pickup/power lost

[loyal_voyager]

i own a '93 plymouth grand voyager se, wiht over 250, 000 km. vehicle has seen several (6 or 7) trips to arizona. recently, i replaced the tranny, torque convertor gone. the one that was replaced was a rebuilt, so the one currently in the vehicle is the third tranny, a rebuilt also. after it came back from the tranny shop, my once pretty powerful 3.3L V6 was "gutless". i used to be able to give it gas and i would get good engine response (picked-up very well) but now, i step on it and it mainly makes more noise than speed. took van back to tranny shop and was told its "just old". van has seen many miles, but is in FANTASTIC condition. seems almost like the engine is running on only 4 cylinders instead of 6. also, van is gutless until 60+ km. mechanic (not tranny shop) said that the tranny isn't shifting properly, and thats why there seems to be no/little engine power while travelling under 60 km. tranny shop told me it was fine, no tranny adjustments or shift adjustments to be made, thats just how it shifts, get used to it. please PLEASE can anybody help me or have any suggestions for me?

[RIP]

3 or 4 speed tranny?

[doratheexplorer]

Originally Posted by RIP

3 or 4 speed tranny?

'93 3.3L have the 4-speed
http://www.allpar.com/model/m/minivan-engines.html

[loyal_voyager]

Original tranny was 4 speed with o/d and both rebuilts are the same. by the way, for got to include 2 details; engine sounds like its "labouring" or straining until it hits 60km/h. my regular service mechanic test drove it and said that the tranny isnt shifting properly, hence the straining engine; and tranny goes into o/d at 60km/h, which he says is 20km too early. tranny shouldnt be hitting o/d until at least 80km. again, he told me to have it adjusted/reset. hope this clears things up, if there was any other confusion Thanks in Advance.

[RIP]

Yup, no adjustments on the 41TE 4 speed. The "reset" I believe is something the dealer has to do with a scanner. Don't think it's a DRB scanner. Could be wrong. There is a tranny "relearn" procedure you can do but, I'm fuzzy on the details. Got a hunch it's beyond that and you have a mismatch between the tranny software in the TCM and the tranny installed. A rare occassion where a dealer my be the best option...or a very good tranny shop. I'm not giving you much so I would send 1thunder a private message if you don't eventually get better info. Cheers!

[loyal_voyager]

Thanx RIP for the advice, will DEFINATELY take it into consideration. any ideas/suggestions are better than every mechanic telling you nothing, or at least nothing helpful im going to try and dig further into this "reset" issue, perhaps ill drop by the Chrysler dealership on my way home this week; or maybe ill take it to my old friend at the OTHER tranny shop (and hope he can do something for me for cheap!) thanx again!

[loyal_voyager]

okay all, i know it's been a LONG time...but here goes. after doing further research, i decided i'd just let things be-afterall it IS a '93. that is until we started getting a new and different problem. whenever we came to a FULL/COMPLETE stop, when we released the brakes and touched the accelerator, there would be absolutely NO movement and it would feel as if you just drove over unsurfaced roadway(VERY loud grating sound, you could feel it). this would last for about 3 seconds, then the tranny would engage into 1st and we'd be off. so, this definately called for further investigation (especially due to the fact that when you forget that this happens and you attempt to make a left hand turn in traffic and you roll out but don't have any way of moving!) the tranny specialist said that a relay switch was worn and needed to be replaced and so did the solenoid. at the same time, he reset the TCM. the good news-the transmission was FANTASTIC (worked better then ever before). the bad news- it only lasted until the TCM stopped "learning" the shift points. then i was back to the old no pick-up, labouring engine and the occasional limp mode (would not shift higher than 2nd). although, the grating problem was solved. so, after doing tons and i mean TONS of reasearch, i'm replacing the TCM. the transmission is all rebuilt, the electrical for it is in working order; so the only thing left is the TCM. when it was reset, and was "learning" the shift points (approximately 4 days), the tranny did GREAT. so, this must mean that there is a problem (be it software or other) with the TCM. so i'm replacing it. i'll repost as soon as i test drive it and find out how it's running (hopefuly i'll have wonderful news; as im growing rather tired of the A604 and all its issues!)

[CenTexDave]

I think you have a bad (dishonest) tranny shop. The tranny is a quality product when hooked to a good torque converter. I had my 95 grand voyager tranny overhauled last spring when it suddenly refused to move. The piston sleeve had broken (plastic). The shop replaced it with a new metal sleeve, new bands and clutches,...the works. Cost $1000 with a 12 month, 12000 mile warranty.

Your orignal problem sounds like the torque converter was bad. The progression seems like they used old parts in your tranny or didn't overhaul it at all. Check with another shop. Good luck.

Dave

[loyal_voyager]

yeah, i must agree. the tranny shop that i'm surrently dealing with definately seems more interested in getting the vehicle out as fast as possible and getting as much money out of us as they can. if it weren't for the 1yr warranty with the rebuilt tranny, i'd be dealing with somebody more reputiable. and yes, the torque convertor WAS the original part that was faulty. instead of just replacing it, the whole tranny was rebuilt ( or so i was told... )
BUT as for and update-we have now had the van back for almost a week (with the new tranny computer). and i must say, the vehicle is running beautifully. it's set itself, shifting smoothly and best of all-has the pickup it once did! the only complaint left- it's now sucking back the gas like never before. i just really dont even want to ask why now. i've had ENOUGH of pouring money into the van for a while. im just not looking forward to finding out it's something expensive. but then again, after all this time and money; it's senseless to give up now, right? thanx for all the support, info. and great tips!