Sorry gents, something just kinda rubbed me wrong here. If its not worth paying for diagnostics you wont like scan equipment prices either. All cars with self diagnostics built before the 1996 model year and depending on who you listen to after 1982/1984 are called OBD1. OBD2 cars started in 1996 and more or less have similar diagnostic features as new cars today...these OBD2 cars are the ones they sell cheap code readers for... because they can use a universal government mandated computer communication protocol to talk to any OBD2 car and give at least some information.
OBD1 cars like your had no universal language or codes...there were special adaptors for different CAR MANUFACTURERS for the tool to communicate and in this era and some, like Chrysler had several adaptors/software packages...to work on anything except the engine itself typically requires the tool owner to buy a separate software kit for that system... my old obsolete scan tool has "Atari" style cartridges for Domestic, Import(Asian only),Transmission, and ABS brakes... each upgrade was usually another couple grand expense. many newer scan tools and newer shops don't even bother investing in OBD1 equipment and therefore cant do much with those cars but guess...
I worked in those underequipped shops a few times and can tell you there are basically 2 ways they would diagnose your car. The first way is based on experience the tech will essentially guess. In your case, a safe guess is you need a transmission, or rebuild. The second way which is closer to how I survived on that level was too guess, and then prove your guess...which sometimes took me more than the allotted hour of labor I was paid... so I would essentially work for free for you, the shop didn't care so long as they didn't go out of pocket. See why techs can get defensive about this. To prove my educated guess I would often use tools like oscilloscopes to view the electrical patterns the sensors made... now I couldn't begin to want to try and decide speeds form this, possible but a wasted effort... sensor patterns often show irregularities when there is damage...but that damage is sometimes from the component the sensor reads in which case you would still need a transmission.
The best course of action for you to follow would be to try to get the code cleared by any local shop and see if it resets driving forward which may take some driving or better yet just pay for them to diagnose this. Battery disconnects usually wont make a difference to a Chrysler computer because most had built in reserve power to prevent losing critical shift data. if that shift data is lost your chance of causing a clutch to wear out on its first shift are huge... so stay away from that trick. Even a junk yard transmission needs the scan tool to learn your car's computer, but if your willing to risk doing the job several times you may get lucky and get one that survives the first shift through all gears without failure.
And finally, this board has lots of great guys willing to help. But with a much older car and much different technologies...don't feel bad if nobody wants to respond to a post asking for a entirely different generation of cars and computers. Our computers here are often called OBD0 because they predate the OBD1 standards and most don't use a scan tool because the car wasn't designed for one... and lots of those are eliminated back to simpler controls even though its against emission regulations to do so... because those systems are so out of date the cars aren't even tested anymore.
Good luck with your transmission, I hope its not what I suspect.
:rant:
