Our 1999 rodeo is giving us a headache. when you put the vehicle in gear you can see that the car is in the correct gear where you shift BUT its showing something different up in the control panel area. were the miles per hour are. also, when your at a red light stopped and you push the gas it does not want to go (its like its not in gear). as an example if your in drive it acts like you in neutral when your taking off. BUT after you gain some speed its fine. also our at oil light came on today. sometimes it make shake real bad. if your in reverse it does not do it. could it be the range sensor?? if so, what type of dealer should i take it too and the cost ?? i am a woman and do not want to be ripped off.

Cars have a locking solenoid that prevents the vehicle from being shifted out of Park when the engine is running if the brake pedal is not pressed. This is to prevent accidental shifting into gear by children left in running cars, or people leaning over the shifter to get to the glove box, etc. Sounds like the solenoid is not being deactivated when the brake pedal is pressed. There is usually a manual release button in case this feature fails, but the button may be inconvenient to access. You could try putting the car in Neutral before trying to start it, since most cars will start in either the Park or Neutral position. This will allow you to use the vehicle until you can diagnose and make repairs.

Hello
The Engine and Automatic Transmission (not applicable to manual transmissions) in this vehicles drive train are fully electronically controlled by a computer called the PCM and TCM (Power Train Control Module, Transmission Control Module). When a problem like this or other drive-ability related problems occurs the computer stores a record of the problem (there are of course some exceptions to this, like the fuel pump, engine coolant temperature sensor and MAF sensor for instance) in the form of a fault code in its memory, to read these fault codes you must have the systems memory scanned with a special tool. Once the fault code(s) are read you then must perform the appropriate diagnostic testing to find and resolve the problem(s) DO NOT REPLACE ANY PARTS UNTIL A TRAINED TECHNICAIN HAS DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM TO AVOID SPENDING YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON PARTS THAT MAY NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM. Also always check fuel pressure for correct spec for your make and engine type.

Change trans fluid, just did mine and it runs like brand new with 117k miles

Make sure the fluid level is correct. You do this by having the vehicle idleing in park, then pulling the transmissiom dipstick, wipe it off with a clean rag or paper towel, reinsert ioto the tube making sure it's fully seated. Then remove it and look at the level on the lines [ there should be a " cold" level mark if not warmed up ], see if it's in the proper range, if not add fluid. [ this vehicle takes Dexron 3 fluid. Next look at the color of the fluid, if it's very dark or smells like it's burnt, then I would recomend having the transmission filter and fluid service as a first step and go from there. you could also have the cooling fan clutch checked as it can affect the proformance of the shifting [ sounds weird, but true ]. If nothing seems to help,or if you don"t feel like guessing - go to a good shop that specalizes in tramsmission work.

Had the same problem when I bought a used 1999 Rodeo. The dealer fixed it for me @ N/C. The problem was the shift selector switch was defective. I was sure the transmission was toast! Has worked fine ever since.

There is a cable that goes from the throttle body to the transmission. usually by the throttle body you can adjust the cables lenghth by pushing in the tab. only move this a couple of notches at a time, test drive and see where it shifts. adjust as necessary. 1st gear should be at 15 to 20, 2nd at 30. Let me know if this works for you , we can go from there.
Randy

At a standstill put the car in 3rd gear and try to get the car to move. If it stalls you clutch is fine. If you able to move the vehicle w/o stalling you need a new clutch.

You will need to get the clutch hydraulic system repaired before the clutch can be successfully disengaged.
Meanwhile, try rocking the vehicle backward/forward while shifting gearlever out of gear to get it into neutral.

You can't, these vehicles have a distributorless ignition. Have to have a garage do it or have the correct equipment.

probl. needs serviced