Project minivan for $200 - needs transmission

Hi All,

Well today I went and bought myself a '94 T&C for $200 that has 145k miles
on it, and what appears
to be a shot transmission. Other than that it appears to be OK, beyond a
number of piddly things like
the sliding door latch is out of adjustment, woodgrain strips on the side
are peeling, etc. No rust
(here in the pacific NW we don't have much snow and so don't salt the roads)

This vehicle is an AWD vehicle, with the 3.8L engine. The transmission
only goes into 1 gear - 1st.
No reverse gear, no nothing else. A lit of noisy buzzing when attempting to
put it in reverse.

I bought this specifically as a project car to have fun with. It also
helps that we already own a 1995
T&C. (not AWD and no woodgrain sides, though) With the rental on the
trailer to go fetch it, and
the fuel, and the registration and retitling, I think we will slide in just
under $400. I can definitely afford
to make some mistakes with a $400 minivan! ;-)

The previous owner gave me a raft of C&B story but I expected that. He
did cough up some receipts
showing that he was getting overcharged on various nickel and dime repairs
by some of the local
chop shops. ($100 to turn a rotor?) And he claimed that when the trans
went bad that he took it to
two trans shops who told him the only thing wrong was the trans computer.
He also claimed to
have replaced the solenoid assembly.

Anyway, I plugged in the scan too and interrogated the trans computer, it
claimed no fault codes,
gave me some readings for the clutch volume indexes, the readouts for the
speed sensors, things
like that. I have a hard time believing the trans computer is bad when it's
giving me data about
the trans, anyone seen this before?

My instant diagnosis is that there's been an internal failure in the
trans, and it has to come out. The
quick diagnostic flow charts in the manual seem to say that if reverse is
gone, pull the transaxle out
and disassemble and inspect. Any suggestions on this other than to run
through the scan tool tests?

Now, another question - how difficult is it to pull this trans with a
standard trans jack and jackstands?
I've read through the archives and some people say it's impossible and a
hell of a job due to inadequate
clearance, others say it's easy and there's enough clearance. Any
suggestions here?

Now, my last question - has anyone bought the rebuild kids by Transmission
Exchange? http://www.txchange.com/

Here's a picture (they sell these on Ebay)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...ategory=46103&item=7988997193&sspagename=WDVW

I wouldn't probably buy them off Ebay since I live a few miles from the
company. Or, would I be better off
just buying the parts as I take the trans apart and find worn out parts?

Ted

 

I have done it in my driveway. With two rolling floor jacks, a stack of
bricks, and concrete blocks, and my nephew's help, we got one
transmission out and the other one in, from under the van. But it was a
3.0 engine unlike your 3.8. To me it looks like the clearances are
about the same on both engines.

It was some very difficult maneuvering, and it took about 30 minutes of
strategy, tricky maneuvering, and short rest breaks for the removal and
again for the installation.

 

Funny, that's just like mine, other than the minor problems. I'd better
see if my dead trans van is still outside the house!

Lisa

 

Oops, sorry to speak prematurely. I just went back and noticed that you
were talking about an all wheel drive model. I never messed with one of
those.

I'd sure be interested to hear whether it is possible, so let us know.
The two wheel drive model is bad enough to do with only jacks and
blocks. We had to separate the engine and transmission, block
everything up, and then do a lot of simultaneous rotating, moving
forward and back, blocking and jacking to get it around the
crossmember. Putting in the replacement was even harder. The main
interference point is on the side near the wheel, in the back. Maybe
the extra equipment on your transmission is in a different place that
won't add to the ordeal.

I can tell you for sure that all of that rotating and jiggling would
have been a lot easier if we had lifted it from the top with a hoist.
If I ever do it again I'll try to find one.

 

Must be a common failure mode - there is a clutch that all the other gears
share
that 1st gear doesen't, I forget what it is, though.

Ted

 

I'm too old or lazy to do it that way. I did that about 15 years ago when I
was
younger and stupider, with my 68 Torino, I pulled the C4 out, and slid it
out
on a piece of cardboard. I had 4 jackstands on concrete blocks to get
enough
height. When I think back I realize I was lucky the things didn't collapse.

I will - I'll take a bunch of digital pictures and write it up and put it up
on Allpar.

I actually have an engine hoist already, so that should help.

Ted

 

Fortunately for me the former owner of this house left me several giant
concrete building blocks of a type that is particularly sturdy and
perfect for blocking up a van 2 feet off the ground. You could hit it
with another car without knocking it off. The blocks weigh about 70
pounds each.

Sometimes the small bricks get a bit precarious, but we needed it to be
adjustable in small increments in certain places. The main transmission
support was a hydraulic jack on wheels. Your hoist will certainly
alleviate all of that nonsense.

For me it was a big hassle, but we got the hard labor done in a few
hours. It would have been nice if it hadn't been 100 degrees that day.
Even worse was that we had to pull the transmission out the day before
at the junkyard when it was 105 degrees, and they don't allow jacks.
I'll be looking forward to reading your story on the web. I'm very
curious about whether the four wheel drive parts that stick out are
going to cause trouble.