Can I Drive with a Bad Shift Solenoid Pack 42RLE Chrysler Jeep?

Transmission solenoids, mounted on the valve body, play the role to adjust transmission fluid flows in valve body and to active proper clutch & gear.

Yes, its function is similar to the other solenoids in different areas.
The transmission solenoid is one of the automatic transmission’s critical components.
The solenoid controls the flow of transmission fluid throughout the transmission system.
Together with the electro-hydraulic valves, they open and close in time in response to the electrical signals from the vehicle’s computer which collects the data from the speed sensors.
If you sense the automatic transmission is acting erratically, very possible it could be the transmission solenoids are failing.

Take myself as example, I spent thousands on replacing my Honda accord transmission and I was so regretful that I didn’t check out the transmission solenoid first.

You can check this video for more information.
（https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcsf1M57sUA&t=188s)

From the photo, you can understand how the solenoid works.

By the way, there are different solenoids for different parts in our car.

Example, the VVT solenoid, the lockup solenoid, the transmission shift solenoid and the transmission control solenoid.

Basically they have similar function and work in same principle.
Normally, transmission system tends to have 1 less solenoid than the gears quantity.

Which means, you will have 3 solenoids if vehicle is a four-speed transmission.

The 1st solenoid is for 1-to-2 gear shift, the 2nd one for 2-to-3 gear shift and etc. 

Any faulty solenoid will lead to loss of fluid flow control and fail to shift the right gear.

If lucky, when it is 3rd solenoid for 3-4 gear shift going wrong, you still can drive as the solenoid 1 and 2 enables our transmission to shift gear 1 to 3.

In some cases, some models are designed to integrate solenoid into valve body and we call such design as "shift solenoid pack".

Whenever transmission solenoid goes wrong, you can replace only the faulty only.

However, in the case of the "shift solenoid pack", such like this dodge solenoid pack, you need to replace whole valve body as solenoids are integrated into a part of the valve body.

There are different reasons to cause the solenoids failed.

First, let’s see the symptoms that show you the warning signs of a failing 4RLE solenoid pack.

Warning Sign of the bad 42RLE Transmission Solenoid Pack
#1 Limp Home Mode 

#2 Transmission can't down shift 

#3 Engine Check Light On

#4 Delayed gear shifting

#5 The gear gets stucks in neutral

#6 Gear shifting is rough and not smooth

Once your transmission solenoid has above symptoms, it’s telling you that something is wrong.

There are trouble codes for the failing solenoid if you plug the diagnose tool with the car computers.

The error codes will be the P0700, P0751 and P0758.

The solution for error code P0700 is to replace the transmission control module, which normally is located in the back of the transmission.

Check if there is any damage on the electrical connections of TCM, the transmission control module.

Replace the TCM if any damages are found.

Then re-diagnose the system to see if the error code is gone.

In case if the error code shows P0750, that’s telling you that the shift solenoid is failing and the best solution is to replace the solenoid pack.

What I should do when the transmission solenoid pack is failing

 I know I know, you’re going to ask “What I should do when the transmission solenoid pack is failing”?

As we mentioned in the before video,
the best way to prevent the transmission solenoid pack failure is to adopt below hacks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF83jYJGMUQ&t=246s

#1 choose the correct transmission fluid

#2 keep the oil clean

#3 maintain the proper fluid level

The solenoid pack, just like other mechanical parts, is wearing over time.
However, if we can pay attention to keep the transmission oil clean, we can definitely longer the whole transmission system lifetime.

Remember the transmission fluid should never be burnt off.

If there were a puddle of red liquid on the ground beneath your car, it is a sign that telling you the transmission fluid is leaking.

Have your mechanics to check for you if they can fix the leaking problem at once!

So, yes!

Back to our question at the beginning, “Can I drive with a failed transmission solenoid pack”?

The answer is positive, you still can drive with a bad shift solenoid although you can't shift over that faulty one.

Unless it is the 1st one solenoid goes broken.

Then we all know our car can't move!!

However, you shall contact your mechanics as soon as possible to have a thorough check.

Remember to ask the mechanics to check the function of the transmission solenoid.

The average cost to replace a solenoid pack is around $300-$500 depends on the make and the year of your vehicle.

But, if you miss the timing to replace the solenoid, it may cost you thousand bucks to replace the whole transmission depends on the damage level.

Once again, don’t make the same mistake as I did!!