Chrysler Minivan Transmission Problems

royallen · September 2001

Howard: I don't have personal experience but I am pretty sure each state office of attorney general has a consumer affairs dept that could answer your questions about lemon law in detail.

mike91326 · September 2001

Had the same problem with my 97 Ply GV. It went away as soon as I reved the engine a little. It turned out to be the bearing in the serpentine belt pre-tensioner. The dealer told me that they go bad at about 60,000 miles and need to be replaced. About a $250 job with a new belt.

bigblockvette · September 2001

I bought my '99 GrandCaravan Sport 2 years ago and it has 32,000 easy miles on it. My wife was driving the kids to school yesterday and the trans made a loud bang noise and now is stuck in limp mode, 2 gear I think. I am very unhappy about this and took it to the dealer today to get fixed. They say it could take 1 day to 2 weeks! I have heard these things have trans problem. I should have kept my '88 with 197,000 miles on the first trans.

Should I dump it once the dealer fixes it or will it be OK. What should it look out for in the future. I only have 3,500 miles left on my warranty.

Regards,
Dwayne

eneth · September 2001

DaimlerChrysler has gotten pretty good at making this transaxle last more than 36,000 miles - it's unusual that they fail before that point (which is when the warranty expires). However, though they've tried innumerable fixes over the last twelve years, the unit is still underengineered and still failure-prone. If you do keep the van, now is the time to consider an extended warranty, if you can still buy one.

This is the same transaxle they are fitting to the 2002 Neons - they're finally introducing a 4-speed automatic to that model - and they're offering a 5/60 powertrain warranty on it in the Neon. It'll be interesting to see if they do the same for the minivans and other applications where the stresses on the transmission are greater. If they don't, your experience may be a very good indication of why they don't.

mike91326 · September 2001

I had the same problem with my 97 when the trans went at 16,000 miles. After I had it rebuilt I asked the dealer about their 6/100 extended warranty. He told me that as long as the 3/36 factory warranty was still in effect I could get the extended warranty. The dealer would sell me the warranty but they would not give me much of a break on the price. I called the DC regional or zone office and after complaining and telling them that there was no excuse for the trany to fail at 16,000 miles they agreed to sell me the 6/100 warranty for cost which was about 60% less than the dealer was asking. I'm glad I got it because my transmission failed again at 62,000 miles. This time it was so bad that it had to be replaced. I was told that it was a $2,500 job but it only cost me $100.

peterparker · September 2001

My 1999 Plymoth Grand Caravan lurched forward yesterday, then got stuck in 1st or 2nd gear. The speedometer stopped working also. My mechanic says the transmission is shot and I'm going to have it towed to my dealer..

I have 48000 miles on it.. did anyone ever get help from chrylser with transmission problems for the carava/voyager?? any steps or key things I need to do???

any help would be greatly appreciated...

Parker

bigblockvette · September 2001

Just got mine ('99 Dodge GrandCaravan) back from the dealer yesterday. Mine stuck into 2 gear also, but the speedo worked. They said the trans had to be rebuilt. I had 32,000 miles so it was covered by Chrysler. Now they say it has 12 months or 12,000 mile warranty on the trans. That will get me to 44,000 miles!?!? I think I am going to dump it before then. You cannot trust something that has let you down.

DRM

peterparker · September 2001

As my post #109 states, I thought I needed a new transmissions... when I explained the problem to the dealer they actually said I probably needed a new tranny..

I explained to the Chrysler service manager that I had called Chrysler customer service and opened a file.. I also stated that I had seen references to an extended 'secret' warrenty on a site and that I thought Chrysler would pay at least half.. this got his attention..

2 hours later he called me and said that it was just a speedometer computer chip and that it would cost $100!!! But he then made sure that he had my ok to close the file on the incident...

I lucked out, but I can just imagine how may people get transmissions w/o needing them... I was ready to buy into it..

Parker

eneth · September 2001

Some do get ripped off, no doubt; how much more difficult would it be, after over a dozen years, for DaimlerChrysler to redesign the fault-prone electronics in these transaxles so that they don't _need_ a visit to the service department?

Whether the fault is (relatively) inexpensive electronics or (in my case and many others I know about) mechanical in origin doesn't really matter - the fundamental question is why they haven't fixed either set of problems after all these years of trying?

If the car doesn't need to go into the service department in the first place, there's no chance for the consumer to be ripped off.

tboner1965 · September 2001

I know of 5 DC vans with the 4 speed transaxle, four of those five had transaxle failures. I owned the fifth van and traded it before the 3/36 warranty was up.

I know these guys and they all take care of their equipment, so it can't be because of neglect.

We liked our van, but felt like we were driving a time bomb waiting to go off and leave my wife and kids stranded.

Go look at the Mazda MPV problem forums. People have real problems there like, how do I get wax off the black trim.

Oh sure, there are a few issues, but it seems most have been addressed by Mazda.

We love our MPV with 13.9K problem free miles.

Not trolling, just have a customer who is considering the DC vans, and I wanted him to view these boards. So I'm checking them out before I show them to him.

Don't worry, I'll give the standard disclaimer that people who have problems will probably be more vocal than those who don't.

However, my real life second hand experience with these vans cannot be easily dismissed.

I'd love to trust these vans, they make them in the city I work in. Gotta be good for the local economy.
TB

ajlinc · September 2001

We have recently noticed a whirring noise in our 2001 T&C. The noise is only there on start up when you shift out of park to reverse, or from reverse to neutral then back to reverse. The sound only lasts for a minute or so then goes away. Anyone have the same issue?

veritas · November 2001

Has anyone ever seen any statistics on the transmission problem that show the relative rates of failure for 3.3 and 3.8 engined vans since the 3.8 was introduced?

I'm wondering if the 3.8 engine used a stronger transmission to cope with the increased power or if the tranny has always been identical for both engines.

hersbird · November 2001

There are no stats kept. To find out the real rate you have to go out and stand beside a Caravan owner. If he has had a problem he will be complaining about it, if not everything must be OK. People are more likely to complain then to praise so this should be a good judge. I've been keeping score since 1989 and here are the results: Thousands of Caravan owners, 2 problems. Both problems were on 3.0's so they must be the worst. This is about how consumer reports does it except they don't even care if you ever did own a Caravan in the first place. If you have always owned Hondas but one day on a wim you trolled into Edmunds Town hall on Caravans, and some housewife in Ohio, couldn't figure out how to open the rear hatch on her 92 Grand Caravan AWD, then you are perfectly within you Consumer Reports rights to fill out the survey form when it arrives, and tell them 1979 caravans, in certain collisions, will achive critical mass and result in a nuclear explosion. Never mind they didn't make a 1979 Caravan, Consumer Reports will just automatically put this in their 1989-1996 4 speed OD file. Sorry for the excessivly long sentence, and sarcasim but I'm tired.

veritas · November 2001

As a long-time subscriber to Consumer Reports, I am in a position to rather resent your insinuations that CR subscribers just dream up things to put into their subscriber surveys. I subscribe to CR because I want to know the truth about products as best I can and would never manufacture data to give them. The form specifically asks for the subscriber's personal experience only. And their stats are far more to be trusted than the PR flack put forth by the manufacturers.

The tranny on my 92 GCLE went at 77K miles. It had always had regular maintenance at the dealer. I'm not a jackrabbit driver. The car was equipped with the trailer tow package and its included transmission cooler, but I never tow anything - I just like to use heavy-duty components for light duty in the name of increased reliability.

royallen · November 2001

I find it interesting that CR draws criticism for any negative report on DC vans when by far the majority of items for at least ten years have been positive. For instance only once in the past ten years have DC vans not been in the top three for new van ratings in the April Auto Issue. In regard to reliability, what is the alternative source - when I look at Edmunds ratings I see mostly agreement with CR. If I found a major disagreement( which I haven't) I'd bet the truth is somewhere between the two.

Jack(veritas) your report of early failure on a 4 speed with good maintenance with the right fluid and a transmission cooler has popped my confidence bubble(in fact I don't recall another owner reporting a failure on a cooler equiped van here- maybe I missed one). I have a '95 Caravan that I bought used and added a transmission cooler and have serviced regularly and am happily approaching 77K trouble free miles. I tow a boat some too. Anyway, for those looking for further longevity measures, I'd add that service every 15K, so called severe service criteria, may help. Turn off the OD in city driving below 45 mph, when backing always stop before shifting into drive, when parking on a slope shift into "N" then set the parking brake before shifting to "P", avoid wheel spin in low traction situations. If load + heat + grade is causing a rise in coolant temperature remember that the transmission is even hotter and change the demands on the driveline including lower gear, turning off AC, and maybe stopping for a cool down or even turning on the heater.

hersbird · November 2001

Well I guess that's my bad. I didn't realize CR specifically asked for only personal experiences. That should keep everybody honest. Maybe, just maybe they could do something to verify the ownership, like a VIN number or something. Hey, JD powers actually ensures it is getting data from real owners and amazingly the Chrysler products fair very well in their surveys. Getting the reports only from the readers of a specific magazine would produce strange results as every magazine has a specific demographic. Their experiences would not represent the experiences of millions of completely satisified caravan owners out there, who have so many more things going on in their lives then which toster is quiter. As I said I have had 4 Caravans with up to 145,000 miles on each of them and have never experienced any problem with the 4speed OD automatics. I never have changed the fliud on any of them, I have towed with most of them (a 3500# popup trailer), I do jackrabbit start, and use the motor to help slow the vans on a hill or sometimes coming to a stop. I don't dispute that some transmissions do have problems. I just think they are pretty consistant with other high torque, heavy, FWD applications. Just look at the Honda now that they make a big, powerful, van, they to are having their sahre of problems.

vtec11 · November 2001

hey everybody.

i want to do a fluid change on my van. The tranny was replaced at around 60-70k under warranty, but for the past 2 years its been having trouble shifting into 4th on the highway when its over 70F outside. It also sometimes dosn't downshift from third to lower gear. Both problems go away when you turn the car off then turn it on. Somehow resetting everything. Now that its getting cold, it shifts fine. Except for a shutter at 60mph. I didn't think it would last this long, i thought it would have dropped a long time ago. It now has 112k on it.

I bought a 1998 grand caravan ES so i want to sell this van for aorund $2k.
My question is shold i change the fluid, so it will reduce shuttering (??) hopefully help the tranny last longer...

It shifts really smooth. Actually smoother than my newer van.

Or should i just sell it as is.

I mean, i've heard sometimes changing the fluid can ruin a transmission, that already has a problem...

thanks alot !!
Please help !

jpelder · November 2001

While I do not have any knowledge of any changes in hardware, I am convinced they have improved. In the past 4 minivans I have owned, I have experienced a genuine improvement in the performance of the transmissions. My '94 and '95, as well as my mom's '90 had the problems they are famous for. I have since owned a '98 (my mom now has it with 85,000 miles) and a 2000 (75,000 miles) and no problems in the least. In addition, my company owns about 10. In the past few years, we have not had such problems with the transmissions. Looking forward to upgrading to a new ES in January!!

carleton1 · November 2001

I know of ONE DC minivan owner with transmission problem. Dozens of owners have had NONE. My niece and her husband got a used 99 T&C and use it to tow a trailer for their business. The transmission had problems at 150,000 miles. I read of far more owners having problems with Odyssey transmissions in Town Hall than I do with DC owners having transmission problems...and Honda was supposed to be a paragon of reliability.

eneth · December 2001

And I know of one family who replaced the transaxle in a Caravan three times before it had 70,000 miles on it - your experience may vary. Yes, the unit has been improved - but there are hundreds of thousands of faulty ones on the road (a fact that is reflected in the dismal resale value of the Caravan-Voyager-etc).

4aodge · December 2001

LOL the case you described above with a family replacing the transaxle in a Caravan three times before 70k miles also sounds like what some Odyssey owners here in Town Hall might experience and have already experienced with 99, 00, and 01 model Honda vans.

carleton1 · December 2001

Post #3647 in Honda Odyssey Forum in Town Hall is just one of many examples of transmission problems with the Honda Odyssey. The writer stated that "My '99 Odyssey just had it's third transmission installed."
The posting goes on to say the first replacement was after just 5 months. 2nd was at 24K miles. AND, the dealer kept if for 5 weeks while waiting for the new transmission.
Just read in the Town Hall. More reliability problems are being reported by current owners of the Odyssey than are being reported by current owners of DC minivans even though DC sold 4 times as many DC minivans as Honda sold Odyssey.
I buy a minivan for comfort. My sister's 2001 Odd EX is very spartan compared to our 99 GC SE. I really missed the complete overhead console with outside temp, compass, trip computer, padded armrests on the doors, automatic locking doors, etc. when I drove their Odyssey August 2nd this summer. Since it was 97 Degrees F when driving the Odyssey and 101 degrees F afterward when I drove our 99 GC SE on the same route, I did not need the separately controlled temperature for driver and front pasenger as we used full front A/C on both. Their Odd EX registered 34.9 miles for the exact course where our GC SE registered 34.0 miles. It is also nice to have the accurate odometer of a DC minivan instead of the inaccurate, bloated readings of the Odyssey.
To be fair, the 2001 Odyssey EX is very nice, drove as nicely, and was as quiet as our 2 year older GC SE. Their Odyssey EX had more cargo space behind the 3rd seat to haul all their luggage to the airport and the front A/C fan has more speeds than the 5 speed fan of our GC SE.

eneth · December 2001

It'll be interesting to see whether, if there is indeed a problem with the Honda transaxles, it takes Honda the same length of time to address them as it did DaimlerChrysler. Remember that the unit in question on the DaimlerChrysler vans debuted for the 1989 model year - and it appears that it took ten model years for D-C to finally address the problems.

The family I referred to isn't the only one that had problems - just about every owner of a Chrysler 4-speed auto, whether in the vans, the LH cars, or other models, has had problems. Our first lasted 18,000 miles before dying. An aunt had an Intrepid where the unit lasted 600 miles before requiring replacement.

So, while it's possible D-C finally solved the problems, it still begs the question of why it took a decade to do so.

putlovr · February 2002

I have a 96 T&C with the larger engine -- I think it was 3.3, not the largest I think, I know it was made for them by Mitsubishi, may have been 3.5. I was looking for information on vans because my wife wants to get a new one, when I saw this.

Our T&C has 49,000 miles only but about a year and a half ago with 39,000 miles the transmission went. Chrysler replaced it and as a "favor" only charged us for labor even though it was beyone warranty. Still, IMHO, there is absolutely NO REASON why a transmission should fail at 39,000 miles. I drove my Camry wagon 110,000 miles so I don't think you can blame it on driving style. Just an anecdotal piece of evidence.

Any recommendations for replacement? I hate the handling (we call it "the whale") but need the three rows and cargo space. Wish I'd bought the Toyota Previa but didn't think it was worth the difference in price. Now I do but they don't make it--the Sienna is just my Camry wagon with a higher center of gravity.

carleton1 · February 2002

Read about ATROCIOUS depreciation on a 2001 Sienna XLE as posted by a Sienna owner (name deleted by me...Forum is "Honda Odyssey vs Toyota Sienna"
601 of 605 resale by ...Jan 20, 2002 (06:21 pm)
I've been trying to trade my 01 Sienna XLE, leather, power door (1), fancy mirror, and that's about it. When I bought the car in Oct of 2000 it had an MSRP of $33.5k with none of the pie-in-the-sky adds like protections pkg or extra mile option (you know the stuff....high dollar low value adds that mean nothing at trade time). I can't get any dealer (trade) to budge a penny higher than 19k for my 12k mile, no dent, no ding, just-like-new 01 Sienna XLE.
I bought this Toyota for many sensible reasons not the least of which is their reputation for great resale. And yes, I've shopped the car at enough dealers to believe 19.5k is about all anyone is going to give. While that kind of depreciation is not unusual for a Buick Regal, it hardly qualifies the Sienna as a car with "great resale". I did far better on my 92 Explorer, my 94 Jeep GC, my 96 Tahoe, and my 98 Expedition. Any opinions?"

I have seen NO CARAVAN depreciate this much.

carleton1 · February 2002

And here is posting # 1446 from that forum for your convenience:

#1446 of 1556 I love Toyota's, but not the problems with the new vans by clnelson Jan 10, 2002 (05:29 am)
I can't believe what I am seeing. I bought a new 1999 toyota sienna in march of 1999. It had about 5000 miles on it, as it had been a demo driven by the north east florida toyota president (so I was told). Immediately I was having poblems with rear tires going flat. It had firestone tires on it, but not those being recalled. During the first year I had the vehicle I was woking with the dealership about the tires and low gas mileage, oil problems- where when toyota changed it they said it was darker than usual. The oil problems increased to that it was smoking when starting and oil light always on and aways needing oil. Finally at the 1 year point they said it was sludged and not covered. My husband being a jet mechanic had to see this to believe it. To his surprise they were right it was sludged. But the oil changes had been done. We could prove 3 at the dealership and 1 elsewhere. One of the oil change toyota did was to have cleaned the engine. There had been more but receipts not available. There was disagreement as to when the oil changes should be done. Service mgr says 3000, Dealer says 5000, book said differently(7500) . This was between the service mgr, the dealership mgr and the owners booklet. When the service mgr said oil had to be changed at 3000 due to siennas being different and needing them sooner, I asked why the dealership had waited to do the 1st oil change at over 5400 miles (when i purchased it). I CAN ONLY TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES THE STORY CHANGED. So they said it would be 1600 to desludge the engine and to bring in the receipts and they would as a goodwill jesture cover half of the cost. then after the work was done, my vehicle was held for full payment. I paid the full amount on the condition that when the service mgr got back i would be refunded half. It didnt happen and per some advise I stopped payment on my check. Well I ended up paying the full amount with a guarentee that if it happened again (sludge). Guess what???? 20 months later i have an engine that blew with no warnings. And the mehanic says it has plenty of oil... well of course it does. My husband started 20 months ago changing the oil and filter him self with premium stuff. (ex: synthetic oil and premium filters) So in the almost three years I have had this sienna we are out 1800 for the sludge and looking at 5500 for a new engine. By the way the tire problem is that the axle has them wearing uevenly. New tires all the time. For those of you who love toyotas and think I am bashing them......wrong. I love toyotas. This was our 3rd toyota from the same dealorship. It was to be our van to the end ( we pictured 12 years and 300,000 miles like the old commercial and our last one). So I am not bashing toyotas but bashing the problem and lack of concern by toyota. How can so many people with receipts for oil changes be at fault. This is so sad, I really wanted to be jumping in the air with pride like I did with my last toyota when it had over 300,000 miles on it and still running so well that I sold it for 1000.00 ( the body had rusted but the engine was still strong)

eneth · February 2002

Conveniently left out is the fact that the sludge issue has resulted in 3,000 complaints out of 3.3 million vehicles sold by Toyota - less than 0.1%.

At one point, the failure rate on the DaimlerChrysler transaxles was over 30% before 30,000 miles - and while Chrysler did recall the first year's production for replacement, it never did so in subsequent years when the units were almost as bad. It left the customers to twist in the wind.

Which is worse: and automaker that stonewalls on recalling vehicles with a 0.1% problem rate, or one that stonewalls and never officially acknowledges a problem that affects over 30% of owners?

Sorry, but for all the anecdotes quoted by Carleton1, the odds still favor Toyota and Honda by a wide margin. You're far less likely to end up with a sluge-prone Toyota engine in a Sienna, than you are to end up with a flimsy transmission in a 96-2000 Chrysler Group minivan.

4aodge · February 2002

"Sorry, but for all the anecdotes quoted by Carleton1, the odds still favor Toyota and Honda by a wide margin. You're far less likely to end up with a sluge-prone Toyota engine in a Sienna, than you are to end up with a flimsy transmission in a 96-2000 Chrysler Group minivan. "

Yea, that makes alot of sense, eneth. Thats why our 1998 Grand Caravan SE went to 70k miles without any problems whatsoever and our current 2000 Town & Country continues to preform flawlessly with over 36k miles on the odometer...

pjd58 · February 2002

won't admit there is a design flaw in their Sienna's engine(engine temp too high, causing oil to break down). The Toyota Motor group has lost my respect. They treat their customers with contempt, plain and simple. At least DC fixes their vans and admits when there wrong.

I test drove a 2001 Grand Caravan and was very impressed with the ride, the quietest van on the road, and IMO the best looking. We went with the MPV, since my Wife wanted a smaller van and the fold down 3rd row. We love our MPV, but would have had no problem purchasing a 2001 Caravan. I would have never considered the Sienna.

Pjd58

4aodge · February 2002

I'm glad to hear you left your test drive of a 2001 Dodge Caravan with a good impression of the ride and handling of DC minivans. We love our 2000 Town & Country LX that currently has 36k miles on it. However, an MPV is a wise choice for someone who wants an even smaller minivan than a reglar wheel base Dodge Caravan or Chrysler Voyager.

Glad to hear you enjoy your MPV!

-Adam

eneth · February 2002

pjd58,

Rarely does Chrysler Group admit or fix its problems until it is forced to, either by the NHTSA or by the court of public opinion. They produced how many - six million - minivans with faulty tailgate latches, recalling them only after being forced to? They produced an entire year's worth of faulty A604 transaxles - recalling them only when the publicity became so bad they had no choice - then produced another ten years' worth, doing nothing more than cutting the warranty from 7/70 to 3/36 because the per-unit costs were eating their shareholders' dividends alive.

I've seen only one comment about the possible cause of the Toyota engine oil problems from a single mechanic - maybe that is the issue; maybe not. The problem is nowhere near as widespread as the problems with the Chrysler Group vans - peeling paint (never acknowledged), faulty head gaskets (4-cyl, never acknowledged), faulty transmissions (rarely acknowledged, but widely publicized), fire-prone fuel systems (that took over a year to begin recall repairs).

Toyota's actions aren't commendable either - but if they're not, then Chrysler's actions are contemptible.

If nothing else, at least your odds are better with a Toyota than with anything from Chrysler Group - which doesn't produce a single model of automobile with anywhere near the reliability record of even the worst Toyota model on the road.

jpelder · February 2002

Well, my mom now has 90,000 miles on her '98 grand caravan...no tranny problem. I just traded my 2000 with 75,000 miles, not tranny trouble.

I just picked up my 2002 Grand Sport, the transmission is noticeably smoother. I am looking forward to driving this van!

While it is without doubt that chrysler had terrible caravan transmissions in the past (my mom had 2 bad ones), I really think they have improved dramatically.

arjay1 · February 2002

We have a '96 T&C that has had its' fair share of problems and I have posted about them before. Our tranny went out at 59,xxx miles. I took it to a transmission shop I had used in the past. They told me to contact Chrysler directly because Chrysler had been covering the cost of the repairs due to high failure rate. I had no problem, Chrysler opened a file on us and then paid for 1/2 of the repair done at our dealer. We now have 88,xxx miles on the van and the a/c evaporator needs to be replaced. That brings the total cost of repairs on the van to $4,400 since ownership. And yes, this van gets regular service, most at our dealer. However, the van is paid for and it is cheaper to repair rather than replace, for now.
These tranny problems seem to be hit and miss. Carleton is correct, some last forever and others go early.
Try meeting and talking to people outside these boards who have direct experience. Our Chrysler dealership has been top-notch. Their Service Manager is a great guy and has been a real joy to know. He says the same thing. Some of the 4 sp. trannys go forever and some just blow early. They have a full time mechanic that does nothing but tranny rebuilds at their dealership.
I also have received the same word from a transmission shop I have used. Some of the 4 sp. trannys go forever but way too many crap out early.
I don't care about Honda or Toyota, that's not what this board is about. How come everytime anyone brings up possible problems with their Chrysler vans the same people jump in saying Honda and Toyota have problems also? That's great to hear but who cares. We are discussing Chrysler. Maybe these tranny problems are universal to mini-vans. Has anyone thought about that. These mini-vans we are discussing are basically a car with a bigger body. People use them to haul heavier cargo than a car and carry more people. Maybe that is the problem. Maybe the manufacturers need heavier duty components in the mini-vans.

hayneldan · March 2002

I would be interested in having owners post just what symptoms their transmissions exhibited before being told they need a rebuild or new transmission. My 96 started slipping in reverse and when I looked into it it was low on fluid due to a loose clamp on the trans cooler at the top of the radiator. I cut 1/2 inch off the hose (rubber) and re connected the line. No more leaking or problems thus far. Could the plethora of supposed problems be due to loosing fluid??

pluto5 · March 2002

You were lucky, if my trans was just leaking I would have gone for an easy fix, too. Mine just got progressively slower to engage reverse until it took about 15 seconds and then the dealer finally issued the death certificate and DC paid for a new one under the old 7/70 warranty.I was never asked about fluid changes or type of fluid used.

arjay1 · March 2002

My tranny fluid level was fine also. I did not have a problem with reverse, my problem was with 1st.
When coming to a stop, my vehicle would hesitate back and forth while trying to drop to 1st gear. It eventually got to the point where I had to physically put the gear selector to low after coming to a stop to force the tranny to 1st gear. Otherwise, we were always taking off in 2nd gear.

tltiede · March 2002

The transmission in my mom's 99 Voyager transmission just bit the dust - a torque converter problem, I'm told. I was able to drive it, barely, to the dealer yesterday. Along the way, it "whirred" when I applied the gas and "jerked" when shifting gears. I feel lucky we didn't have to tow it. Anyway, the dealer is suggesting a rebuilt transmission with a 36/36 warranty for $2,300. I called Chrysler to inquire about some relief. But, since the van has 77k miles on it, they said there was nothing they could do. I suppose this is a lesson learned. When we bought the van, we did little research before hand. Had I known about the poor track record of Chrysler products, and these vans in particular, I would have steered her elsewhere (note, the transmission is just the latest in a long list of problems she's had with this van). In contrast, when I bought a van for my wife a year later, I did diligent research before I bought a Toyota Siena. And, I couldn't be happier with the Siena - no problems! As far my Mom's Voyager goes, it looks like it'll be an expensive lesson.

pluto5 · March 2002

Don't give up so easily on DC customer service. I had one rep blow me off when I complained about AC coil failure and another pay for the part--over $200--on a 7 yr. old van. Try calling on different days, who knows, they probably have a quota!!

I've never heard of that good a warranty on a replacement trans. Price is not too bad, either. Honda trans would cost you twice as much with only a 12K mile warranty!

goatmeal · March 2002

From what I read it is very important to use only DCs brand of transmission fluid when changing it.
I cant help but wonder if maybe a lot of these transmission problems are caused by using the wrong type of fluid. When a customer goes to anyplace except a Chrysler dealership who knows what they are putting in it. I would bet that at a lot of places if they have dexron in the hose that is what they use. As a caravan owner I will change my own tranny fluid or else make sure it is done at a DC dealership and the right fluid is used.

dc

arjay1 · March 2002

Our Town & Country was only serviced at a Chrysler dealership right up until it went at 59,000 miles, so unless they are using the incorrect fluid there...

goatmeal · March 2002

I only meant that it is very possibly a contributing factor in a lot of cases.
The main problem with minivan transmissions is that they were designed originally for a front wheel drive 3200 pound car with much less wind resistence than a mini van and not for a 4000 pound van. Even GM vans which have the well built GM transmission do not last as long as the transmissions in thier cars. If they could put truck transmissions in these minivans our problems would be solved but these are bigger units and will not fit with the front wheel drive configuration.

pluto5 · March 2002

Right on, goatmeal. You got the point that the manufacturers do not want to admit. My DC/GC had one change with Dexron and failed 20K miles later but DC/dealer never inquired about the fluid used. They know that these trans are bantam weights. Until they design a suitable trans for this type of vehicle you just have to factor in the cost of a new trans every 40-50K when you compare costs. That goes for Honda, too, IMO.

arjay1 · March 2002

I have posted this before. Our Town & Country is paid for. We figure that a $2,000 transmission every 60,000 miles is much less expensive than a new car payment. It is just a cost of owning the vehicle at this point. I am not happy about our repair history but I am not going to ditch the vehicle at this point. It is still cheaper to repair than to replace. Of course, this theory may end if my wife is ever stranded due to the van having a mechanical problem while on the road.

4aodge · March 2002

I'd have a little more confidence in the reliability of your Town & Country if I were you. Unless, of course, it is a 1996 or 1997 model or a van of any year that has already had a transmission or other major mechanical failure. Our 1998 Grand Caravan SE 3.3 went to 70k miles without any problems at all and our current 2000 Town & Country now has 40k miles and is also trouble-free.

pluto5 · March 2002

Your comment makes me more optimistic but until most people report 100K miles with the trans I think there will continue to be complaints. Most cars get 100K miles on drivetrain without major repairs.

sweingast · March 2002

Lets start that a transmission should not fail at or before 80,000 miles. Given today's technology, any transmission that fails before 150,000 miles is a failure in design or workmanship unless caused by the driver.

Using consumer reports, the new DC transmissions are better rated than the Honda since '99. However, DC's new transmission says that the fluid is lifetime under normal conditions and 48,000 miles under severe conditions.

Given that the difference in maintenance in normal vs severe driving is 2 to 1 does that mean the tranny is designed to last 96,000 miles?

Anyone out there with a 2000 with high miles?

arjay1 · March 2002

Our T&C is a '96. And it had it's first transmission replacement at 59,000 miles.
The van has 89,000 miles to date. We have thus far spent $3,300 on repairs. This would have been $4,400 had Chrysler not kicked in for half of the tranny replacement. Besides the tranny, we have replaced: upper and lower oxygens sensors, water pump, tensioner pulley, driver side window regulator, ECM for the wipers...
At this point we have no a/c due to needing an $1,100 replacement of the evaporator. That repair will officially put us up to $4,400 in repair work. That comes out to 4.5 cents per mile thus far. I would say that is a bit high.
But, like I said before, the van is paid for and it is still cheaper to repair versus replace.

pluto5 · March 2002

DC paid for my replacement AC evaporator coil (part only) although my van was older than yours. First customer rep turned me down, second said yes, even though repair was done at independent shop. Apparently, DC vehicles are suffering tremendous failure rates of AC evaporator coils not only in vans but in sedans and Jeeps. The labor cost for van is high, especially if you go to a dealer. The flat rate time is about six hours because the tech has to access the coil thru the dashboard, but I paid less at independent shop than what the dealer charges. BTW, I never heard of two oxygen sensors on a car and can only see one on my 3.3 engine.

tboner1965 · March 2002

Most any post '96 car will have at least two O2 sensors. One upstream of the Cat and one downstream.

The upstream sensor is for tuning the fuel mixure (Lean vs Rich) the second is to chech the Cat's efficiency. Part of the OBD-II requirements.

My Contour and my MPV both have three cats. Two pre-cats, and one main cat. There are four O2 sensors total as they are upstream and downstream of the pre-cats built into the exhaust manifolds.

FWIW,

TB

arjay1 · March 2002

Although I don't have Tboner's knowledge (and that is why we appreciate people like him here) it was an "upstream" and a "downstream" o2 sensor that needed to be replaced.
Evidently the upstream sensor is easier to get to. That was the first one replaced but it did ot fix the problem. They went back in and replaced the downstream sensor.

Chrysler Minivan Transmission Problems

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