![]() So I had them do that, and it was a little over $400. I originally took the van in last Friday, and they couldn't hear the grinding noise but they told me that my power steering fluid was leaking like a sieve and the pump and serpentine belt needed to be replaced. I didn't ask the other mechanic about a warranty, but my husband's transmission had a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty on it. I know the dealer's transmission comes with a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty. I called another mechanic in town who did my husband's truck transmission when it went out and he quoted me $1650 out the door. Right now, the van is at the dealer who gave us the $2600 quote. My husband's first thought when he heard it was that it was the transmission, but he thought it could also be a CV joint (?). On Saturday, when our family was out and about, it started making the noise on a regular basis. It only happens ocassionally and usually when I'm accelerating quickly such as entering the highway. Last week, the van started making a grinding noise from the front when accelerating. The factory unit also comes with a 3-year or 36,000 mile warranty (much longer than any others that I was able to find), and since I'm one of those weird folks that equates time with money, I felt that if I was going to have to deal with this, I could only afford to do it once The factory unit is remanufactured to the latest build specifications of that generation of transmission, which happens to be from model year 2000, and as such needs to be fed ATF+4, which is in healthy supply at Chrysler dealerships ![]() Every non-factory option was simply a "rebuild" and not a "remanufacture" and as such still required ATF+3. ATF+4, which is supposed to be backward compatible with ATF+3, is not supposed to be used in "pre-2000" vans per two different TSBs ATF+3 transmission fluid (the kind that both of our vans were designed and built for) is apparently being (or already has been) phased out by the Chrysler dealerships (although you can still find it in the aftermarket) Assuming that you are going to fix your van as opposed to junking it and starting over, you are where I was six weeks ago.Īt the time (before I found this site) I did some research and came up with the following items in favor of the factory unit (some of which may be Bull, others not, however, in total they made a powerful argument): I opted for the $2,600 factory reman (that you are considering) over any number of lesser expensive options. I just went though a similar thought process, albeit with only 109,000 on my van at the time. Anyone have any experience with this van? Any thoughts on whether it would be wise to spend that much on it? I'm not horribly mechanically inclined so I don't know much about engines. As is, I don't think we would get much for the van as a trade in, and my gut feeling is that replacing the transmission will be cheaper than buying a new used vehicle. However, I thought I would see if I could get some other opinions. He thought the odds were in my favor that if we replaced the transmission, the engine would still last quite a while. I asked the mechanic what he thought, and he said that in his opinion, the 3.3 engine in my van is the best Chrysler has ever made. My gut feeling it to go ahead and repair it, but I don't want to pour money into the van if the engine is not going to last. It started making a grinding noise recently, and we found out today that the transmission is going bad. It has 191,000 on it with very little repairs. We bought it used about 4 years ago, and it has been a really good vehicle. I apologize if I am posting in the wrong place. I found this site while searching for info online and thought maybe some of the posters here might have some thoughts on my situation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |