Finished replacing the transmission in my wife's van this weekend!!!

[benEzra]

Trans failed in the Voyager a while back (internal gear failed, trans fluid looked like glitter glue from the metal shavings), and for financial reasons I could neither pay to have it fixed nor buy a new vehicle. SOOOO, I bought a used transmission from a local salvage yard, changed the fluid/filter/gasket and ajusted the bands, and installed that puppy in the van. Put in a new radiator and trans cooler also, since the old ones were almost certainly were contaminated by metal particles. Took me several weeks of evenings and weekends (it's not like I could quit my day job to work on the thing!!); changing the trans on a front-wheel-drive vehicle is NOT fun...

got it wrapped up yesterday and my wife took it for an out-of-town trip yesterday (with me and the kids following in my car) to test it out...so far so good. Fingers crossed...

[Droopy]

1. Good deal

I used to work on my own cars, too. Now I don't have the time or the inclination to do it, but there is no more satisfying a feeling than successfully fixing your own vehicle. It made me feel all manly.

[billyskank]

2. Did it make you feel like your dad?

:7

[Droopy]

3. Uh...no

I'm afraid that one is over my head. Damn British humor.

[billyskank]

4. Sorry

think it came from an Eddie Izzard routine. Had something to do with sawing, I think. :hide:

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Good job, d00d!

:thumbsup:

I'm gonna swap out my old Powerglide™ for a TH-350 or (probably not) a 700-R4, hopefully later this year. The 'Glide's the original — has more than 330,000 miles on it.

But I ain't doin' it myself. If I had the facilities, like a hydraulic lift and a tranny stand, I'd take a shot at it. But I don't, so...

[benEzra]

6. Holy smokes!

The 'Glide's the original — has more than 330,000 miles on it.

Holy smokes! How old is the car, and what kind?

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. '65 El Camino

[benEzra]

12. Neat! My dad had a '72 SS and I grew up driving a '78...loved them both..

[benEzra]

14. That photo looks like it should be on a magazine cover (n/t)

[wain]

8. Congratulations on an outstanding undertaking

Not many of us have the skill set, let alone the confidence to undertake such a job. Your family must be very proud of you.

I don't/can't work on my cars with all the computerized electronics. When cars were less complex (there was room to work in the engine compartment!) I could start a job with full confidence that my auto mechanic brother would bail me out if my work did not go well!

I remember the first time I did a brake job. I did not seat a spring properly on one wheel. Realizing that I figured I had one good braking left. Good thing I had stick shift. Made it back home down a very steep and very long hill and was able to find and fix the problem.

Sounds like your trans job was done much more professionally.

:applause:

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. Hey, were you at 60,000 miles give or take? Our Caravan went at

60,000 miles. As did our neighbors. I think they do it on purpose. :)

[NMDemDist2]

10. DH and I have always called Chryslers "the 60K mile car"

seems they always get some major mechanical glitch about then..... no matter what the model

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. True! Except for the trucks. We just sold a '78 Powerwagon with

298,000 miles on it and no major fixes. I think they throw one decent one in every decade. Kind of like a golden egg. :)

[benEzra]

13. 117,000 miles...

the initial problem, I think, was that the radiator cooling fan motor failed last year, but that's something that's hard to notice. The van boiled most of the coolant out on a hot day in stop-and-go traffic, causing the trans cooler in the radiator to overheat, and it eventually clogged (corrosion?). We fixed the fan, but the clogged trans cooler overheated the trans and it failed. I diagnosed the clogged trans cooler when I tried to flush the trans fluid with the engine running and found I was getting ZERO fluid flow through the trans cooler. (Ouch!)

Replaced the trans with an identical salvage yard trans (A670) out of an '88 Caravan, and replaced the radiator and added an external trans cooler to keep the same thing from happening again. So far, so good!