Need help on a dying 1994 LeBaron LX Convertible ASAP PLEASE!!!

I doubt the car is reverting to 1st gear. More likely it is going into 2nd, which is "limp mode" and designed to allow it to be taken to a service center immediately without a tow. If you continue to drive it as it is now, you risk potentially doing major damage and requiring a transmission overhaul. My advice is to get it in now to have the diagnostic code read and determine if this is something simple, like a vehicle speed sensor.

Bob

2nd. It won't shift out of 2nd.

Doing this "clever" reset trick worsens the damage to the trans.

Get the car to a competent trans diagnostician RIGHT AWAY. It's probable that the original problem was nothing more complex than a speed sensor (input or output) or a solenoid pack. If you're *really* lucky, it hasn't significantly worsened.

First, thank you all for your quick responses...

I called a buddy of mine and he sent me a link to check the codes with the check engine light. Here is the link:

I tried it and all it blinked out was 55, which the website says is "end of codes".

What do I do now?

Get the transmission codes check. What you checked were engine codes. You cannot check for transmission codes yourself. A proper mechanic with a scanner will have to check for Transmission codes!

Quit taking advice from your "buddy."

You have a transmission problem, you won't get transmission codes from the engine computer. The transmission has it's own computer that communicates over the CCD buss, a scan tool is the only way to extract transmission codes.

Right now I can't really afford the $80 for a diagnostics, especially if it's going to be an expensive repair...

I think the speed sensor is OK, because the speedometer works...

Is there anything I can try without getting a diagnostic?

Steve

You can't afford NOT to get the diagnostic, because the longer you drive it with a transmission fault, the larger and more expensive the repair will be.

There are two speed sensors, input and output, and the speedometer working is not diagnostic.

Getting a better job so you can afford the costs involved with owning and driving a car comes to mind.

Proper scan tools are now less expensive and may be bought by anyone so inclined. In fact there is absolutely no technical reason for them ever to have been expensive. Their design, construction, and programming is very well within the abilities of any beginning embedded systems designer.

I'm not driving it. It's sitting in the driveway until I can afford to get it fixed.

My service manual for this car says there is only 1.

Great idea! Why don't you go pull some strings in the starving Austin job market and get me a better paying job?

No?

OK. Until you do, quit being a dick about it!

Ah. Very good, then. Wait til you have enough money to fix it right, otherwise you risk damaging it further.

Your service manual for this car is incorrect, or you are looking at the info for the wrong transmission.