Caravan Transmission Replacement by DIY??

OK, here's a real ambiguous question to the group. My third car is a

91 Grand Caravan with 100K miles. It has been meticulously maintained by me since new. I am a DIY with moderate capability. I have replaced struts, half axels, ball joints, engine accessories, etc on my own. My trans needs replacement. Does anyone have any comments for a DIY to attempt a job like this? $1700 to $2000 is too much for me to shell out. I can purchase a remanned unit for $600, but will have to install it on my own. What do you people think? I know, it's a hard question to answer not knowing my abilities. Has any DIY's attempted this in their garage?
Reply to
dprkk
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Well, let me say how I was going to attack this. I plan to put the front end up on jackstands. Right now, I'm not sure if this will be high enough. I did some reading on supporting the engine with chains tied to a bar which will brace across the top of the engine compartment. I have a floor jack and I plan to buy a trans lifting adapter for the floor jack. Hopefully, when the axles are out, there will be enough room to maneuver. Given that this can be done, will the trans just slip right out after the bell housing bolts are removed? And will the new trans slip right in? I guess the big question is whether or not I'll kill myself from what I described so far. All comments are appreciated whether you tell me to go ahead and try or say you're nuts and forget it. Thanks.

Ken

Dipstick wrote:

Reply to
dprkk

Seems a bit steep to me.. I just had my trans R+R and rebuilt by a local guy for $950 nothing broken.. just "wear" parts ..... *however* it is a 3 speed, he charges $1350 for the 4 speed electronic... I live in Chicago.. I would think you could get a local shop to R+R a trans for $500 just about anywhere.. Check around.. not a job you want to do by yourself.. *really*.. unless you have lots of time and patience.

May have to pull it back down to shim the converter.. stuff like that.. really nice to have help.. Some ideas courtesy of TM a regular here..

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Reply to
me!

TED,

Thanks for your narrative and your pictures. They were EXCELLENT! I will definitely print and save for reference. I am probably doing this for the same reasons you are. This is a hobby for me. My caravan has more sentimental value than monetary. I live in the Naperville area. Nobody cracks a hood around here(not even for oil changes). They pay to have everything done. When I'm working on my car in the driveway, I always get "looks" like you're not supposed to be doing this over here. Too bad. I will just take it one step at a time and if it takes me a few months, who cares. Thanks for boosting my confidence. If you wouldn't mind a couple questions when I get into this project, please let me know your email. I can be reached at snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com.

Ken

Reply to
dprkk

Ken,

It certainly is a small world ...

I too live in Naperville so can relate to the looks you get from your neighbors. I am can personally dispel your comment on NOBODY doing oil changes or cracking a hood open since I have 5 vehicles in the family and try to do as much as I can on all of them myself. As if the 5 are not enough, I also just did my nieces front brakes on her Ford and a pair of starter solenoid contacts on my sisters LHS a few months before that.

I do not have a transmission floor jack, but if you need any tools, send me email and I'll see what I have around you might need.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

Reply to
jdoe

Lots of DIY's (Shade-Tree mechanics) complete this job every day. I have no idea if you will feel comfortable doing it, but get a copy of your Haynes manual and it should be in there. The general procedure is just to disconnect all of the linkages, wires, etc from the tranny.. Pull the half-shafts. You may have to pull the sub-frame, depending on your vehicle. Remove the inspection plate and remove the bolts that connect the flywheel to the torque-converter (assuming you have an automatic, which you probably do). Do one more check to make sure that the transmission isn't hooked to anything anywhere (except by the bell-housing bolts to the engine). Get a jack under the transmission (If you're on a lift, a tranny jack.. If on the shop floor, a floor jack). If you had to pull the rear engine motor mount, make sure to put a jack under the engine too. Pull the bellhousing bolts, and yank the transmission. Don't forget to add the appropriate amount of transmission fluid to your new one after it is correctly installed but before you try to drive anywhere.

-Adam

dprkk wrote:

Reply to
Adam Jacobs

Here's another link for your perusal....

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It refers to the older minivans but has a lot of good ideas in it.. be sure to check the pics of his engine support
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This one for a Daytona... (same idea)
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Good luck,, take your time .. and GET HELP !!

Reply to
me!

If it is just a straight swap, it should not be very difficult. Make sure you have the proper tools and parts you will need. I would also do some research on what needs to be done to swap the transmission. One of the libraries near me has an alldata.com subscription, so I can look up procedures fairly easily. Once you know what needs to be done, allow yourself plenty of time.

------------- Alex

Reply to
Alex Rodriguez

I did change mine on 89 dodge dynasty 3.0L 4speed tranmsion. .

In my experience, I lifted the car so that the tires are 1-2 inch in air. I remove the transmision without any problem. Putting it back is kinda tricky without transmision jack. I used a long wood block to lift it. I lift one side, put something under the wood. go to the other side lift alittle more. It took nearly 1 hour to mount it on the engine. however you definately need a partner to put at least one bolt as you lift and try to allight the engine and transmision.

On the other hand, i definately donot want to do it again. Caravan might be alittle bit more difficult to work on since I expect it to have less working space.

Good luck.

PS: I bought one for $125 ($75 if i did take it out) from a local junk yard. I spend nearly 75 extra for seals fluids, filters, and it cost nearly 200 plus labour (). you can buy a used one from junk yards much cheaper than 600. you are right it has its own ifs.

Reply to
uccoskun

Thanks to all in the group who responded. I'm going to make this a long term project and take it one step at a time. Like I mentioned, this is a hobby of mine. I've done just about everything else on a caravan, I'd like to attempt this. I'm doing it more for the experience than anything else.

Has anyone had any experience with "alldataDIY.com"? I am wondering if it it worth the subscription.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
dprkk

I would be careful about buying one from a yard.. My last experience with junkyard automatic transmissions took about 3 tries before I ended up with one that didn't fall apart inside the 90 day warranty. I understand that I was probably just very unlucky (and the above was very lucky) but.. I'd be very tempted to buy the rebuilt one if the price difference is that small.

Reply to
Adam Jacobs

I would agree with you. It's a lot of work to install a transmission, so having to do it multiple times is a huge waste of time.

------------- Alex

Reply to
Alex Rodriguez

I have hard copy factory shop manuals *and* AllData on-line subscriptions on all 3 vehicles that I own as well as two relatives whose cars I help them maintain.

Here is my assessment: (1) For electrical schematics, you can't beat them. They are 100% complete, and right out of the FSM (i.e., they are as specific to your year and model as the FSM is). I'd take the subscription over any aftermarket manuals just for the complete and accurate schematics. (2) You get on-line access to complete TSB's specific to your vehicle. Some people might consider the annual fee* worth it just for this feature. (3) You get access to information and procedures right out of the FSM. This is probably the weakest part of what's included (mainly from an organizational standpoint). The plus is that what info. is there is exact copy of what's in the FSM - not some warmed-over aftermarket-quality crap. The weak points are (a) other than the scehmatics, the information is not 100% complete - what procedures are there are complete, but not all procedures are there

- but they hit the high spots - the major procedural stuff is there - for example, they will definitely have the complete procedures and illustrations on tranny swap right out of the FSM. (b) The procedural info. is poorly organized, hard to find. I have been able to find most things that I've needed with a few minutes of trial and error searching - occassionally there has been some info. that I was looking for out of curiosity (that is in the hard-copy FSM) that I flat out was not able to find - can't be 100% sure if it wasn't there or if I simply never could second-guess their poor organization of the material.

HTH!

*$25/year for first year,first vehicle; $15/year for any additional vehicles and all annual renewals.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

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