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Chrysler reman. tranny any good?
Question:
: Re: All of these problems : The Chrysler reman transmission isn’t any better or worse than the : original. There really wasn’t anything seriously wrong with the : transmission, though, and Chrysler still hasn’t figured that out. The : COMPUTER messes up the transmission (remember that the computer runs the : transmission). Who wants to talk about getting stuck in second gear? Jump The computer has been redesigned recently, I think…maybe for 93, maybe for 94. You could see if you could get a new computer put in.
Response:
Re: All of these problems My family owns an independent transmission consulting service for mechanics. We hear from mechanics all over the country and are the only such service in the business that we know of who is not controlled by the automakers. The Chrysler reman transmission isn’t any better or worse than the original. There really wasn’t anything seriously wrong with the transmission, though, and Chrysler still hasn’t figured that out. The COMPUTER messes up the transmission (remember that the computer runs the transmission). Who wants to talk about getting stuck in second gear? Jump start someone, get stuck in second gear. Blow a fuse, get stuck in second gear. Any sensor on the car gets worn out, get stuck in second gear. Oh, here’s the best part: while it’s stuck in second gear, any time your foot isn’t on the gas keeping the engine moving fairly briskly (e.g. don’t coast, stop), the transmission is frying! No lubrication is going to the geartrain, nor is any flowing through the transmission cooler. So what should the owners of Chryslers do? Take it to the dealer and make Chrysler put in a remanufactured unit. Why? There’s not much anyone can do for these cars short of making a new computer, and nobody can do that (legal matter). Take it to the dealer, even out of warranty. Raise hell! Our company policy on the Ultradrive is to recommend to the independent shops that subscribe to our service to tell the customer to take it to Chrysler. We have had reports of Chrysler putting remanufactured transmissions in these up to 98,000 miles! Why? Just threaten to contact the Federal Trade Comission. The FTC has received so many complaints (like in 90 and 91, there were more complaints on the Ultradrive than ALL OTHER TRANSMISSIONS COMBINED) that Chrysler is just jumping up and down trying to keep the FTC happy. What else can you do? Even with Chrysler feeding you transmissions, it’s still inconvenient. We’ve found one of the easiest and most helpful things that can be done is keeping the electrical system very steady and healthy. What does that mean? Keep a VERY good battery- the best you can find, keep it full of water (there really isn’t such a thing as maintenance free), and replace it every two years. More if it’s very cold. Keep the connections very clean. DON’T give any jump starts (very frequent cause of problems, jump starting). If your battery ever dies, and YOU need a jump, don’t get a jump. Get a charger, and charge the battery WITH THE CABLES OFF. This is quite dangerous. We have just received a new, dangerous complaint about the Ultradrives. Jump starting often makes them go into "limp home" mode, stick in second gear, and fry (from low voltage), which isn’t great. What’s worse, though, we had a customer who was working on a 5th Avenue. The owner had left the trunk open overnight and the battery was dead. He put a charger on it for awhile, started it, and left. He got up to 22 mph and the front tires LOCKED. It would skid down to about 1 mph and then start to free up and go again. I don’t know what else to offer you, folks. If you don’t have one from the factory, install a volt meter, a fairly accurate one, too. 11.8 volts will make it go to limp mode. 15 will make the tires lock. Take good care of y’all’s electrical systems. -Wes
Response:
>>Are these reman. transmissions any good? >How many miles can I expect from it? > It’s actually better than the original. This is from my best friend > who is a service manager at Chrysler. I also had one put in my Acclaim > LE and it is beautiful!
The service manager at the dealer who installed a 3/93 reman. unit in our ‘89 Caravan last December said the same thing. I sincerely hope it’s true!!!!! >A more general question is, now that the transmission >has failed, what can I expect to go next? >I have the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6 engine with 90,000 miles on it. > I have one in my Acclaim. If you haven’t had your cam seals done > yet, DO IT NOW.
Huh? Howcum? I’ve heard the valve stem seals on this engine are leak-prone (a friend’s ‘88 has this problem and needs a quart of oil every 500 mi, but he’s punted so far, as the estimated repair cost – about $800 including strongly recommended new timing belt and new water pump – will buy a LOT of oil). This is the first time I’ve heard camshaft seals are a worry.
Response:
>Hmm… my mom also have a 1990 Plymouth Acclaim with the same Mitsu. V6 and >Chrysler Ultradrive 4-speed electronic automatic. A year or so ago, the >transmission all of a sudden started dumping AT fluid all over the driveway, >and the dealer rebuilt it, with supposed modifications. Now, it seems to be >"bump-stopping" again, that is, the whole car shakes once right before coming >to a stop. The transmission experts at Riverside Transmission in Waltham, MA, >who rebuilt my Chrysler 5-speed, drove my mom’s Acclaim and said that it is >going to fail again soon. They recommended asking for a factory rebuilt >before the warranty runs out. I heard that these original Ultradrives were >infamous, but I thought the dealer was supposed to have made it better. Does >anyone have any comments or suyggestions?
This is similar to what happened to me. I went to an independent transmission place to get my transmission rebuilt after it failed. Over the next two months it was rebuilt 3 times before they decided it was unrebuildable and gave me a new reman. transmission at their expense. For the most part, the reman. trans. has been working OK although it did hiccup once and go into limp mode. Stopping and restarting the car fixed it and it hasn’t happened again. They said that Chrysler told them (after the third rebuild) that the transmissions were not rebuildable if they suffered internal damage. If I had to do it all over again I would have just asked for a reman. transmission in the first place and saved myself hundreds of dollars in rental car costs. I agree that you should try and get a factory reman. transmission to replace the one that was rebuilt. — N. Andover, Massachusetts att!mvuts!jrk
Response:
: >Recently, the 4 speed Ultradrive transmission in my : >1990 Plymouth Voyager SE was replaced with a Chrysler : >remanufactured transmission. The transmission has : >a 12,000 mile warranty. : >Are these reman. transmissions any good? : >How many miles can I expect from it? : It’s actually better than the original. This is from my best friend : who is a service manager at Chrysler. I also had one put in my Acclaim : LE and it is beautiful! : . : >A more general question is, now that the transmission : >has failed, what can I expect to go next? : >I have the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6 engine with 90,000 miles on it. : I have one in my Acclaim. If you haven’t had your cam seals done : yet, DO IT NOW. Hmm… my mom also have a 1990 Plymouth Acclaim with the same Mitsu. V6 and Chrysler Ultradrive 4-speed electronic automatic. A year or so ago, the transmission all of a sudden started dumping AT fluid all over the driveway, and the dealer rebuilt it, with supposed modifications. Now, it seems to be "bump-stopping" again, that is, the whole car shakes once right before coming to a stop. The transmission experts at Riverside Transmission in Waltham, MA, who rebuilt my Chrysler 5-speed, drove my mom’s Acclaim and said that it is going to fail again soon. They recommended asking for a factory rebuilt before the warranty runs out. I heard that these original Ultradrives were infamous, but I thought the dealer was supposed to have made it better. Does anyone have any comments or suyggestions? Thank you very much, Peter Jones
Response:
>Recently, the 4 speed Ultradrive transmission in my >1990 Plymouth Voyager SE was replaced with a Chrysler >remanufactured transmission. The transmission has >a 12,000 mile warranty. >Are these reman. transmissions any good? >How many miles can I expect from it?
It’s actually better than the original. This is from my best friend who is a service manager at Chrysler. I also had one put in my Acclaim LE and it is beautiful! . >A more general question is, now that the transmission >has failed, what can I expect to go next? >I have the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6 engine with 90,000 miles on it.
I have one in my Acclaim. If you haven’t had your cam seals done yet, DO IT NOW. — Peter R. Cook | Home of Black Dragon Management, PRC Music (BMI), & Marlborough, MA USA | providing acoustic, blues, and metal original music. Up the Irons!! | TAMA, Paiste, DW5000A, and Vic Firth Customer forever!
Response:
Recently, the 4 speed Ultradrive transmission in my 1990 Plymouth Voyager SE was replaced with a Chrysler remanufactured transmission. The transmission has a 12,000 mile warranty. Are these reman. transmissions any good? How many miles can I expect from it? A more general question is, now that the transmission has failed, what can I expect to go next? I have the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6 engine with 90,000 miles on it. Please respond via email. Thanks, — N. Andover, Massachusetts att!mvuts!jrk