!998 Chrysler Mini Van Transmission Kaput - Looking for a Miracle

Tow it to a trustworthy trannie shop. Give them $2000 or so. and drive away and go another 50K or so before it blows again.

Bob

It's worth fixing assuming the engine is still in good shape. Don't go to AAMCO ,a dealership or a junk yard. Plan to spend $1,800 to $2,200 for getiing it rebuilt by a good shop and make sure they guarantee it for at least 12K or 12 months. My experience has been 97K on a Caravan and 136K on the Voyager I have now before the trans blew up. How long did yours last?

It's worth fixing assuming the engine is still in good shape. Don't go to AAMCO ,a dealership or a junk yard. Plan to spend $1,800 to $2,200 for getiing it rebuilt by a good shop and make sure they guarantee it for at least 12K or 12 months. My experience has been 97K on a Caravan and 136K on the Voyager I have now before the trans blew up. How long did yours last?

Hi Ed,

Just wondering, did you see signs that the fluid blew out of the case vent or the dipstick tube? Otherwise, do you know why the ATF level was low?

One other thought, I assume since it's a GRAND Voyager that it comes with a 4 speed, but I don't know if it is the more problematic 41TE or if it is a Mitsu trans. I don't see much of the domestics in person.... Other than those possibilities, do you have the 3 speed? That used to be the only trans that came on the 3.0 pre '96 IIRC. They were pretty stout unless the cooler hose(s) got misrouted or cut. That would cause smoking, poor shifting, and ultimate demise like you described.

Toyota MDT in MO

My initial simplifying assumption is that if whatever let the fluid out did not itself zorch the transmission, driving it unawares until smoke came out and the car would no longer go probably did the trick. (I've had cars where "smoke comes out" is a sign of normal operation -- haven't we all! -- but "won't go" is a dismaying addition.)

Is the car otherwise in good shape, and a pleasing and problem-solving thing in your life; or were you looking for an excuse anyway to send it into the trickle-down economy?

If it *is* in good shape, for sure get it fixed. For one thing, you can buy some sizable repairs for the cost of a new car. For another, its sale value is down in the flea market range if it has such a test-drive-preventing, wonder-what-else-is-wrong-with-it problem; you'd be either sticking a junkyard transaxle in there and hoping for the best, or turning it loose at some three-figure price to someone who can fix it.

Best of luck,

--Joe

What's wrong with AAMCO? The one located at:

did such a fine job that my Renault transmission lasted hundreds of miles between subsequent breakdowns, and I'm sure it wasn't their fault that the engine burned out because it was run without coolant. And I know they were telling the truth when they said they had experience with several of these Renaults. Rather, it had to be the Renault dealer who obviously lied when they said a couple of men from an AAMCO shop had visited them several weeks earlier to get photocopies of the transmission diagrams.

I haven't had any problems with an AAMCO repair in 20 years, nor have I been to AAMCO in 20 years.