Transmission Swap on a T&C??

Hey guys, I posted a while back about my transmission woes and you were all
really helpful, so I'm back..

At this point I am resigned to the fact that the tranny needs a major
rebuild or replace. A rebuild and/or replace with a factory rebuild are not
in the bank account right now. Soooo I'm looking at the "secondary markets"
(Bone yards)

Now yes, I am well aware that this is a stopgap measure, and with a boneyard
I'm taking my chances that the thing lasts a week, but I'm at that point. I
have located three yards that all have a tranny they say will fit. First is
from a Doge Dynasty for $700 another is from a Caravan for $500 and another
from another Chrysler car I can't remember....and another that says they
have several vans with tranny's that would fit for $100 if I yank it myself.

Anyway, my question is, if all the donor cars use the A604 tranny I need,
will they all be direct bolt on perfect matches or were there any "Add-ons"
or custom things done model to model to make the A604 fit the various cars?

Thanks again.

Chad

 

I went to the self serve junk yard for a transmission for a voyager. I
got it out of a Dynasty, which I thought was a pretty good idea because
the transmission had spent the first part of its life hauling a sedan
around instead of a heavier van. I was able to pull it by myself and
replace it in the driveway by myself, and everything worked. I'm pretty
sure that the differences between models are in the computer and not the
transmission. As long as it has all the same connectors interfacing
with the wiring harness you should be OK.

Unfortunately, although my transmission worked out well the engine
developed a bad crank bearing while sitting around waiting for me to do
the work. But the good news is that the $70 transmission swap went
completely according to plan. I'd go for it if I were you, because even
if it doesn't work the self serve junk yards usually guarantee their
parts for a month and you can get a new one for just your own labor. At
a hundred bucks, it's a bargain.

 

Here's how you do it.

Jack up your van, yank your tranny. As you use a tool to do this job, once
you finish working with it, put it aside in a box.

When you have the tranny out, now you will have a box with all the tools
you need to yank it at the boneyard.

Definitely yank it yourself. Save all the misc bolts and such.

Ted

 

That's an excellent plan, but there are just a few things you ought to
take with you in addition to the things you use in your garage, such as
a wire cutter and a utility knife for cutting off hoses. It also
wouldn't hurt to take a pry bar and a medium sized piece of pipe.

 

Some of the electronics are different between the years check that the
sensors are the same and check the soloniod pack mine is external. I did the
boneyard route as well. got my taxes back and had a rebuild done. (cost
$1300) but has ran very strong for the additional miles i have put on the
car (22,000 miles)

 

If you happen to be near Denver, I happen to have a brand new A604, cheap,
van attached.

There are several A604's out there. They'll all bolt on, but they won't all
work. You'll need to do some homework. Surf a better rebuilder's site - in
fact surf a few as I've found many are wrong.


- Nate