97 Dodge GCaravan 4Speed Trany Issue

[p_medica]

Cannot believe my luck (It's not close to the Red Socks). I changed the trany fluild in my 97 3.3 liter Mini for the first time. Car had ~38K and I had experienced no problem with the trany before however we were getting to that magic 40k mark and I thought I would be pre-emptive on maintance. Removed the pan, replace the filter, cleaned the magnet (fairly dirty with metalic grit), put a new paper gasket around the pan and sealed it up. Added the ATF-3 product and in the morning there was fuild covering the parking strip due to the leaky pan. Took it directly to the Local Mechanic and paid the $$ to have him remove and replace the pan gasket. That is when the fun started. He noted the Trany ECU module was leaking fluid as well and wanted to replace its gasket or so he sez. Long story short _ get the car back, not leaks, 2 days later the car is experienciing gear shift problems. It will not engage a gear for a few seconds (3) after the car is stopped at a light or idles for few moments. That was yesterday, today the problem has been more pronounced, it takes ~ 10 seconds for the trany to engage in a gear after the car is stoped. My first thought was that he used Dextron in lieu of AFT-3 but that is not the case. My second thought is he got the instal of the ECU wrong when he reinstalled it or possibly plugged one of the pressure sensing holes with sealant when he replace the gasket. Am I out on a limb here or does an electronic control unit need to be reset someway after removal? My wife said the check engine light came on this morning before the problem became more pronounced. Any thoughts motor heads??
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[bellguy24]

I had sim exp.

My '94 grand yoy had the trans rebuilt under warr at 80K km.
All was fine until last year I had fluid & filter replaced. After that when accelerating from first to sec gear the torque conv would "bang". I then changed the fluid myself thinking the shop used wrong stuff.
No change. After a few months it seemed to go away until one day I get a phone call from my wife saying " I'm stuck"
The torque converter blew. At 150K and $1900 later the dealer rebuilt the trans again. No warr job this time. After 18K the trans was making wurring noise. Took back to dealer and the mech says it sounds like the "torque converter". This time they rebuilt it again under the warranty (1 year ) I got because I got the work done at the dealership.
Understand that taking it to the dealer for service sometimes is the best option especially when it is a problem with a poorly designed and built Mopar transmission.
My suggestion with these vehicles is if there not broken, don't fix.
Wait until the problem develops and then deal with it or get rid of the vehicle.


good luck!

[p_medica]

I had the ECU removed and inspected for contamination however I believe there is an additional failure mode at play here. The ECU has 3 transmission fluid sensing ports that monitor the fluid pressure and control gear position based on some logic that is preprogramed by the boys at MOPAR. If any of these ports are either contaminated with the gasket or particulate, gear selection will be faulty. The other case is where entrained air resides inside the bore of these ports post-reinstallation and due to the compliance of air in the system, do not provide the pressure sensing transducer with the a proper pressure: If air is in the system, not only does the compliance change, the bulk fluid properties also change such that the rate of change of pressure seen by the transducer is dampened. In mechanical terms; the spring rate is changed (reduced with the air) and a shock absorber is placed in the system (dampener). I believe this could be the root cause of my problem. Question is: how does Dodge purge the air in the system on new vehicles and/or did they account for this in there Failure Mode and Effects Analysis?

[hundahunta]

you need to perform a quicklearn with the drb!! I am sensing that your trans solenoid pack was replaced!! Also your soleniod pack comes with a gasket that does not need any RTV. I hope that he cleaned the area around the soleniod pack before removing it. And did not allow any rubbish into the ports

[p_medica]

Solve the problem: The solenoid pack was removed and reset (I assume that reset means he sent the unit into a dealer or test lab to check for proper ops and calibration). He then replaced the gasket and reset the engine control computer. Drove the car to work today, everything seam fine now. Question: Does the Advanced Formula Friction Inhibitors that you pour into the trany oil really work?

[rwood13]

no, just keep it changed and use the proper fluid