New Project '98 A604/41TE

[Mealticket]

Make

Chrysler

Model

Town & Country

Year

1998

Miles

90,000

Engine

3.8

Minivan, cleanest by far I've ever seen, no reverse and apparently no 2nd from the previous owner's description. No codes but they cleared them. I'll jack up the front wheels and simulate driving until it faults. Should have the trans apart Monday/Tuesday and will advise. Suspect something broken, ie, front sun gear might have sheared off of the 2/4 hub, or maybe the 2/4 piston snap ring broke and tore one of the seals.

MT

 

[grcauto]

Hope it's obvious. If you have a pressure gauge you may want to record pressures while test driving. Can't hurt if you have the gauges.

 

[Mealticket]

I have a gauge and I was thinking it would be a good idea to check...

MT

 

[kev2]

hope this helps

 

[JackC]

WOW, Kev that is a complete and informative pdf. With that and the fact that the op is pulling the trans, he should have all he needs.

 

[grcauto]

ATSG are good guys. That's all I've ever needed to find and fix tranny problems. Good fluid charts and pressure checks as well as troubleshooting.

 

[bp042665]

most common problem with this is planets strip and yes the 2/4 snap ring

 

[Mealticket]

Thanks for the ATSG info, kev2. I will test pressures tomorrow. I suspect as soon as it tries 1-2 upshift it'll get a neutral condition and throw the CEL on. Yes, the front planet splines strip on these and I believe on the 3-4 upshift the OD hub can't grab the planet so it goes into limp-in at that point. The time I experienced that there was also a whining noise and I think it was related. It's logical that if that hub is trying to grab stripped splines it would make noise.

MT

 

[Mealticket]

Well I never found my pressure gauge but anyway today I finally got it apart and both planets grenaded. I believe there is a snap ring that holds the front planet and ring gear together, and it looks to me like that snap ring probably failed and took out the rest,

MT

 

[grcauto]

Do you have a supplier for the hard parts.

 

[Mealticket]

Yes, I see several really good package deals on eBay for the geartrain. I am on a budget. Trouble is, I just read the installation procedures for the rear planet in ATRA and I'm not sure I really should mess with that. It said if you get it wrong the thing could blow up on the TEST DRIVE. ATSG didn't seem to touch on it unless I missed it.

I do have another core sitting with a good rear planet. The front planet on that one was bad. I wonder if I could get away with swapping the input drum, pump, and converter over to that tranny and install that one instead. That way all I need is a front planet. This tranny with the bad rear planet is 90K original miles, and the clutches in the input drum look new. I still have to pull the 2/4 and L/R but I'm betting they will look great too. This van was pampered. So I need to make a decision.

MT

 

[Mealticket]

Wow; what actually happened is that the splined section of the rear planet completely sheared off and was flopping around in the front planet. The bearing was two pieces. Anyway, I do not have the capability of doing the rear planet so I'll build the other unit I have.

MT

 

[grcauto]

Shouldn't be to much to pull the planet and the 2/4 clutch. You don't really need special tools to compress it.

 

[Mealticket]

grcauto - it's the rear planet I'm concerned about. Apparently there's a shim underneath the big nut holding it in, and it's selective and very critical. You guys who have done these; please advise what you've done and how it worked out. I'm having 2nd thoughts about building up that core I have and installing that one instead, because it had a whine in park and neutral that I never tracked down for sure. It did have a stripped out front planet but I don't know if that would cause it,

D.

 

[grcauto]

It's a thrust washer and you need to use a feeler gauge to see what size is needed during the rebuild. I think ATSG has the procedure for this. It is critical to the planet. Check out the ATSG literature and see if you can't see where it's addressed. I can get the info if it's not there but I'm pretty sure these guys didn't miss that.
Let me know.