Well...we did end up low on transmission fluid at one point. I was only down a litre/quart but I could hear a faint knocking coming from the transmission. That's the result of changing the radiator once and the speed sensor in the transmission twice so it was partly my fault. When I got home I changed the fluid and it was a bit of a horror show. There was a pile of gunk in one spot and some of the contents were some large aluminum scrapes. Hopefully that is normal for an original fluid change and 22 years of driving but I'm doubtful. The good news is the transmission works extremely well still so hopefully we get the full lifespan out of it.

That left hose was a real pain to replace. It has everything except a motor mount attached to it. :| Atleast I got enough time under the van to realize there's a bleed screw on the proportioning valve so I'm going to try and use it when I bleed the new hoses.
Steve

 

Well -- it is normal for a 22 year old transmission.

The pile of gunk is asbestos off of your clutches and the aluminum is chunks of your planetary.

When you see this you are at at least 75% life...you may get 1k more miles, you may get 25k more miles but --- I'd start a fund for a rebuild...

Good luck

 

Success! I made up a new left side brake line and bled things today. I started with bleeding the proportioning valve and then the right and left calipers. I used the vacuum pump again and it was much easier to suck the fluid through this time so it was the hoses. The van also stops in a straight line which was the goal.

If you are going to form a new left line by hand I suggest using a 12" pre-fab line. That will allow you to make some nice sweeps instead of kinking the thing.

Now to figure out what's stripped on the left power window and change the ignition wires. If I get that done soon I'll put an auxilliary fan on the fridge and replace the liquid propane sensor and smoke alarm. Some trade this was, I'll have more wrench time on the van than driving time in short order...

Steve

 

you have yet to say how many miles or clics you have on the odometer...
I just recently replaced my tranny after about 170,000 miles. When it was opened up it too had clutch gunk inside, and there was a code showing that the torque converter was going bad. I only use the van for long hauls and did not want to be away from home when the transmission decided to go out for good, so I just put in a rebuilt unit.

take your time and get the old girl mechanically good to go, then worry about the fridge and the propane...
just my Loonie's worth...

 

Ah, I thought I had mentioned the mileage. It is actually at 170,000 km which translates to 106k miles. I mentioned another value in another post due to some bad math.

I was on the phone with my dad the other day and he said he's changed the coil springs and leafs springs recently. From underneath I can see the rear half of the exhaust is new and the back brake lines are also new (but were full of OLD fluid). The tires, alternator, and radiator are also new. From what I can tell is that most anything that is rubber needs replacement and the thermostat housing gasket it seeping. I find it really troubling that somebody changed the radiator but didn't fix these other issues.

Winter is coming and I need to finish building a fence I started 2 months ago so we'll see what I can get done. Oh yeah, the time is going to change too which is really going to screw things up. The good news is this van is still worth the money to fix. A new one is worth $100k!

Steve

 

That's what they make brake line benders for.

 

One thing to note ...

Both the Chrysler owners manual and the Hayes manual state to bleed the brakes line starting with the rears and then the fronts. This is a must. Also, on these vans due to vibrations, check the lines connections that run to the proportion valve/block for leaks. In the newer van version this is under the battery box. Not sure for a 1991.