I have a new Caravan transmission for under $100

A year and a half ago I was in an accident with my 2000 grand caravan 3.8L
4sp. (not my fault). Tranny fluid spewed everywhere. Got the van repaired
and it shifted slightly rough after that. I assumed it was because of the
accident but never pursued it.

A month and a half ago my solenoid pack went. Van in for repair. Got it
back and it had extremely hard shifting. It would make the whole van
chatter from 2nd to 3rd and coins in the ashtray would dance. Even shifting
down to 1st would cause a jerk of the vehicle. I did some internet research
and found that they might not have retrained the computer. Also found that
I have to have ATF+4 in there. Went back to my invoice and see that they
used 3 quarts of Quaker State FLM fluid. Did another internet search
yesterday and found on Quaker States site...

"Type F (FLM)- Specially compounded fluid that meets the latest Ford
ESW-M2C33F specifications, and is compatible with all M2C33 series Ford
specs. All 1983 and later model Ford automatic transmissions use Quaker
State® DEXRON®-III/ MERCON® or MERCON® V automatic transmission fluids."

I have Ford tranny fluid in there!!! I put 2 and 2 together and maybe my
bad shifting in the 1st place was what the body shop used for fluid and got
worse by the addition of FLM. WOW. I found a site at
www.allpar.com/eek/atf.html that says rough shifting can be caused by the
wrong fluid and gives directions on how to clear that up. Basically I
dropped the pan and changed the filter, cleaned it all up and replaced.
Added 4 quarts of fluid and then took the lower tranny line off of the rad
and pumped another 5 quarts out that way and replaced with new.

Took it for a spin and it was like I was driving a brand new vehicle. I had
gotten so used to the hard shifts and cringing when it came to a shift
change that I forgot what it was like to drive a smooth vehicle. I took it
out for several spins after and it was so smooth I could hardly tell where
the shift change was.

I'm writing this for anyone who has hard shifting and might want to know a
cure. It was so simple. I feel like I am driving a new vehicle after a
year and a half. If your vehicle calls for ATF4+ only use ATF4+ do not use
a substitute and from what I gather do not use an additive that "converts"
it to ATF4+.

That is my 2 cents.

Gary

 

I was one of the posters that submitted a flush info to that site, I'm glad
that someone was able to make use of it!

I hope also that you read my comments regarding an external tranny cooler,
if your van is fitted with an in-radiator tranny cooler only.

Great - we sing that song regularly in this forum. It's amazing that there
are
shops out there that will put the wrong fluid in these transmissions.

Ted

 

Hi Ted, yes I see your contribution on page 4. I noted your writing on
pushing the filter hard to snap it in place. I did not know how hard I
should push as it was willing to stay there with some friction from the O
ring. Many might have left it like that. You said to push it hard so I did
and it snapped into place. My Hayes manual was very vague on that. In fact
they did not mention an O ring like you did. Thank you for that - as when
the old filter dropped into my oil pan I had a look at it - no O ring, I
looked in the hole, no O ring. The new one had an oil ring and I remember
you said there was one so I looked around in the oil pan and found it
confirming that I should use an O ring.

Yes I know you recommend an external tranny cooler - probably a good idea on
all Chrysler products. I got the trailer towing package that comes with the
factory tranny cooler so I'm ok there. 5-1/2 years and the tranny is still
going.

BTW should I have found metal particles on the bottom of the tranny? I was
quite surprised at how clean the pan was considering I had never changed the
fluid before. Very little sticking to the magnet. BTW next edition of your
tips, you might mention to remember to replace the magnet after cleaning the
pan, for the odd weekend mechanic like me. I lined up the pan after putting
the sealant on and ran a couple of bolts into it when I had the sinking
thought that I didn't remember replacing the magnet........ added a little
extra work.....sigh.

Gary

 

I had a 1993 caravan with a leaky transmission that I had to drive for a
while until I got its replacement ready. I stopped at a small repair
shop and asked for ATF+3 and they had never heard of it. All they had
was Dexron, which they said you could put into anything. I'm afraid
that putting the wrong fluid in a transmission is a very common
practice. I have seen a lot of caravans in the junkyard with
transmission fluid bottles under the seat, almost always of the wrong
type. I wonder how many of them are in the junkyard because of
transmission problems caused by the wrong fluid...

 

gary wrote:

And...next edition, he might mention the metal sandwich pan gasket you
can get from the dealer - re-useable and none of the mess of the
silicone sealer - would have been less traumatic when you had to take it
off again for that magnet. Much easier in taking the pan off next time,
and no clean up of sealing surfaces.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

 

Using the wrong service manual is just as bad as using the wrong fluids
and parts. Burn the Haynes (I'm assuming Hayes was a typo as I've never
heard of any such manual) manual and buy a genuine Chrysler manual. If
you do much of your own work, it will pay for itself in a year or two
easily.

Matt

 

Glad you got it cleared up. Hope it lasts. Ford fluid is, from a
friction-modification standpoint, exactly the opposite of what your
transmission needs. Any minute now, our resident Scamsoil droids ought to
be along...

 

Yeah - you know - that Isaac Hayes manual on CD: "Baby baby - Change the
oil - Oh baby!..." 8^)

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

 

"Mah BAYbe, mah honey...can' git enough ATF+4 love ho-ney!"

 

Yup Haynes. LOL

 

I asked for the gasket too at the dealer assuming the gasket was standard in
the change and they said there is no gasket for that unit, just use sealant.

Gary

 

Heh - I'll write these suggestions up and mail them to Allpar, good
suggestions!

I think in a properly running a604/41te you really aren't going to see much
in the
way of metal particles on the magnet - mostly kind of a sludge of very fine
particles.
I think if you see large chunks or slivers the thing is toasted.

Ted

 

There is a gasket, but dealers do not use them ... Next time ask them to
check again for the metal/silicone re-usable gasket. (They told me the same
thing...) I've posted the part numbers are in previous threads if you do a
Google search.

Bob

 

You need to use the CORRECT sealant, not just any RTV. There is a
particular RTV, available from the Mopar parts counter, that has chemistry
specifically compatible with ATF.

 

What, you mean you can't use bathtub caulk? ;-)

The Mopar sealer is called "ATF-RTV" it's part is MS-GF41 aka 05010884aa

Look on the back in the fine print where the tube says "developed
specifically
to retain sealing when exposed to automatic transmission fluid"

By the way, Permatex Ultra Black and Ultra Blue both claim resistance to
ATF.

Ted

 

I hope you send a bill to the repair shop for all the work you did.

 

Funny thing is I told him I know Chrysler trannys are sensitive to the type
of ATF they use, so when you top it up, could you write on the bill what
type of tranny fluid I should be using in it. (I did not know it was ATF4+
at the time). So when I got the bill - it said Type F (FLM) for Chrysler 4
speed trannys.

Should we be using a special coolant too in that engine (3.8L)?

 

Yes, your van (all '98-up Chrysler products, too) requires G-05 coolant.

 

Can this be bought aftermarket or only through a dealer?

 

Can this be bought aftermarket or only through a dealer?