97 dodge caravan trans problems... pls help

Hello, I have 97 dodge caravan se, 3.0L, 3 speed transmission, 125K miles,
changed tranmission oil/filter every two years. I'm not sure what kind of trans
oil was used by my last mech, which was about 8-9 months ago. But prior to the
correct one as described by chrysler.
For last few days, when I stop and then accelerate, the gear starts at 2nd
gear. But if I reverse or put the gear to Neutral and then to drive, it starts
from 1st gear as it should. Today, it was fine and no problem.

I took to couple of shops and they said it needs transmission overhaul $700...
Also, I got conflicting information, i.e. one said, he needs to attach a
scanner and wants to charge $70 to diaganose. While, other said, since this is
3 speed and not overdrive, so this is not electronic transmission and no need
to attach scanner to check this out.

Q: Who is right??

Q: Has anyone have this problem? If so, what is the solution?

Q: If I had to overhaul the transmission, should I change Torque convertor as
well.

Q: If I keep driving like this, will I break something that would cost me
more.... How long should I keep driving?

Thanks very much for your help!

 

trans

You don't need to attach a scanner, and you should try having the bands
adjusted
before assuming a rebuild is needed.

Ted

 

Try to find a shop that will read the codes.. in my town it happened to be
free. But I understand if they want to charge. I had a problem with my A604
that I was debating between two problems. Took it to the only good tranny
shop in my area and they read the code for free. It came up speed sensor and
I allowed them to gouge me for $110 to put in the $40 part. Pay to have the
code read is my suggestion. If you luck out with a bad sensor diagnosis you
can forget the labor charge and it's an easy fix.

 

Transmission internal problems. Improper band adjustments and/or
broken bands, dirt in the valve body and/or governor.

These days, that's a very low price for a transmission overhaul.

RUN away from this guy, he's trying to scam you.

That's correct.

Usually a replacement torque converter is included in the cost of a
complete transmission overhaul.

Almost certainly yes.

If you cannot afford or don't want to spend the money for an overhaul, you
may want to look into a low mileage, guaranteed used transmission, which
you can find via www.car-part.com .

DS

 

No codes to read, the man has the *three speed* automatic, which is
hydromechanical.

No sensors to go bad in the three-speed.

DS

 

I have a 97 with the same combo. I already had a rebuild at 75,000
kilometres. It was acting funny again at 130k km/ It was shifting at odd
intervals, holding the gear too long or suddenly kicking down hard as I
rolled to a stop sign. It didnt do it every time. I thought: "Oh-Oh, not
again!." But I took it in to the dealer and asked the service manager to
take it for a spin. He quickly identified the problem -- often on these
models the mechanical linkage between the throttle and the tranmission gets
dirty and seizes up. It develops a kind of false memory syndrome. It cost me
less than one hour of labour and it is running like new again. I was so
relieved not to be forking over $1600 Cdn again that I went ahead with the
flush, fluid and filter change slightly ahead of schedule just to keep the
angels on side. You may not get off so easily, but if have learned
anything about these vehicles is that it is better to find a decent dealer
for the big stuff because they know them.

 

Subject: 97 dodge caravan trans problems... pls help

Sounds like a hangy governor-this model trans doesn't like contamination in the
governor-at all. You may get lucky and the crud flushes free and stays that
way. However, which is common, the carrier bearing is taking a shit and
shedding small pieces of metal into the sump oil. Check yer play in the
driver's side half shaft as it enters the trans case, and pull yer trans oil
pan and look for fine shiny metal bits-hopefully there will be none. Good luck
to you.
Respectfully submitted,

Loren Knighton
Woodland, CA.

Under the hood since 1964
Member TRNI IATN
http://www.lubegard.com/automotive/trans_atf.html
http://www.longmfg.com/web/longwebframework.nsf/home/web.trucool

 

YEah I was gonna tell him the same thing. Cheack the play on driver side
axle. Prbably a bearing taking a dump in there and the gov. clogged up.
Larry

 

Thanks for the advise.

I'm surprised none of the shops looked at this.

How would I check that myslef?

Also, should I just change the oil and filter and see what happens.

To adjust bands, don't you have to open the transmission? If you do, you might
as well have this overhauled.

Thanks again for the excellent advise.
Mike

 

Thanks for the advise. Do you know where is this linkage. None of the
mechanics looked at it and suggested that. I assume, the dealer cleaned it for
you. Can I do it myslef?

And how? What exactly is this?

Thanks again very much for the help

 

How do I check mechanical linkage between the throttle and the tranmission ??

Can I clean it myself? If not, how do I explain it to a mechanic as they did
not suggested it..

Thank everybody for the help!

 

Where are these bands? Do you have to open transmission to adjust these?

Thanks!

 

Yes you do. You will need to remove the tranny pan, filter to get access to the
adjusting screws for the bands. Get a repair manual for the procedure and
torque specs. It is not difficult, but yo need to know what to do. It is best
to do this wile yo are doing the tranny fluid and filter change.

 

You have to open the trans to "just change the oil and filter". If your
last mechanic
that did the trans fluid change 8 months ago followed the documented service
procedure
he would have adjusted the bands. Check your service receipt. Also, some
people
have reported that there is supposedly something in Dexron III fluid that
attacks the
converter clutch facing causing it to flake off, and the flakes clog the
governor. So
if the wrong trans fluid was used in the last fluid change, that could have
done it as well.

If the correct fluid was used and if the bands
were adjusted at that time, then your trans is probably screwed and if you
intend on keeping it, you need to get it in for a rebuild now, before things
get
worse and more damage happens inside the trans. I wouldn't spend the money
on a oil/filter change and fluid flush unless the goal is to get it going
for long
enough so you can sell it off.

If however the last mechanic didn't adjust the bands but used the correct
fluid, then
drop the pan yourself,
it's easy enough to do. Check the pan and if there's no metal in it, adjust
the bands,
replace the pan and fluid, and cross your fingers. The process has been
documented
here:

http://www.allpar.com/eek/atf.html

Ted

 

One of the bands in this transmission is adjusted from the outside via
a control bolt that goes thru the housing.
However, the other band adjustment is only accessable after the bottom
transmission pan is dropped. Dropping the bottom pan is relatively
easy, just a matter of removing a few bolts. A new pan gasket should
be used.

BTW, the recommended service interval in normal useage for the band
adjustments on this transmission is every 30,000 miles - at least per
my technical manual. If you haven't been doing that, and refilling it
with ATF+3 or ATF+4 fluid, the transmission hasn't been properly
serviced.

It sounds like you've been going to transmisison shops that don't
understand what model of transmission you have. I'd take the car to a
Chrysler/Dodge dealer and have them diagnose the problem. You can
decide afterwards if you want to go with their estimate.

As other posters have mentioned, this transmission is non-electronic,
with no electronic diagnostic codes to read.

Doug

 

Thanks everyone for the excellent posts. Below is the summary. Now, the
question is, Is it possible to avoid transmission overhaul. E.g. if the there
is play on driver side axle, then what.

Here is the summary from the replies to my request.

Adjust bands

Often on these models the mechanical linkage between the throttle and the
tranmission gets dirty and seizes up. It develops a kind of false memory
syndrome.

Transmission internal problems. Improper band adjustments and/or
broken bands, dirt in the valve body and/or governor.

Check yer play in the driver's side half shaft as it enters the trans case, and
pull yer trans oil pan and look for fine shiny metal bits-hopefully there will
be none.

Cheack the play on driver side axle. Prbably a bearing taking a dump in there
and the gov. clogged up.

 

Another q's... I'm going to have torque convertor replaced when transmission is
overhauled. I'm told they are all re-manufactured.
How good are they?

How would I know it was replaced? I just have take shop's word for it?

How about TCC cellenoid? Should that be changed as well. Some shops are
saying, it should and others saying, it does not have to be.

Thanks very much!

 

Just a word of caution on evaluating the play in the shaft coming out of
the transaxle: There may normally be a surprising amount of play due to
normal clearances between the shaft itself and the output gear (it may
be a spline slip fit). I recently went on a wild goose chase on my
Concorde because I was convinced that the carrier gear bearings were
shot before discovering that the bearings were fine, and the observed
significant play (between shaft and gear) was (apparently) normal.
Luckily I discovered the real simple problem external to the tranny that
was causing the noise I was hearing before I dumped a couple grand or
more into a tranny non-problem.

Now - that having been said - I have never seen a Caravan tranny, and
all of my above comments may therefore be non-applicable and FOS. If
so, then ignore them. But it may be that my one-time experience on an
LH vehicle 42LE tranny is transferable to your van regarding output
shaft play - that is assuming that the carrier gear/output shaft design
is at least conceptually similar.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Why are you concerning yourself with this? If your going to have the trans
rebuilt, then the shop is going to offer a warranty, right? So let them
worry
about rebuilding the trans. You need to worry about stuff like the BBB
rating on the business, check with
other vehicle owners who have used the shop, etc.

If you cannot rebuild the trans yourself, what makes you think that reading
a handful of posts in this newsgroup here is going to qualify you to advise
the trans shop as to how to go about rebuilding your trans?

If you really want to play Doctor then buy the appropriate service manuals
from Chrysler and perhaps one from ATSG and read up on the procedure.
Like most auto repair procedures it's not that hard to understand, the
problem is it takes a lot of tooling that the garden-variety home mechanic
does not have.

Ted