I bought a 1993 Caravan with a 3.3 and the 4 speed auto; it has 252,000 miles the engine and tranny are very healthy.

I bought it for dirt cheap from an estate but have no paperwork, so I don't know what it's history is.

Seems to me at those miles the transmission has most likely been rebuilt; anyones thoughts ?

I'm going to go ahead and put some money in it (DIY) so I hope I don't have a money pit. My other 1993 finally blew a headgasket ; I was going to fix it but with machine shop costs & parts it was double the price of what I paid for this one with the 3.3 so I took a gamble

 

How's the fluid look? If anything, do a fluid and filter change. Once you drop the pan, look for anything out of the ordinary.

 

It's very possible that it's all original. Our 3.3L 4-speed is over 200k, all original, and still works like new.

Question: Why are there machine shop costs for a headgasket job? Very rarely do the heads need to be machined, simple tear-down, clean up, and re-assembly do the job fine.

 

Lucky on that red and no burning smell. Shifts smooth.

 

From my internet research seems most are going bad around 150K ish

I know, but guy told me with the miles its likely cracked plus I ran it hot (the gauge has been lying to me off & on for years at times; it would say red hot and you could touch the hoses ; so this time it was right) Even not run hot some heads crack anyway, not sure of the 2.2 but I remember those 80s Ford Escorts.
With aluminum it's usually warped with a lot of use (241K), so I knew it would at least need to be milled. And while you have it off you know it's going to need the valves/seats ground and valve guides, so why not while you have it off ?
Also, the machine shop said he could get a new casting (cheaper) and regrinding mine with new guides for $350 ish. I priced a new gasket/headbolts for slightly over $100, but there's a much better composite I called about from some 2.2 turbo place that's $150.
Plus my van was going to need struts, tires were getting bare, etc = money adding up.

This one has new struts to boot and near new tires

 

Makes sense then I guess.
I always figure fix what I got instead of buying something else and fixing someone else's issues. It's usually cheaper in the end.

The 4-speed was pretty hardy, solenoid pack issues was the major thing that fried them. Combine that with lack of maintenance and they failed. Taken care of I've seen many 604s hit 300k. Being it was from an Estate, it's likely it was maintained meticulously, at least that's my experience with vehicles from estates.

Hope you have good luck with yours, ours has been very good to us.

 

Normally that's what I do; but for $350 I looked at what had newer struts, newer tires, new filter(s), and could not believe how well it ran/drove. Also, I suspected the 4 cylinder had a lot of bore wear and even if I re did the top end the bottom end was worn out anyway. Nice having a more relaxed overdrive too. Plus, my 4 cylinder struggled pulling a trailer with a Polaris 170 RZR and my old Honda ATc when I take the kids riding.

On the overdrive issue I spoke with a guy at O'Reileys months ago who knew these is Mopars inside and out (had a lot of them on his property from his cell phone, lol) and said there's something about a contact issue they could get that could cause solinoid issues ?

 

Not sure about that. I know there was a wiring issue that could lead to failure. The packs themselves are also notorious for just giving up.
I've been through quite a few, actually have bought some because people claimed it needed a trans, got the title, swapped the pack, and drove them home.

For $350 you'd have been dumb not to buy it, even if it was just to resell. In the condition that one looks to be in they bring over $1k around here.

 

Been a while back as what the parts guy said; maybe he meant the packs ? Either way, a good tip to keep in mind.

Hoping this van will run a few years; rather put my money into my home for now rather than a car payment (damn new cars are expensive !)

One of the wheel cylinders has a leak; I'll probably replace both and do a go thru on the pads as well.

 

I have a 1996 with no problems with the transmission. The solenoid pack sometimes leak fluid. But they did have problem on the early vehicles. 1989 to 1993.