New transmission

Happy ending. Keep us posted. Nice of them to loan you the van. Hooe you saw Valley of the Gods( I think thats it) and Pikes Peak.

Update: Got the rebuilt transmission. Shop was Transmission Clinic of Colorado Springs. The owner let me borrow his customer shuttle van for the day for us to site see while they completed the repair. The rebuilt transmission has a nationwide 100,000 mile warranty. I checked with the shop in my town for the warranty, and turns out it is about 10 minutes from my house. The rebuilt tranny is working fine. Shifts slightly different than what I was used to in the other one. Can feel 1st to 2nd a little bit more than before. Passing gear takes more pedal down than before. Seems ok so far. Couldn't ask for a more helpful place. I think I'll be recommending Transmission Clinic of Colorado Springs. Probably a better shop to have the work done than exists in my hometown. On the road again ....

Get the trans. Hopefully you can work something out for a warranty. I'd almost consider talking to Dodge about it. At least warranty could be covered all over. Best of luck.

When was the last time the pan was off and cleaned? Those could be original shavings.

Could also be evidence the OD switch was misdiagnosed. I am very skeptical when on the road.

If it is a nationwide warranty I might go for the transmission. Otherwise I would drive a bit slower and cross my fingers to get home.

Last Summer I drove home 1500+ miles manually shifting my automatic because it had issues. Had the valve body rebuilt upon return.

I would be looking for a remanufactured transmission exchange with a national three year warranty if replacing on the road. And the shop could be really great and it lasts ten+ years. Hard to know.

Good luck.

There is almost always metal in the pan from clutch and retaining ring wear. Shavings are not necessarily a problem, chunks are a bigger deal. A good transmission tech can often put enough of the chunks together to figure out what part it is.

$2000 sounds about right for a rebuild, or maybe installation of one already rebuilt. I would expect a lot more for a new transmission, assuming MoPar still has whichever of the half dozen different automatics Dodge was installing in the Ram Van and pickups back then is needed by yours.

I've had five different automatic transmissions rebuilt, usually by an independent shop recommended by people who have the work done regularly (e.g. used dealers and shops that outsource rebuilds), and two rebuilt by the selling dealer.

One of those was rebuilt twice before they got it right, because getting it right required Ford to upgrade some of the parts over three model years. A dealer rebuild on my 92 Dodge van was $1500 about 14 years ago when labor was only $30 an hour, and the rebuild kit included some significant parts upgrades, including a new computer to control it. Thus sometimes a rebuild is "better than new" or at least better than yours was when it was new.

Problem with replacing a single worn part like a worn out one way clutch (or anything else on the shaft) is that the labor is almost the same as for a rebuild, the main difference in price being the collection of new parts in the rebuild kit.

stan909 wrote:
I hate to be negative here but all transmissions will have some shavings when pulling the pan.I once took a car to get a service to a place that tried to sell me a rebuild.They showed me the shavings in the bottom of the pan.I didn't fall for it and drove the car another 90,000 miles before I sold it.I vote for putting the new part in and drive it til it poops out.

Thanks for your comments. I wish I could have taken a picture of the 'shavings'. It was not fine metal shavings, it was slivers of metal, about 5 of them, about 1/4" to 3/4" in overall size and the thickness of about of a credit card (I think he said it was 'bands')
I don't know if that is normal or not. We just don't want to get stranded in the middle of nowhere, but would hate to spend that much if it is not really going out.

I reread your original post to see that you looked up reviews.They may be alright.Tough choice.Keep us posted.

I hate to be negative here but all transmissions will have some shavings when pulling the pan.I once took a car to get a service to a place that tried to sell me a rebuild.They showed me the shavings in the bottom of the pan.I didn't fall for it and drove the car another 90,000 miles before I sold it.I vote for putting the new part in and drive it til it poops out.

smkettner wrote:
I would just do the sensor and roll.

Has the transmission been hunting or shifting frequently?

Thanks for the advice.
No, the transmission has always shifted fine. Has 85,000 miles on it. The only problem was the recent failure to shift into 4th gear.

If you do get the transmission rebuild be sure to have a oil cooler installed with the rebuild otherwise it won't last. Had mine done at 80,000 and also had a cooler installed. $2400.00 Now we have 140,000 on it and the transmission is flawless. Had it done at the factory where they rebuild transmissions. If you don't add the cooler you will be throwing your money away.