A604 Problem 89 Chrysler New Yorker

Just bought a Chry NY from a friend of mine 94K miles. The trans (A604)
would not pull it out of it's tracks. I replaced the fluid and filter. It
still would not pull.
Deceided to check the linkage adjustment for potential problems. Cranked the
car in Neutral put it in ODrive and it moved normally (so far all testing has
been in my driveway, no street tests yet). Shifted the trany into Reverse No
pull, back to ODrive No pull. Cranking in Park No pull in any gear

Since the trany is computer controlled, I have to suspect some sort of
switch/sensor/wiring problem. I pulled the PRNDL switch thinking it might be
the cause, but testing it out of the trany it seems Ok.

Any suggestions??

TIA for your help

EBob

 

Your have a fractured Sun gear, it's a known weak point with this age of
A604. If the computer is removed from the tranny, the tranny will
still go into reverse. The only thing that will cause that transmission to
not operate in reverse, if it does operate in any other gear, is a broken
gear.

There's a pic of a broken gear in the following pictorial:

http://freebsd-corp-net-guide.com/94tcpics/project.html

This is the same transmission as yours.

Your going to have a problem fixing this because the 1989 A604
was one of the early, early generation A604s. It differs significantly
from the later ones because it uses a mechanical speedometer takeoff,
the later ones all use electronic speedos. You can't just go to a wrecker
and find another A604 unless it has come out of an 89 vehicle, and all of
those are probably blown up like yours.

If you really want to run this car, find a transmission rebuilder who
has had experience with this transmission. A rebuild will run you
around $1400 at least. Many internal parts in the 1989 A604 will need
to be replaced. The transmission manual from Chrysler has at least 30
key strength updates that need to be added to that year transmission.

Ted

 

Thanks Ted.

I was hoping for some better news but not surprized by your response.

I did notice that when the trany was pulling in ODrive that when torque was
applied that a poping sound came from the trany area, possibly a further
indication of what you have described.

Before I bought the car, I priced at a local auto parts store a rebuilt trany.
It was quoted at $1K, which will probably be the way I will go. Taking a
trany in for a rebuild, experience has taught me, is writing a blank check to
the shop doing the work. The final price and the estimate never seem to
match, I hate surprizes.

Thanks Again for your help

EBates

 

That is probably not going to be a good way to go, I must warn you.

First of all, since you have broken gears your valve body is contaminated
with metal particles and MUST be replaced, these auto parts store
rebuilds may not be quoting that. Secondly, your torque converter must
be replaced for the same reason, that quote probably also does not
include that. Last, your transmission computer MUST be updated to
part# 4796121 because the original computer has a bug in it that
greatly shortens the life of the transmission, once again, that may not
be in the quote.

There are several companies out there which "remanufacture" transmissions
(rather than rebuild them) and sell them through auto parts stores.
Generally
only the common versions of the transmissions are on the shelf. Such as
the 1991-1995 A604/41Te and the 1996-onward 41TE. Your special one
with the mechanical speedo takeoff will most likely NOT be available over
the counter - or they will substitute a later model, which won't work for
you.

The quotes on these remanufactured transmissions usually include the
core credit. However in the fine print they will say the core must not have
"any hard parts broken" Since your core already has broken gears what
will happen is the auto part store will ship back your transmission and
then inform you a couple weeks later that they cannot refund your core
deposit since the transmission has broken parts.

The warranties on these trans will NOT include labor to R&R the
transmission - so if your brand new transmission doesen't work, you will
pay to pull it out and give it back to them for warranty claim then
pay again to put it back in. Of course you lose all the money put into
trans fluid and such.

Also, since you have a broken gear your fluid system is contaminated
with metal particles, so they may deny any warranty claim once they get
your core back and take it apart and find a broken gear, by claiming
you did not properly flush out your transmission cooler.

Your methodology for picking them is flawed. For starters, forget any
chain store transmission shops like AAMCO.

There are a few simple tests when picking a transmission rebuilder. A
very simple test is when calling around, ask what kind of transmission
fluid they use to fill the transmission. A shop that does not rebuild many
of
these transmissions will always say Dexron. Sometimes they will say
Dexron with Lubeguard. If they say this, make sure to demand to talk
to the chief rebuilder and ask him, don't just take the word of the dumb
blonde that answers the phone. If they do not say ATF+4 then cross
them off your list.

Once you have a couple shops in mind, ask them to give you names of
previous customers that have used them who are happy with the
result. If they give you any baloney about privacy then go down to the
shop and sit in the waiting room and when the next person walks
through the door just boldly ask them if they are happy with the
shop.

Also, do not just assume the dealerships are all going to screw you.
And don't forget the Jeep and Dodge dealers. Call around and when
the service department answers, ask them if they have a guy on staff
that rebuilds Chrysler transmissions or if they send them back to the
factory for exchange for a reman unit. If they send them back, cross
them off the list, if they do their own rebuilding, then tell them what you
got and ask for a quote. There's not a lot of Chrysler techs in dealerships
that are qualified to rebuild these and if a dealership is lucky enough
to have one they really like to keep them busy doing transmission work.

There are some other things you should know. First of all, these
transmissions are a lot simpler to rebuild than a fully hydraulic
transmission, because the computer and valve body takes the place
of the complex hydraulic control valve body. So, that helps with
the labor cost, and it also helps in that if the guy is experienced there's
less to go wrong in a rebuild.

Secondly, there's a 9 inch and a 10 inch torque converter. The
smaller converter is typically speced for passenger cars, the larger
for minivans. You want the larger converter, it is heavy duty and
will last longer. It will fit where the 9 inch converter is.

Third, the radiator transmission cooler is inadequate, get an external
supplemental trans cooler. This is really easy, just go to a wrecking
yard and look for a minivan or car of that vintage with a trailer hitch,
any of those will almost certainly have a supplemental cooler. I
have seen many of those, even many Mopar supplemental coolers,
in wrecking yards. Both my vans have them.

Last and most important are the gears. You need to understand
that this transmission is one of the newer Energy Efficient models.
Unlike older transmissions, it uses very thin, lightweight gears in
it that have a very small mesh area. In order for these gears to
withstand the power through them, they use special materials,
and undergo special expensive heat treating. Unfortunately, there
are many el-cheapo Chinese-made replacement gearsets for
transmissions on the market and these transmissions are no
exception. The aftermarket remanufacturers, like your auto parts
place, save money by using the cheap Chinese gears. They do not
buy replacement gears from Chrysler/Mopar which have all the
expensive heat treating done.

In the URL I gave you is a pic of the broken weld on the gear
that broke in my transmission. That gear is about the size of your
hand. Image now 100 horsepower going through that small
weld and gear in the center.

To be perfectly honest about this, your car uses that Mitsubishi 3.0
engine with the sinking valve guides and oil leak problem. If the engine
in it is original, and has not had the updated heads put on it, your
best off cutting any losses and towing it to the scrapyard. If your
New Yorker had the 3.3L engine in it, it would be worth saving.

Ted

 

Thanks again for your response.
The engine is a 3.0 (no history of engine work), and as we both know the
trany is bad. My plan for getting it going again was/is apparently flawed.
Yesterday I spent a few minutes calling trany shops (it was Saturday so most
were closed) but did talk to one guy who gave some of the flavor of your
message and a WAG of about $1400. Whether this guy knew a trany from a front
bumper I don't know, but it did get my wheels turning toward the 'Cut and
Run' suggestion that you offered.

If I understand what I've read about this trany, it is unique to the 89 Chry.
They "Fixed" their design flaws in 90 and subsequent models. That being true
there is no opportunity to upgrade to a later model trany, not even
considering the trany computer issues. The option is to rebuild a flawed
design and wait for it to quit, or the valve guide issue to kill the engine.
The 'Money Pit' syndrom is definitely not what I had in mind.

Sounds like plan 'B', whatever that turns out to be, will be put into effect.
The lesson learned here is, do the homework before buying a used car from a
friend or otherwise.

One last question:
Is there a good place on the Web to get historical info on problems such as
with this car. My grandson apparently still needs a car.

Thanks again for all your help.
EBates