Help = Question on Minivan Transmission

I have a 2000 Dodge Minivan. What is the cover on the front (facing the radiator/front bumper) for? Mine is leaking and I want to ask my trans guy about it.

Any idea why it would be leaking - its seeping at the bottom center.

- Bill o No:

 

I'm not sure but it may be a solenoid pack cover. I've owned 2 older Caravans with the a-604 tranny, and I'll tell you those are garbage. If a leak is the only problem you have, consider yourself lucky. Do an internet search on tranny problems with your vehicle you will get enough reading to keep you busy for a long time. I wish I could offer you more info than that, but I can't. :bglasses:

 

Thanks Joe - Thats it! Trans guy says the solenoid pack has to be replaced, non-servicable. $400....ouch! Glad thats all I need because he also says a rebuild is about $2200.....double ouch! Should I get a second opinion?

- Bill

 

A second opinion may not be necessary, but did he read the trouble codes on the transmission? Those will have stored codes even when you can't feel anything wrong. It's a good bet you'll get that fixed and then the real troubles will start. On both my Caravans, the 2-1 downshift when coming to a stop would get progressively worse until the computer would keep putting the tranny into "limp mode"......which is locked in second gear. It would sort of "kick" a little just as I came to a stop. Once in limp mode, the only way to get it to shift was to shut it off, wait a few seconds, and start it up again. My old one used to take nearly 5 seconds or more to go into drive from park before it got so bad I wanted to drive it into the lake. Once it overheated and got stuck and I had to drive home 3 miles in reverse! (no wonder minivan owners get picked on :laugh: )That's why the resale of used Caravans is so cheap.........most of them have tranny problems. The guy who looked at mine told me they usually start acting up when you get to around 80,000 miles. Without knowing how many miles you have on yours, unless it's leaking real bad, I'd just keep adding fluid to it. :bglasses:

 

Well, its at 95,000 miles. It runs good and shifts good, but its losing 1/2 QT a week, which is tooooo much! Yeah, he ran the codes and all he found was "pump lost prime" which is when it ran out of fluid! I've heard these trans are bad....so I'll keep my fingers crossed!

- Bill

 

Those transmissions aren't that bad, Chrysler finally got most of the problems squared away with them by '97. Before that they were a definite grenade. That leak is fairly common on the older style sol. packs, they were updated in mid to late 2000 and are quite easy to put on as there are only three bolts that hold them on. If the trans is shifting ok and hasn't been to hot I wouldn't hesitate to install a new sol. pack, it's easy enough to do and they cost around 2 bills. Feel free to drop me an E-mail and I can walk you through it. :beer

 

The eariler dodge mini vans ate motors for candy.
You can see them smoking around town all the time.

 

My old one had the Mitsubishi 3 liter.......the cause of the smoking was the rings were glued to the piston grooves from carbon........I was surprised when I re-ringed it that after over 100,000 miles there was no ridge at the top of the cylinder.

$200 for a solenoid pack? Vacuum modulators are looking better every day. :shock: