Junkyard transmission advice

I have a 1994 Dodge Caravan that has a shot transmission. Other than
that it ran fine so I`d like to get it back on the road for my brother
to use. Obviously the cheapest way to go is to get a transmission from
a van at the local pick-it yourself junkyard. ($80). Any words of
advice on what to look at on one of these things? I know there`s only
so much you can tell with it still in the van and it not running but
anything is better than nothing.

Be sure the junkyard has some sort of a guarantee on the transmission.
If not, check another junkyard.
cuhulin

Sara Brown > wrote:
>I have a 1994 Dodge Caravan that has a shot transmission. Other than
>that it ran fine so I`d like to get it back on the road for my brother
>to use. Obviously the cheapest way to go is to get a transmission from
>a van at the local pick-it yourself junkyard. ($80). Any words of
>advice on what to look at on one of these things? I know there`s only
>so much you can tell with it still in the van and it not running but
>anything is better than nothing.

Look for a car with a lot of side body damage but low mileage on the
odometer, and pull it out of that one.

Side damage is less apt to crack the transmission case, I think, and
your overall chances are good.

If the vehicle doesn't have body damage, stay away from it. If it wasn't
in a wreck, they likely scrapped it because the engine or transmission is bad.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Check out http://www.car-part.com
see if car-part.com list any junkyards in your area.
cuhulin

"Sara Brown" > wrote in message
...
>I have a 1994 Dodge Caravan that has a shot transmission. Other than
> that it ran fine so I`d like to get it back on the road for my brother
> to use. Obviously the cheapest way to go is to get a transmission from
> a van at the local pick-it yourself junkyard. ($80). Any words of
> advice on what to look at on one of these things? I know there`s only
> so much you can tell with it still in the van and it not running but
> anything is better than nothing.

I think you should research this a little more. Some of the Caravans (and
I dont remember which years) had a bad reputation for early transmission
failures. Maybe a reputable tranny repair shop could give you some
guidance on which models are to be avoided.

Sara Brown wrote:
> I have a 1994 Dodge Caravan that has a shot transmission. Other than
> that it ran fine so I`d like to get it back on the road for my brother
> to use. Obviously the cheapest way to go is to get a transmission from
> a van at the local pick-it yourself junkyard. ($80). Any words of
> advice on what to look at on one of these things? I know there`s only
> so much you can tell with it still in the van and it not running but
> anything is better than nothing.

That 604, ultradrive, or whatever you want to call it kept a lot of
trannie shops in business. Anybody that had one of those mini vans
for any length of time without a trannie failure should go buy a lotto
ticket. 30K to 50K seemed to be what a rebuild lasted.

unless its wrecked, most of the vans in the boneyard are probably there
for bad trannies.

About the only thing you can do is look for a clean trannie with a
rebuild tag on it and roll the dice. Hopefully, out of a wrecked car.
If the body is intact, its death by motor or death by tranie most of the
time.


bob

bob urz > wrote:
>Sara Brown wrote:
>> I have a 1994 Dodge Caravan that has a shot transmission. Other than
>> that it ran fine so I`d like to get it back on the road for my brother
>> to use. Obviously the cheapest way to go is to get a transmission from
>> a van at the local pick-it yourself junkyard. ($80). Any words of
>> advice on what to look at on one of these things? I know there`s only
>> so much you can tell with it still in the van and it not running but
>> anything is better than nothing.
>
>That 604, ultradrive, or whatever you want to call it kept a lot of
>trannie shops in business. Anybody that had one of those mini vans
>for any length of time without a trannie failure should go buy a lotto
>ticket. 30K to 50K seemed to be what a rebuild lasted.

Any other model that might drop in place there? Were any of these ever
sold with manuals?
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> bob urz > wrote:
>> Sara Brown wrote:
>>> I have a 1994 Dodge Caravan that has a shot transmission. Other than
>>> that it ran fine so I`d like to get it back on the road for my brother
>>> to use. Obviously the cheapest way to go is to get a transmission from
>>> a van at the local pick-it yourself junkyard. ($80). Any words of
>>> advice on what to look at on one of these things? I know there`s only
>>> so much you can tell with it still in the van and it not running but
>>> anything is better than nothing.
>> That 604, ultradrive, or whatever you want to call it kept a lot of
>> trannie shops in business. Anybody that had one of those mini vans
>> for any length of time without a trannie failure should go buy a lotto
>> ticket. 30K to 50K seemed to be what a rebuild lasted.
>
> Any other model that might drop in place there? Were any of these ever
> sold with manuals?
> --scott
>
>
http://www.allpar.com/fix/trans.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Caravan

bob

On Jan 30, 2:42*pm, bob urz > wrote:
>..... Anybody that had one of those mini vans
> for any length of time without a trannie failure should go buy a lotto
> ticket. 30K to 50K seemed to be what a rebuild lasted.

Wow I guess we were lucky then because this thing has 180,000 miles
on it! :-) I see rebuild kits arent that expensive for these things.
If I got a used transmission from a junkyard how impossible for a home
mechanic is it to fix it up assuming one has room to lay parts out
across an entire empty garage and take their time? I`ve seen photos of
the inside of transmissions and it looks like a nightmare. I`m not in
a big hurry to get this thing on the road but need to basically do it
for as little as possible.

"Sara Brown" > wrote in message
...
On Jan 30, 2:42 pm, bob urz > wrote:
>..... Anybody that had one of those mini vans
> for any length of time without a trannie failure should go buy a lotto
> ticket. 30K to 50K seemed to be what a rebuild lasted.

Wow I guess we were lucky then because this thing has 180,000 miles
on it! :-) I see rebuild kits arent that expensive for these things.
If I got a used transmission from a junkyard how impossible for a home
mechanic is it to fix it up assuming one has room to lay parts out
across an entire empty garage and take their time? I`ve seen photos of
the inside of transmissions and it looks like a nightmare. I`m not in
a big hurry to get this thing on the road but need to basically do it
for as little as possible.
***********
Nothing is impossible, but overhauling an automatic transmission is
a daunting job for a novice. I guess it depends upon the person to
some extent. Some special tools are very helpful, but maybe not
absolutely necessary. (Yes, I am signaling strongly that you might
not want to take this on.)

The rebuild kits are not so expensive. There may be hard parts
that are damaged that are not included in the kits.