Questiona friend's '98 Caravan with 202,000 miles, transmission has gone out. i am told it will not go into either forward or reverse and is not worth repairing. Since this person does not have much money, is it better to find a used or rebuilt trany, or replace the valve body with a used (working) transmission? They still owe about $4,000 on the car!
AnswerHi Leo,
I assume you have the 4 speed electronic transaxle. First did you check the fluid level of the transmission dipstick? Low fluid level will cause a lack of hydaulic pressure to cause the shifts to occur. If you need fluid, go to a Chrysler dealer and get a quart of their brand for your transmission and add at it to the trans dip stick tube with a funnel until it shows the proper level is present.
If the level is o.k. but it still won't go in forward or reverse it might be a problem with the hydraulic valve body, or the need of a filter change. One the other hand, it could be something like a bad clutch that requires rebuilding the transmission which is very major.
Fortunately, the trans unit has a controller that can identify faults and give an indication of what might be wrong and thereby determine either more tests or what repairs will be needed. It stores this fault information as coded numbers in its memory. The dealer has a readout tool to find out what the code numbers are. So I would recommend getting a readout (ask for the code numbers) and a prognosis of what the repair is and its cost. You don't have to give the go ahead for the repair, just ask for the readout and suggested repair work. Then write back to me with the code numbers and we'll compare notes on what they recommended to you.
If the readout shows that there is internal damage that requires rebuild, the cost can be in the range of $1500-2,000. On the other hand, a used unit, unless it was known to be good when last driven, may not be of any use either.
So I would be reluctant to go and buy an unknown and go to the expense of replacing the old one for it may not net you any benefit at all. If the test showed it to be the valve body, then that can be repaired/replaced without removing the trans, and thus might be a good thing to do to get some more miles out of the van.
I wish there were a sure, economical approach, but see if you can get the basis for the "not worth repairing" evaluation. If it is based on a guess, and not on an analysis by readout, it might be worth having a readout done. Otherwise, it pretty much means spending the money for a guaranteed rebuild, or taking a chance that an unknown unit will be any better than what you have now.
Roland
