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has dodge corrected their transmission problems in the new vans - READ ONLY

16 messages,  Last post on Jul 02, 2003 at 6:02 PM

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

Messages Page 2 of 2

#7 of 16 99 Gr Caravan tranny problems by truckgirl2

May 04, 2003 (10:30 am)

I have a 99 gr caravan with 87k miles on it. Yesterday as i was getting off the highway, it downshifted to third, the speedometer stopped working and the check engine light came on. We have not been able to get it to shift higher than 3rd. HELP! Am i looking at a whole new tranny? We checked the trans fluid and it looked good.

#8 of 16 by alcan

May 05, 2003 (4:34 am)

Get the trouble codes retrieved. My first guess would be an output speed sensor.

#9 of 16 by vjcl

May 08, 2003 (2:31 pm)

I had similar problem last week, first dealer replaced the output speed sensor, and it happened again after a week, and dealer replaced input speed sensor.
 
Question: What cause these speed sensor to fail? Are they related? do you supposed to check other speed when one is failed.

#10 of 16 uh, wear? by swschrad

May 08, 2003 (9:17 pm)

I would expect the technology used at that point to be either a spinning generator driven by a gear, or a hall-effect sensor picking up a magnet spinning on a tranny shaft end. the generator would put out a voltage, but it will have a commutator and sliding contacts, both of which will wear out in use. a hall-effect could fail by heat, fluid leaks damaging the epoxy case of the sensor chip, or road chips flung by tires hitting it.
 
I will also bet it was not too expensive to replace the sensors, although one fail and then another a week later kind of stinks.

#11 of 16 by alcan

May 09, 2003 (4:31 am)

They're permanent magnet AC signal generators. Each tooth of the reluctor ring disrupts the magnetic field surrounding a magnetic core in the sensor, generating an AC pulse into the windings around the core. No contacting parts. Failures are usually open or shorted windings.

#12 of 16 by vjcl

May 10, 2003 (8:32 am)

Thanks. Both were shorted. this is frist time I used extended warrentee. Like swshrad said, "it stinks"

#13 of 16 by bguesman

May 24, 2003 (8:52 am)

I have a 97 Grand Sport with 138k miles on it. I replaced the transmittion at 85k miles and it's worked great ever since. I'm told that 2000's and above have had the transmittion problem addressed.
 
I've looked at other minivans but bang for the buck Chrysler products are way ahead of the pack.

#14 of 16 What isV6 3.3L Flex Fuel Engine by veej371

Jun 03, 2003 (6:36 pm)

How different are they from the regular V6 engine. Is it more expensive to maintain. If I have to buy one, would you advice so. A Dodge Grand Caravan.
Veej

#15 of 16 99 Transmission problems by weim2

Jul 01, 2003 (7:17 pm)

I have a 99 Grand Caravan with AWD. At 55,000 miles the transmission had to be rebuilt. Then, less than 1 year later, it went again. Another rebuild, then 6 mths later another rebuild. 3 mths later, again. It now has 97,000 miles, just picked up from the 4th rebuild. Now it's leaking fluid. I don't think Chrysler has fixed their transmission problems......

#16 of 16 on your 5th transmission in 4 years and 100K? by feldmanbd

Jul 02, 2003 (6:02 pm)

I can agree with you that 55,000 miles is a little early for a transmission failure... ok, so admittedly Chrysler has a few bad ones out there. There are also lots of us that have gone well over 100,000 with these. But I wouldn't blame Chrysler for your subsequent transmission failures. Rebuilds are generally done by a shop, which may or may not have any affiliation with Chrysler. In any case, a rebuild is not a new transmission from the factory. Perhaps whoever rebuilt your transmissions tried to save a few bucks by reusing old seals and clutches, using cheaper parts, or maybe just plain didn't know how to put something together properly. If you just picked it up from the 4th rebuild and it's already leaking fluid then obviously the people rebuilding your transmission(s) are not doing something right. Or (gasp) used the wrong tranny fluid. Did they replace the automatic transmission fluid cooler? There could be some junk in there from the previous failures. Did they even bother to determine why the first one failed? Did you ever check the level of the transmission fluid or give it fluid and filter changes? If it's leaking fluid and you're not adding fluid to compensate for the loss, then it'll definitely fail in a very short time. Most reputable transmission shops will give you at least a 1 year 12000 mile warranty, so I hope those rebuilds were all free... One of my friends at work had a 93 Town & Country, and his case sounded very similar to yours. The first transmission lasted 125,000, the next 2 both lasted less than a year, and then he had it rebuilt somewhere else (correctly) the third time. I hate to see someone having such bad problems with such a good product, but please at least do this for yourself:
 
1. Find a reputable shop to rebuild your transmissions. I'm sure someone out there knows how to properly rebuild one of these. Rebuilding these is not uncommon.
 
2. Tell all your friends that the shop you previously went to can't rebuild a transmission that will last longer than a year.
 
3. Enjoy your van once they rebuild your transmission correctly!

Messages Page 2 of 2

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