what kind of trasmission is used on a 1999 Chrysler T&C?

I have heard that Chrysler A604 transmission is not good for lasting more
than 100,000. What type of transmission is used on 1999 T&C? Is my van on
the very high risk list?

What is the highest mileage posted for that year here?
I am not towing anything heavy and I drive mostly city traffic not much of
climbing up and down road condition. What life do I expect to see? Should
I change transmission oil and filter more often than other brand/model?
The manual says 15,000 for severe and normal at 30,000 interval.
My situation falls into the severe condition "which is more than 50%
operation in stop and go traffic where vehicle is driven regularly for more
than 45 minutes of continuous operation".

The dealer says my trans oil changed at 30,000, 60,000 and now at 103,000 no
3rd oil change has been done!
BTW, my T&C is a AWD model. Is it the same trans as regular 2wd? Or is it
better or worse?

Please share your experiences.

 

Let me explain a bit. The A604 and 41TE are the same transmission. But
years
separate them. The A604 was the original designation. Later it was renamed
41TE. However during the production lifespan of the transmission there have
been dozens and dozens of improvements, and 2 major redesigns. (95 &
earlier
transmissions aren't interchangable with 96 and later) In addition,
Chrysler
has redesigned the transmission fluid used in this transmission several
times.

The earlier the transmission the less mileage you could expect out of it.
But
even then there are people who have gotten 200,000+ miles out of an original
transmission.

I own a 95 and a 94 T&C. Both bought used. The 95 was immaculately
cared for and we got it at around 78,000 miles, it's transmission had been
rebuilt at around 70K miles. The 94 I just bought several months ago with
140K miles on it and when I bought it the transmission was shot. (I knew
that before I bought it) I did the R&R on the transmission myself and had
the
transmission rebuilt. From my research I found out the transmission in it
wasn't
original, and the rebuilder said that it had been rebuilt before. So, the
94
has had the original from factory transmission in it, replaced with probably
a
wrecking yard find, which was itself rebuilt once before, and the
replacement
had blown. You might think this is indicative of a problem transmission.
However it is not. It is indicative of poor owner maintainence on the 94,
and there's a lot of other stuff that was wrong to collaborate that.

The fundamental problem with this setup is that there simply is not a lot
of room in a FWD vehicle to design a huge big beefy transmission. To
compensate for this Chrysler uses a lot of hardened and specially treated
parts in the transmission. That is fine for a sedan, but a minivan is
heavier.
Plus that, the original Chrysler minivan design dimensions haven't changed
much from 20 years ago, yet the engine sizes have increased. The minivan
of today has a 3.8L engine which is a huge engine compared with
what normally shipped in these vans when they were first introduced. That
3.8L is also a torque monster and you could probably use it for pulling
stumps all day long. But the transmission wouldn't tolerate it.

It is the same model but the AWD version of the transmission is modified
to allow room for the power transfer unit that the rear wheel driveshafts
are taken
off of.

If you want your transmission to last a long time then here's my $0.02.
First,
even though the minivan will almost lay rubber if you stomp on the gas with
that torquey engine at the light, refrain from doing that. Learn to feather
the gas pedal. That will save mpg as well because that engine will gobble
fuel like there's no tomorrow if you leadfoot it.

Second, if you bought your minivan to use as a sort of dual use truck/people
mover, you made a mistake. There is a reason why most of these vans running
around that have trailer hitches on them only have a class -2 hitch. These
vans are made to be the ultimate people movers. They are not made to
haul plywood sheets around all day long or deliver pizzas, regardless of
what
Chryslers marketing people may say.

Third, change the transmission fluid regularly particularly if you have ATF
+3
as factory fill. (I don't think yours did but you should check)

Forth, fit an accessory transmission cooler if there is not already one on
the
vehicle.

and last, understand what you have. AWD is NOT a synonym for 4WD.
If your idea is to take the T&C out into the sticks over the weekend to
go 'muddin' then knock it off and go buy a jeep. AWD is only useful
for keeping soccer moms who aren't paying attention out of the ditch
during a rainstorm.

Ted

 

A604 was the first-generation '89-'91 FWD 4-speed electronic automatic. It
was highly troublesome at first. The transmission in your van is a
descendent of the original A604, but is not an A604 itself. This FWD/AWD
transmission family's record has steadily if slowly improved to the point
where it's no worse than most other comparable units from other makers
(i.e., you stand a fair chance of having moderate to major repairs done
before 125,000 miles -- this is not the transmission in your '70 Dart that
would easily go 250K miles or more with nary a thought).

Impossible to predict.

Then by all means, change the fluid at 15,000-mile intervals (that '70
Dart transmission called for no fluid changes over the life of the
vehicle, and it wasn't BS; while an occasional fluid change was a nice
thing, they were happy to carry on running for decades on the original
fluid.) The fluid spec in your '99 is Chrysler Mopar ATF+3. There is a
newer fluid, Chrysler Mopar ATF+4, which is superior in just about every
way, but there's a bit of a controversy over its use in pre-2000 minivans.

Contradictory statements have been issued by DC on the matter. People will
argue until the cows come home about your question. They will brandish and
declare as authoritative various versions of the Chrysler transmission
fluid TSB. The +4 is significantly improved in just about every way
compared to +3, and Chrysler has issued statements that +4 is acceptable
in all applications originally specced for +3, including pre-2000
minivans. However, +3 is less expensive than +4, and Chrysler has issued
statements that +4 might cause the torque converter lockup clutch to
chatter in pre-2000 minivans.

In your position, I would use +4.

DS

 

DS

Do you know what type of oil is used by Jiffy Lube? I was recommended to
use their T-Tec process to clean out the torque converter for through
cleaning.
Also is it OK to let Jiffy do the fuel filter change? Do they typically
have the right kind of filter for my van?

Thanks

">

 

Ted,

Thank you for sharing so much in this NG.

I will follow your suggestions to change more ATF often.
Fortunately, I bought this for a typical soccer mom carrying nothing but
kids. Never used it to buy stuffs from Home Depot either.

The transmission is still Ok to me, though it is little slow in changing
gear from 2nd to 3rd. Comparing to the rental Explorer I got as a free
loaner, my T&C transmission (103,000) is way better than the Ford at 23,000.

I am not sure how expensive it is to install an accessory transmission
cooler. And how necessary it is to me? How do I determine (any symptom to
watch) if I really need one?

 

Don't do it! They should be able to simply drop the pan, replace the
filter,
then fill it with fluid then pull the fluid lines from the cooler and let
the trans
pump in new fluid and pump out the old fluid. Don't ever put anything other
than ATF +3 or ATF +4 in your transmission, do not use additives,
friction modifiers, lubeguard, or anything of that nature.

It's OK to let them do it if it needs doing, it almost certainly does not
need
doing, however.

Ted

 

You first need to check to see if you need one. The vans that really need
them are the ones where the transmission cooler is inside the radiator.
The temperature of the transmission fluid needs to be warm but not
excessively hot. While the in-radiator coolers are helpful for keeping
the transmission fluid warm in particularly cold climates, they can only
remove a limited amount of heat from the transmission fluid. I also
do not believe that the optimal trans fluid temp is the 195 degrees that
is the temp of the coolant - but somewhat lower. With an accessory
cooler, it's plumbed in downstream of the in-radiator cooler and drops the
temp of the fluid further down. It also serves as protection in the
event that the engine overheats.

I believe in later van designs Chrysler abandoned the in-radiator cooler,
and put a much larger air cooler for the fluid in front of the radiator. If
yours is like that you don't need an accessory cooler since that cooler
runs colder than the in-radiator coolers.

As for the expense, it is very cheap. You can easily get a genuine Mopar
accessory transmission cooler from any wrecking yard for next to nothing,
(you would make sure whomever used this would flush it out well) or a
brand new aftermarket one from any place that sells towing accessories,
which is most auto parts stores, or from the dealer. It's a 10 minute job
to
plumb it in. It's quite possible the Jiffy Lube people would plumb a cooler
in for you when they did the fluid flush.

Overheating is not something that is easily visible, it takes a long time
before damage is apparent. The flexible seals in a transmission are
probably the most suceptable to heat damage.

Ted

 

Depending on the climate where you live, you may well no need one. I
have 174,000 on my 96 Grand Voyager with the 3.3/4 speed combination
without a hitch. I live in PA where the summer temps are typically
below 95 and the winter runs as low as -20. I don't tow or otherwise
abuse the van. Never had an auxiliary cooler and see no need for one.
Maybe if I lived in southern AZ or TX I'd give it more consideration.


Matt

 

Usually the wrong kind -- such as Dexron with an additive that's claimed
to "convert" it into ATF+3, which it does not (cannot) do.

Easy cash for them.

Probably, but letting those semi-trained apes do *anything* on your
vehicle is very risky.

 

They won't do it this way. The only thing that Jiffy Lube knows
about transmission service is what the machine instructions tell
them. Any deviation is certain to be over their heads, and I
wouldn't trust that their flush machine allows easy switching
from one type of fluid to another, so the OP runs a very large
risk of getting filled with what was in the machine for the
previous suck.... er.. I mean customer which is most certainly
to be Dexron.

Ted, at 103K miles, why do you believe that his fuel filter "does
not need doing?"
For the OP, a fuel filter change on a 99 T&C requires removal one
fuel tank support strap and partial lowering of the fuel tank,
this also is certainly beyond the capabilities of the fast food
franchise rejects.

 

Ummmm... this is a 99, installing a transmission cooler properly
requires the removal of the front fascia, while not terribly
difficult, it is a little more than a 10 minute job and requires
the removal (careful removal) of numerous fragile plastic
fasteners which once broken and/or mangled are not likely to be
replaced. You'll also want to use some of the molded hoses that
Chrysler uses in order to avoid kinking, and as most after-market
coolers mount with plastic 'Zip' type fasteners thru the AC
condenser, the condenser likely needs to be unbolted and shifted
in order to get the 'zip' fasteners thru the condenser fins.

You're joking, right?
Have someone with some skill and training do it.
Jiffy Lube would be hard pressed to identify which cooler hose is
the return.

 

Nope, because its irrelevant. No way in HELL is that place touching any
car of mine.

One of the reasons they won't touch my cars- scams like that. Regular
normal draining of the transmission is fine, there's no need for any
goofy "flushing" process.

They're more likely to have the right filter than the right fluid, but
again... who cares?

 

He's not complaining of drivability problems. While replacing a
fuel filter is probably good preventative maintainence, that doesen't
mean it -needs- doing.

That's better than my 94 AWD where the fuel filter (at least, one of
them) is -in- tank and changing it involves dropping the tank and
pulling the pump.

Ted

 

.

Hey, I don't use them - at least, not anymore. I used to use them when
they would still evacuate and charge R-12. But, I'm also the kind of
customer that stands over the guy and watches what he's doing.

Ted

 

Matt, you probably pay better attention to nicities like the level of
coolant in your radiator, stuff like that, you know, the kind of thing
that the average person IGNORES.

An aux cooler will save the transmission if the water pump seizes and
the driver goes 50 miles with all the coolant boiled out of his system,
or until the engine seizes. And I can think of a number of people such
as my wife and mother who are perfectly capabable of doing something
like this.

The worst you can say about an aux cooler is it won't help. But it's
not going to hurt if properly installed, and it is cheap insurance.

Ted

 

Proper fluid levels aren't "niceties".

If the water pump seizes, it most likely will throw the belt so you'll
lose PS, etc., long before your tranny notices a significant temperature
rise. And I'd be amazed if an engine would run for 50 miles with no
coolant.

That is true in general, but an additional cooler means additional lines
and, more importantly, connections and these are prone to fail. Every
extra one you add to your car reduces the overall MTBF. I prefer not to
add things I don't need.


Matt