2001 Caravan SE 41TE/41AE Tranny Reliability

When I was in the tranny shop the manager showed me the parts that failed
and which one failed first causing a cascade of failures. I don't know my
internal transmission parts so I can't say which one it was. It was small
and round... like a disk... and was more to the front of the tranny close to
the torque convertor. He suggested that was a fairly common culprit, but
that it could have been one of several other parts too.

 

My 1996 has worked fine for 146,000 miles. How many miles do I need on
my tranny before you consider it to be working?


Matt

 

I believe the Toyota does as does the Chevy Venture.

Obviously not a very high cost or people wouldn't keep coming back.


Matt

 

On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 23:33:39 GMT, "Matthew S. Whiting"

....

Consider buying lottery tickets. You got a good one. The failure
rate has been WAY too high on the tranny.

 

On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 23:34:54 GMT, "Matthew S. Whiting"

....

Ye, for 04 it does. Nice van but VERY pricey (the Japanese have not

POS except for the engine. Rides like a small S10. Which it is.

Until the Honda, there was not much alternative. Check the latest
Windstar and Chrcyo van sale declines.

 

Sorry for the delay in responding- been out of town.

You seem to be arguing that "if the engine can't break it, then its
strong enough." I'm saying that a transmission can be strong enough that
the engine can't break it in a single event, and still be too small for
the application so that it doesn't last long enough. And that isn't JUST
a heat dissipation issue. Even if the engine can't strip gear teeth off
the the gears in transmission A (or light vehicle A) by brute force, the
gear teeth could be weak enough that they flex under loading and will
fail after 50k miles, as opposed to transmission B (or heavy vehicle B
with the same transmission) which has gear teeth that flex far less
under the same loading.

 

Tom Ruta wrote:

Jeez, you don't consider a change in reaction plates, a change in
material processing (induction hardening) and a change in snap rings
"material?" What exactly WOULD you consider "material" changes?

 

Maybe you should be the one who AVOIDS lottery tickets, because you've
got a hex on you....

 

A) the number one PROBLEM reported with the GM minivans is
engine-related, and yet you say the engine is the "exception?"

B) Does a Venture have even ONE significant part in common with an S-10?
I mean apart from the knobs on the radio? One's FWD, one's RWD. One's
unibody, one's body-on-frame. Need I go on?

 

Sounds like you are confusing the Venture with the Astro. My parents
have an AWD Venture and it rides nothing like an S10 ... which they also
owned previously.


Matt

 

Steve, he obviously doesn't know the difference between a Venture and an
Astro.


Matt

 

....

In this case - a new transmission.

 

....

Lotteries are a tax on morons.

 

....

My bad - I spoke of the generic GM engine. I ran those for years and
years and NEVER had an issue. Good old push rod 350. I know - not in
the van.

 

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 23:22:22 GMT, "Matthew S. Whiting"

...

Good friend has one and I've been in it enough to know its ride does
not hold a candle to the Chrysler vans.

 

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 23:24:12 GMT, "Matthew S. Whiting"

....

Two pieces of crap. Gee, which is worse? BTW, which Chrysler
dealership or plant do YOU work for?

 

That's for sure. But there are so many of them ... it is very
lucrative. Then again, one could also say that anyone who has a van
that has two or three transmission failures and then goes out and buys
another one of the same make and model is a moron.


Matt

 

I agree that my Chrysler vans ride better than the Venture, but I wasn't
sure if that was due to the Venture being AWD and both my vans being
FWD. I haven't driven an AWD Chrysler so I can't compare apples to
apples. However, the AWD Venture doesn't ride like an S10, unless you
had a much better riding S10 than I've ever been in.


Matt

 

I have no affiliation with Chrysler at all. I currently own two
Chrysler minivans, but I also own a Chevy K1500. I have no greater
allegiance to Chrysler than to GM. I'm just correcting your mistakes.

Matt

 

On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 14:19:59 GMT, "Matthew S. Whiting"

....

You have a point up to a point. However, in this case, there simply
was no reasonable alternative. But I see that the market,
particularly Toyota has responded. Now if they would on;y get with
the program and offer all that free financing and rebates to chop 10K
off the price to bring it in line with the equivalent Chrysler van...