93 Dodge Caravan ES Transission Problem

DAVEANNIE

MEMBER
1993 DODGE CARAVAN

Hi,
I have a 93 Dodge Caravan ES 195,000 miles. The person we bought it from said they put $2500.00 into the transmission.I have a transmission problem. If you put the shifter in "L"(1st gear). The transmission pulls hard in reverse & 1st gear, in other words it works correctly. When I put the shifter in the "3 or D" position it will not shift up into the upper gears. It shifts out of 1st & won't go into 2nd, like it is stuck in the middle, It does not grind, it just slips & will not pull itself.I have changed the transmission fluid & filter, found alot of metallic shavings(like metallic paint) & the transmission fluid had black in it, but was not burned(did not look like motor oil).I'm guessing transmission is junk, but hoping you might have some other suggestions to try. Hope you can help. Thanks for any suggestions.
David

1 Reply

JPAM

MECHANIC
307 POSTS

So did they get a new trans. Or did they rebuild it.
Rebuilds sometimes arent worth a sh@*
with all those shaving in your trans. The valves could be hanging up; maybe try some kind of trans. Cleaner like some sea foam, or what ever is to your liking.
Drain out a little less than a quart of trans. Fluid(through removeing trans line off of radiator) and add the sea foam. Run van down road if you can and try shifting manually after a few miles or just leave it in -N- and let it run for a while that should get trans. Fluid moveing. If you do use sea foam you may need to replace filter again because if there is stuff stuck in valve body and it comes out the filter may get clogged.

I am no transmission specialist but this would be your cheapest route to try first, because putting a new trans. Into that van might not be worth it.

Hope it works for you.
Good luck
jess s