I may have found a vehicle to transplant my 3.3 and A604 into.

There is a Chrysler T&C that has been sitting in a lot near my house with
both back tires flat since I moved here in July. I am supposed to call to
find out what is wrong with it tomorrow (any bets it is the tranny???
anyone???). It has the passenger airbag so I know that it is either a '94
or '95. I didn't see a driveshaft when I looked underneath the front end to
see what engine it had (didn't know at the time that the 3.8 was the only
option) but I will check again because if it is AWD the page at
http://freebsd-corp-net-guide.com/94tcpics/project.html makes it appear that
it is a real PIA to change the tranny. My only questions are in the
unlikely event that it is the engine that is bad will the 3.3 work with the
3.8 SBEC or will it overfuel and run rich while in open-loop mode requiring
me to use the one from the dynasty that has seen 250,000 miles? Also are
the engine and tranny from a '92 Dynasty compatible phisically with the '94
minivan? I am just trying to do research before I dive in because I really
need a reliable vehicle. I would also like to know which digit(s) in the
VIN indicate the model year. Any suggestions hints and tips regarding this
upgrade are very welcome.

 

I think changing the tranny in any vehicle is a real PIA

AWD vehicles usually have AWD printed somewhere on the side.
The presence or absense of a driveshaft isn't a complete indicator
since one of the barnyard fixes if the driveshaft CV boots leak is to
just remove the shaft completely. Look to the rear of the underside and
if it's AWD you will see the transfer case and all that.

Don't screw with the engine. I would bet the 3.8L engine in the T&C is fine.

Key the VIN into carfax.com and you will get the year.

The tranny from the 92 dynasty uses a different computer than the 94.
There are also internal differences - I thought also that 92 was the last
year
for the mechanical speedo linkage.

I know you don't want to hear this but your best chance of success is
to pull the tranny out of the T&C and have it rebuilt. I would bet you
could sell your 3.3L & good A604 for enough money to have the
T&C tranny rebuilt. There is a big difference between getting it
running and getting it running so it will be reliable over a long time.

Keep in mind that the T&C when you get it running will probably do
about 18 mpg highway. The economics of it right now are making
ordinary mortals who can't do their own repair work abandon
these vehicles right and left so you can pick up some really good
deals. If the body is pristine and the tranny is
still running well enough for the car to move under it's own power
even if it's just stuck in limp mode, then people are buying them.
If the van is stuck, nobody wants them.

Ted

 

The dynasty uses an electric speedo I know #1 because it has dropped to 0 a
few times and banging the top of the dash with the side of my fist directly
above the instrument cluster always fixed it. #2 it would read the vehicle
speed in reverse instead of dipping below 0. Thank you for your input, at
any rate I will be pulling parts from the dynasty like crazy because the
water pump and rad are brand new, the alternator is newly rebuilt, and my
sister's boyfriend put new plugs and wires on it right before it stopped
indicating oil pressure. I should also note that when we did the trans
fluid and filter when we got the car to get rid of the dexron in it that we
had to take the pan and old filter into the parts store to match them up
because the filter and gasket that we got that were for that year and model
weren't even close to the correct ones.