Today we test drove a 2002 Grand Caravan Sport 3.3L and had our mechanic do a mechanical inspection of the vehicle.

Everything looked acceptable for the most part. His only real concern is the potential issue with the A604 41TE differential idler shaft and how it's known to come apart and completely destroy the transaxle.

So I'm wondering two things. How often does this happen on this particular year and make? And what preventative measure are the best options to prevent this from happening?

From what I've been told the transaxle needs to be removed from the vehicle and and the differential idler needs to be more permanently welded or held in place with shaft straps. Another mentioned option is the block and spring type limited slip kit or a clutch style limited slip if one exists?

So again, what do people generally do with these transaxles? Drive them and hope they don't explode? Or tear them apart and put some sort of fix on them?

 

I wasn't aware of this being a common failure on the 4th generation caravans and a google search about it has yielded nothing as well. Is it possible that this problem affects other years or models that use a similar transmission and that 4th generation caravans do not have this issue?

 

Our 2001 3.8L has 179,000 miles on it and other than regular fluid and filter changes, the transmission has never needed any repairs. Take it for what it's worth since others will say they have had issues.
You didn't mention mileage of the van as that may have some bearing on the likelihood of problems developing.

 

I've owned 2002 & 2003 Grand Caravans with the 3.3L engine and never heard of such problems nor had any problems from either one. BTW make sure you use the proper fluids at every service that is where problems can show up.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. The Mileage is a little under 107k on this 2002.

I did search the internet as well to see if I could specifically link the idler shaft issue to this year, make and model. I did find the issue for this transmission but nothing for generation IV GC vans?

Our mechanic did call his transmission friend who said it is still an issue for this year and make, but who knows, maybe he's making a blank assumption based on earlier models? That's why I'd like to find out more about it.

It does look like there is a differential pinion bracket made by Mopar under P/N# 4800058AA, which appears to be a solution for this problem. I'd be curious to know if Chrysler made this part standard issue after a certain year?