Chrysler Minivan Transmission Problems

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2070 messages, Last post on Jun 02, 2013 at 12:09 PM

You are in the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan Forum.

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What is this discussion about? Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager, Chrysler Grand Voyager, Dodge Grand Caravan, Transmission, Van

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#264 of 2070 2000 Grand Caravan tranny went by tm152

Feb 13, 2003 (1:26 am)

Regrettably, we have a 2000 Grand Caravan with a 3.8. I had a 3yr / 36 warranty. It was always serviced as required. Without warning at 43,000 miles the tranny blew while the family was driving down the freeway. It was so badly damaged that the "core" was unusable and there was collateral damage. Of course I called Dodge and they said I was on my own. The cost of the repair is going to be around $3400. The experience has been sickening and I will never ever buy or ride in a Dodge product again.

#265 of 2070 Sorry to hear that... by arjay1

Feb 13, 2003 (4:04 pm)

I have posted here before with our tranny problems in our '96 Town & Country.
Lean on Chrysler about this. They have been covering the cost of out of warranty transmission service for years. They paid for 1/2 of my transmission service when ours went out with 49,000 miles on the van. In '96 we only had the 12/12 warranty.
Call and tell them that you know that they have covered these costs for others. Don't give up, they will pay for at least part of it.

#266 of 2070 reply tm152 by pluto5

Feb 13, 2003 (5:39 pm)

Sorry to hear about your trans problem but arjay1 has a point; sometimes if you call DC on another day of the week they pop for out of warranty repairs, like they haven't made their quota yet for the day. In any case don't take a "no" from the dealer as final because they get a lot more for repairs from the retail customer than from DC and may not help you. You must call DC customer service directly.

Doesn't auto comprehensive cover this anyway if it's sudden, like may you ran over something?

#267 of 2070 transmission fluid leaking. by xingze_cai

Feb 23, 2003 (1:32 am)

I have a 98 caravan sport version, and I used to replace the transmission fluid with filter by myself at every 15000 miles. Recently, I found there is a minor fluid leaking from tranmission pan(mainly from the back bots of pan), I tighten those bots, and still leaking a little bit, especially after driving. I did not get this problem during the first 2 times I changed them. This afternoon, I take out the pan and check it carefully and did not find anything abnormal, put the new gasket, with new fluid, but still have this problem.

Does any one else have similar problems or know the solution for this? Thanks!

#268 of 2070 xingze_cai by vcheng

Feb 23, 2003 (6:25 am)

Just replied to your message in another forum....

#269 of 2070 changing ptu fluid and overunning clutch fluid by majicmojo1

Feb 24, 2003 (8:42 pm)

I recently bought a '99 t+c limited awd w/ 30k miles and bought the service manual but when I went to look for info on how to drain and fill the power transfer unit and the overunning clutch,as well as the rear diff.,there was nothing in the manual indicating a procedure on how to drain and refill these three units.I also looked underneath and could not see anything that looked like a drain plug on the bottom of the ptu or the overunning clutch.What gives?? do you have to suck the old fluid out through the fill hole???? HELP!! I would like to do the service myself if at all possible. Any and all tips appreciated.

#270 of 2070 Another data point, plus questions by mcomer

Feb 25, 2003 (12:28 pm)

Get this: new 2003 T&C Limited, bought 7 weeks ago, have put 2100 miles on it. Yes, this is a car that hasn't even had it's first oil change.

Tranny started shifting strangely: bad vibration when shifting from 1st to 2nd, engine slip and rev up when changing from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th (overdrive?). Also felt "strange" when downshifting - held on too long so that the car slowed down a lot with engine compression, let go suddenly, etc. None of this happened every time - you know, the usual pain in the a$$ intermittent problem that means you'll have nightmares with the mechanic.

Took it to the dealer expecting the run around. They had it less that four hours and called me back saying yes, the transmission has a problem. Yes, it is internal to the transmission. No, we won't bother trying to fix it - we'll just put in a new transmission. Not what I expected, honestly. This REALLY makes me wonder if they aren't painfully aware of some kind of problem.

Anyway, what's also weird is that supposedly there is no transmission to be found closer than California (I'm in Richmond, VA). And of course, it's a reman transmission.

Questions:
1) They have to ship a transmission from CA? By truck? To Virgina?
2) A reman? Should I accept this? Remember, the car HASN'T EVEN BEEN 3000 MILES YET!

#271 of 2070 reply mcomer by pluto5

Feb 25, 2003 (7:56 pm)

If you read the warranty there is probably a provision to use reman parts, but the dealers usually have one on hand.

#272 of 2070 reply to tm152 by ed12

Feb 28, 2003 (12:10 pm)

I agree with the other posters. Call Chrysler. A year ago the tranny failed on my Chrysler sedan. It was about 4000 miles out of warranty. I called Chrysler and with no argument they insisted on picking up the whole cost(less $100). Could not be more pleased.
Just for the record, I have owned Chrysler products since 1969. Each one has been better than the previous as far as build quality and reliabilty is concerned. My latest, a T&C van, I find superior in build quality to my friends AValon.

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