Car Repair Question - Transmission Solenoid Pack replacement

Factual Questions
1

Details:

2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser, with approx. 40,000 miles. I just had it in to have a new battery put in, and they checked it out. Apparently, the Transmission Solenoid pack is leaking - I know that something is, by the garage floor. They quoted me a price of $300, parts/labor.

  1. does this seem, in general, a fair estimate - it’s a Chrysler dealership (small town, so they do a lot of regular work, and I’m happy with them, generally)?

  2. What is the urgency on this - He said it needed to be done, but that I could wait a month if I was comfortable with that, but he wouldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t fail in that time. Since the car rarely makes it out of town, I wasn’t too worried about being stranded. How quickly should this be taken care of?

Thanks in advance.

2

From what I hear, that’s a common problem on the PTs, assuming you have the “41TE” transmission. For parts and labor at a dealership, I’d reckon that’s a pretty good price. You may be able to get it done for less at a local transmission shop.

Be sure to have the shop check the transmission ground straps - this is another common failure point. It’s purely electronic - if the computer can’t get good signals in and out of the transmission, you may find yourself unable to shift and either disabled or in a “limp home” mode. If the ground gets really bad, the car’s computer may throw codes indicating the transmission is completely bad and needs replacing.

The part itself is a bit under $100 on the open market and probably closer to $150 at the dealership.It looks like there’s been an update to it.