well, that's kind of the point. they fail a lot more than other brands of automatics, especially the mid-to-late 90's ones. from my experience, the neons, sebrings, and ram pickups have weak auto's. it might be that they are sensitive to fluid, need to be serviced on schedule, or are just poorly engineered. i dont know.

im not sure if the neon autos are the same as the old k's, omni's, and caravans, or not. maybe the 2.4 vans are the same, because i know you can swap a 2.4 from a sebring or caravan into a neon, so the trans probably is the same... or very similar. i can't say why, but if you ask around the neon community (neons.org) you'll find that its common knowledge when it comes to 1st gen neons. maybe part of the problem was with the atf+3, since they have went to +4 now. i dont know.

as for me buying a new transmission for the neon, why is that weird? just because i dont want to sink a lot of money into my $150 van doesnt mean that its uncommon for me to spend money on my other cars. like i said, the van is a low budget vehicle. my other vehicles get/got treated right though. plus, after getting one from the junk yard, and taking the time to put it in, only to have it fail in a couple months kind of pissed me off. so i figured that the best thing to do would be buy a brand new one. at least i knew that it would last a while and i wouldnt have to roll in the snow again that year!

 

i kno them kcar trans are inside the same as neons and such but the bell houseing are diff. so the guts are the same just the box isnt. but hears the funny thing, them kcars trans call for dex, when i get a rebuild kit for them neons, all the parts are for every year are the same like clutchs and bands and such. so i run dex cuz that's what the kcar used and since the parts is the same why not use the same fluid and i aint yet had one go bad

 

The trans that needs the ATF+4 is the 41te/A604. The 3 speeds don't have much problem with other fluids.

So you bought a junkyard trans and you were surprised that it failed? When you buy one from a junkyard you don't know what you are getting.

 

that make me laf cuz i been running but nothen but dex for years on them 604 trans and not 1 have quit yet.

 

Interesting! Chrysler made such a big deal about fluids being the major problem with failure. They developed ATF+3 then ATF+4 for that reason.

 

I have to agree. So here's my question, why are the transmissions still failing as the same rate? Here's an interesting fact, the 3 speed trans uses the exact same converter as the overdrive trans in the 3.0 application. The 3.3/3.8 uses a larger converter but has the same lockup clutch material. Acording you you petet, it should be ok to use the Dexron fluid in a 3 speed but not in the OD trans. Yes the torque converters are the same as are the clutch disc's. So, how about you find out what the EXACT difference is between the fluids. You should be surprised as to the answer you find. I found out the chemistry differences, and I too use Dexron and haven't had any failures related to fluid. And ever notice that all the transmissions from chrysler call for +3/+4? Do you know the difference between the 904/727 and the A500/42LH/42LE or A518/47LH/47LE

 

Yes, I kno the 904/727's along with all of the American auto's of that era. I used to build these for drag racers in the 70's-early 80's.

What i read though was that the fluid problem was with the solenoid pack which the other transmissions do not have. Supposedly there were lubrication problems with the early 604's as well. When i re-built the one in my last Caravan (97) I updated the hard parts and the diff and made the changes that TransGo suggested and the trans never worked better or shifted as well. These modifications that TransGo does could have/be been done by Chrysler in the first place.

I agree that they could be stronger. Actually, most auto transmissions these days could be stronger, not just the Chryslers. Many cannot take much abuse.

 

Do you really think that an electronically controlled hydraulic valves care what type of transmission fluid goes thru them? Ford uses solenoids, GM uses solenoids and what kind of fluid do both of them use? I'm quite aware of the TransGo and other shift kit manufacturers, which are way more intellegent than any automotive engineer, that's quite apparent. The only lubrication problem with the 604 trans is due to the cooler being plugged. TransGo's solution to reduce this is to drill the lube hole in the underdrive hub...BFD. TransGo provides a solid 'spring' put into the accumulators. All this does is quicken and stiffen the shifts. It does this by reducing the stroke of the accumulators. TransGo provides 'improved' seals on the accumulators. They provide an improved seal for the L/R dog dish, and a stiffer pressure regulator spring and have you grind a chamfer on the boost valve in the regulator. Then drill some holes in the separator plate. Of all the stuff they have, none of them strengthen the trans. A properly rebuilt trans will work great to. Don't get me wrong, I've used TransGo parts and personally met Gil Younger at a conference. His son told me that Dexron works just fine in these transmissions. He said that if I have a torque converter shutter, have the TCM flashed to the latest revision, if it still shutters dump in some Lubriguard. I've never had a shutter. The last trans I had with torque shutter was a 1Ton van with 190,000 miles on the original trans. I just tossed in a reman converter, fluid change and filter, using Dexron, and the shutter was gone. The van now has nearly 300,000 miles and doing just fine.

 

[QUOTE]Do you really think that an electronically controlled hydraulic valves care what type of transmission fluid goes thru them?/QUOTE]

I never said that i agreed with them. I just stated what Chrysler put in there TSB.

 

What TSB, I'd like to know the exact #