1997 Chrysler TC transmission slips in first gear when hot
Chrysler are the biggest america junk cars ever made you made a big mistake getting one
This is a sign that you have inadequate line pressure in the transmission. This could be because of wear in the tranny, that the tranny has not had adequate service and the filter and fluid is full of debris, that the tranny is low on fluid, or several other less likely causes. My bet is that the tranny has not been serviced properly over the years. Automatic transmissions are finicky and frail items. Most owners fail to change the fluid as specified. My experience says that you should replace the fluid every 30,000 miles (2 years). Your best bet at this late date is to have a qualified mechanic drop the transmission pan, clean it out, replace the filter and fluid. I'd add a pint of Lucas Trans Tune at this time as well. The Lucas Trans Tune does several things, but functions primarily as a viscosity modifier. It will help a weak pump produce higher line pressure. The new filter should help too to raise line pressure. This will increase the clutch pack clamp force and hopefully (at least for a while) stop your first gear slipping. If this has been happening for a while however, you may well have seriously damaged the clutch facings already. If this does not work, your likely looking at a transmission rebuild. A '97 TC would not be worth the $3,000 that this would cost. Astrobuf
this is very common on chrysler vans, unfortuantly the repiar for this is to rebuild the transmission. i do not recommend installing a used unit as this is a common issue, let a repair shop rebuild you a unit as they will often upgrade the weak points of this transmission
