level of the van by jacking it up you will lose almost no fluid.
2. Work on a cool tranny. A hot engine bay will get you burned.
3. Open Solenoid Pack box and make sure you have the correct gasket. READ the instructions! Four times. (See pix 1 for bolt descriptions)
4. Put heavy tape along the heat shield seam. The edge will cut you if you don?t. (pix 2)
5. From top of engine bay, look down and identify the bolt #1 and the 8mm bolt on top of the connector locations. (pix 3)
6. Locate bolt #3 It?s hidden below the heat shield, under the transmission dip stick tube. (see pix 4)
7. REMOVE the speed sensor. Unclip the sensor connector, then use a 1? socket to remove the sensor. ( pix 5) Now you san see bolt #2)
8. Loosen the 8mm bolt on the Solenoid Pack connector (pix 3), lift off the connector and place it out of the way.
9. REMOVE the bolts. #1 and #2 are easy. #3 is removed with a short extension and short ratchet. ?Short? because you will be working under the dipstick tube. (pix 7)
10. With the bolts removed, lift up the Solenoid Pack assembly, slide it towards the front of the van, turn upright and remove it through the space between the tranny and the bumper lip. (pix 8)
11. CLEAN the area where the new Solenoid Pack will go. CAREFULLY.
12. Place gasket on Solenoid Pack bottom. Three dowels will hold the gasket in place while you are replacing the Solenoid Pack. (pix 9) Your old Solenoid Pack may have only had 2 dowels, but the third dowel fits in place just fine.
13. Replace in reverse order. You will notice a ?rocking? of the new Solenoid Pack on the edge of the tranny. It feels like you aren?t in the dowel holes, but that?s normal and will settle in place once you properly locate and snug down the bolts.
14. Torque 10mm bolts to 106 inch pounds ( 8.5 ft. pounds) on bolts #1 and #2. The #3 bolt was done after calibrating the Mark One Multi-digital Grip Extension (my hand) to how much resistance 8.5 ft pounds felt like on the first two bolts.
15. The 8mm connector cover bolt is just ?tightened?.
16. NO computer ?training? is necessary. Just drive the van normally and it will learn on it?s own so fast you won?t know it happened.
17. Celebrate with appropriate beverage and over-salted, high fat content, comfort food product. :beerchug:

Any difference in the way the trans shifts?

Any difference in the way the trans shifts?

It's hard to tell, really. I didn't have any hard data from before I changed it so I can't definitely tell there was any change afterward. (Unless you count the few miles I drove before realizing the tranny was in limp mode...... seems I forgot to connect the electrical connector on top of the Solenoid Pack.:jpshakehe )
With all connections made, I was able to drive, using all 4 gears, as normally as the day before.
It's really a piece of cake to do.

Any difference in the way the trans shifts?

With only a leaky pack, I doubt the shifting is different. It will make a difference if the old pack has solenoids that are sticking causing the computer to have to compensate for it.

Nicely done and documented. I did mine on a 3rd gen and the procedure is only slightly different - you start by removing the air box and you don't have to worry about working around the heat shield or dipstick.

Thanks for this information. I have a winter time leak on mine and I believe it to be the gasket. No leak above freezing basically. This has been going on for about 4 winters now and I have had the replacement gasket for about as long.
Mine looks like a real hard to get at area. I was actually thinking of removing the heat shield. Your documentation and pictures will help me tremendously. I will be bookmarking this Thread.

First of all, thank you Sheldon! This is a great write up, and right on time. I just discovered the same leak on my 01 T&C this weekend.

My question is, does anyone ever seem to have success just changing the gasket? My van seems to shift just fine right now, so I hate to throw away good money on the pack if it is just the gasket. That being said, I also don't want to go in and do the job twice if I don't have to.

Thanks for any help,

If the gasket is leaking, not the body of the solenoid, I would just change the gasket. Its only $5 at a dealer so much better than $100 for a pack from ebay or $250 from a dealer.

Thanks for that Andy. I cannot tell which part it is leaking from. I guess I will try the gasket first and see what happens.

Check your cooler line connections first (if you haven't already). They can develop leaks during cold weather.

Check your cooler line connections first (if you haven't already). They can develop leaks during cold weather.

Thanks, I did check the hoses.

Quick question, if I am only changing the gasket, do I need to remove the hoses and sensor from the pack?
TIA,

The solenoid pack is connected by 3 vertical bolts to a shelf that protrudes out from the transmission. Hoses and sensor are not connected to the solenoid pack but are in the way of removing the pack. I believe sheldon only removed the sensor and worked around the cooler lines per his Post and pictures.

The solenoid pack is connected by 3 vertical bolts to a shelf that protrudes out from the transmission. Hoses and sensor are not connected to the solenoid pack but are in the way of removing the pack. I believe sheldon only removed the sensor and worked around the cooler lines per his Post and pictures.

That's right, I did not want to do any more than was necessary so I only removed the sensor to get to the middle bolt. There was plenty of room under the hoses to get in the socket. (I know it's a bit hard to see in the photo, but you can see the silver of the socket just coming to the flats of the sensor)
Incidentally, it is a pain to know I have a known good sol pack that was replaced only because of a leak. However, if you remove the side of the sol pack where the leak apparently comes from you could damage the insides. In other words, darned if you do and darned if you don't.:jpshakehe

Oh, I get it now. Thank you guys so much for your help. I will try the gasket this weekend and report back.

I remove the cooler lines and sensor. So I guess either way works.

Guys, I just wanted to say thank you. Replaced the gasket and all is well. Until I saw this post, I was ready to take the car to the transmission shop (which is strictly forbidden in my religion). $5 fix and it is going great.
BTW, on my 01, 3.8L, it was much easier removing the cooler lines (which took all of about 10 senconds).
Thanks so much for your help!!!!

Sheldon,
You gave me a clue to a similar problem. My son has a '96 Stratus that drips ATF. I changed the pan gasket with no luck so I was suspecting the solenoid pack (similar setup to the vans). A few weeks ago I had the car in my garage and jacked up the front to replace the timing belt and water pump (2.4L). I carefully wiped off the bottom of the transmission so I could locate that pesky leak as I knew the car would be in the garage for a few days. After three days - nothing! BUT, you say that jacking the vehicle up would move the ATF rearward away from the solenoid pack. That could explain why I found no leakage. It's probably the solenoid pack after all.

Bill

BUT, you say that jacking the vehicle up would move the ATF rearward away from the solenoid pack. That could explain why I found no leakage. It's probably the solenoid pack after all. Bill

Bill,

When I removed the Solenoid Pack I could see the level of fluid was about 1/8 inch (or so) below the surface of where the Solenoid Pack had been attached. I felt that if the van had been jacked up from one point, front or side, it would have tilted the level of the transmission, perhaps enough to spill the fluid out.
That said, it is also possible my observation and conclusion could be wrong. But, it does seem to make sense.

Finding a fluid leak is rarely a fun proposition, desperation led me to find mine. You might consider cleaning the area around the suspected leak, then going for a drive followed by an immediate under-vehicle inspection. Good Luck!

I'm a little confused, can one just replaced the gasket instead of forking out the money for the solenoid pack? and do you recommend to do the change with the van sitting on all four tires or jacked?

My understanding is that yes the solenoid pack gasket can be changed without buying the whole solenoid pack. And the job needs to be done without lifting the van up to prevent major loss of tranny fluid. Please let me know if I'm right or wrong.

Thanks a lot for the useful post,

Carlos

I'm a little confused, can one just replaced the gasket instead of forking out the money for the solenoid pack? and do you recommend to do the change with the van sitting on all four tires or jacked?

My understanding is that yes the solenoid pack gasket can be changed without buying the whole solenoid pack. And the job needs to be done without lifting the van up to prevent major loss of tranny fluid. Please let me know if I'm right or wrong.

Thanks a lot for the useful post,

Carlos

Looking at Post #1, I would say you are correct.
Work is done from the top. Gaskets can be purchased separately. For my vehicle the Part # is 04659982 for the gasket by itself and 05140429AA for the solenoid pack which includes a gasket.