Im new to this site, I just got a 1998 Grand Caravan SE with 155000 miles. It has the 3.8l v6 and AWD. Its in great condition if you dont count the basketball size dent on the pass side slising door.

One thing I did notice when comming to a stop when it down shifts to 1st gear it makes a clunking noise that you can feel.

What do you think is going on? Is there anything special I should know about the van and it AWD system?

Thanks, jason

 

Welcome to DF
Hi jason
Have you ck the drive axle nuts? Should be torque to 160 ft pounds. Also ck the lower control arm bolts too.

 

Is that the large nut in the center of the brake disk? Ill check both. What size is it?


thanks, jason

 

The socket would be 1 1/4 inch.

 

That clunk turned out to be due to water in the trans fluid. the shop said there was a leak in the radiator and water was getting in to the trans fluid. So they are pulling the trans and checking everything replaceing what needs to be, and putting it back in. I hope it not too much $$$$. They will cap off the lines and install a trans cooler they said.

what do you think? other than the clunking while down shifting while comming to a stop that was the only issue with the trans.

thanks, jason

 

Well got the news from the shop today. $2600 for the trans rebuild. New converter and all. He is add in a trans cooler and pluging the radiators trans cooling lines to save me on a new radiator. Also for that the pass. side wheel bearing was bad so he is doing that too.

The van cost me $2400 and with this repair, I have $5000 in to it. Hope the engine lasts me a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I took my 1998 Grand Caravan SE AWD to the trans shop cuz it was makeing a clunking noise when downshifting to first gear. I thought it was no big deal and would be cheap to fix but I was wrong. I paid $2400 for the van and at the time

It cost just over $2600 for the parts and labor that price also includes them replaceing the pass side wheel bearing. So basicly the van cost me $5000. They said that water was getting into the trans cooling lines. So they are pluging the radiator and adding a trans cooler to cool the trans.

I just want to get some other thoughts on this to make sure im not getting raped.

Thanks, jason

 

This is the #1 reason I work on my own rigs.
Shop mechanics (not all mind you) always seem to find "other things" wrong.

I'm thinking that water in the fluid should have caused more serious symtoms than a clunk during downshift.
Slipping, hard or soft shifting, loss of a gear, ... something more.
The experence I had with coolant in the trans fluid, caused shuttering, slipping and soft shifting.
After draining the fluid, cleaning the magnet, changing the filter, and replacing the radiator of course, we had the trans powerflushed and filled with fresh fulid. It performed great afterwards. His trans worked normally till the day he sold it. 3 years and 70,000 miles later.

I hate to bad-mouth a mechanic I dont know, but, in another post a guy was told the CV joint he had JUST replaced was bad.
Dont want to say you got taken, you did get a rebuilt trans (I hope, are you certin the work was even performed?), but were $2600 worth of repairs really needed?!?

I once worked in a shop where the head mechanic would put a car on the alignment rack, where it sat for 2hrs while the customer waited up front.
No work was ever performed, not even an inspection, and the car was delivered back the customer who paid $79 for an alignment, and usually a charge for parts that were not replaced. No one ever laid a wrench on it.
His other specialty, was to spray WD40 on a shock or strut, bring the customer out and tell them it was leaking and its a safety hazard.
I was just the tire and brake guy, and needed my job so I never said a word.


Owner beware, not all mechanics are your friend.
EZ1

 

I belive him about the water in the fluid. I saw it for my self before I took it in. I will have a rebuilt transmission and wont have to worry about it for a while. It comes with a 2 year unlimited mileage waranty.

With a 155,000 miles on it and the reputation these caravan transmissions have, I think ill be in good shape. I just hope the engine does not take a dump

 

The 3.8 is a great engine.

Keep the oil clean, and make sure you have a fail-safe thermostat.

Glad to hear you have comfidence in your shop and they're standing behind their work %100


EZ1