92 Caravan - worth fixing?

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Wesley - 03 Jun 2009 12:49 GMT

After driving my Caravan for 11.5 years and 120k miles...bought it used
which adds up to just shy of 205k...the transmission has finally decided to
bite the dust. It's the standard wheel base Caravan with the 3.0 v6 and
3-speed automatic...otherwise I gather it likely wouldn't have survived this
long! It seems to start out cold sorta OK, but by the time it warms up it
doesn't seem to want to go and doesn't shift - so best I can tell it's
failing into 3rd gear all the time.

I called a highly reputable local transmission shop and they quoted about
$1900 to put a rebuilt transmission in it. Ouch...afraid not.

My normal mechanic (who flushed the transmission with no success in fixing
it) tells me they found a used transmission somewhere out of a vehicle with
100k miles on it and they can get it installed for about $1000...which would
have a 30-day warranty.

Otherwise it's in pretty decent condition considering the age and mileage.
It rides great as it always has...I've upgraded the stereo system in it over
the years, so it sounds even better than it runs... :-) Anyway...I hate to
get rid of it, but I also don't want to be throwing good money after bad.

Any thoughts from the experts (or even you non-experts such as myself)
around here?

Thanks,

Wesley

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Dan C - 03 Jun 2009 14:05 GMT

> After driving my Caravan for 11.5 years and 120k miles...bought it used
> which adds up to just shy of 205k...the transmission has finally decided
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
> Wesley

Junk it.

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clare@snyder.on.ca - 05 Jun 2009 04:05 GMT

>After driving my Caravan for 11.5 years and 120k miles...bought it used
>which adds up to just shy of 205k...the transmission has finally decided to
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>
>Wesley

If the body is solid and everything else is good I'd be tempted to put
in a good used tranny. I did on my 88 New Yorker and I definitely got
my money's worth out of it. What can you buy for a grand? Nothing.
A well maintained 3.0 is not a BAD bet. I'm not a fan of MitsuShitty
products, but the bottom end of the 3.0 is bulletproof and although
mine went through 2 sets of heads in 240,000km that's abouit the only
engine trouble I had.

It's your decision, but there are more foolish places to put a
thousand bucks.

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just us - 05 Jun 2009 05:21 GMT

>>After driving my Caravan for 11.5 years and 120k miles...bought it used
>>which adds up to just shy of 205k...the transmission has finally decided
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
> It's your decision, but there are more foolish places to put a
> thousand bucks.

Can you afford to buy another car; if not the rebuilt with a warranty is a
better value than a transmission that you don't know what condition it is
really in!
Get the details of the warranty. Many time it covers the transmission, but
not the labor to remove it if it is no good or fails within the warranty
period.
Just my opinion after learning the lesson the hard way.

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Wesley - 08 Jun 2009 02:14 GMT

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I found a local guy who work by day at
a transmission shop and does some work on the side...I dropped it off at his
place yesterday. He's going to drop the pan and take a look...perhaps as
little as $250 to get it back on the road. He's telling me about $1300 if
it needs a rebuild.

Fortunately we have an extra vehicle (a 2002 Isuzu Trooper with 45k miles
that I *just* made the last payment on!) so I'm driving it in the mean time.
We could afford another vehicle (don't care for a car payment again though,
so it would have to be fairly inexpensive). Even at 204k miles, I know what
I've got. Hard to say what I'd be buying off the used lot with 80k miles or
so... But, I got lucky with this one, bought it 11.5 years ago with 84k
miles on it...and it has served me very well. The only thing major I've had
to do up to this point was a new head gasket about 40k miles ago.

I should probably just get rid of it...but you kinda get attached after all
those years and miles!

Thanks,

Wesley

> > If the body is solid and everything else is good I'd be tempted to put
> > in a good used tranny. I did on my 88 New Yorker and I definitely got
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> period.
> Just my opinion after learning the lesson the hard way.

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truckdriver - 06 Jun 2009 23:42 GMT

> After driving my Caravan for 11.5 years and 120k miles...bought it used
> which adds up to just shy of 205k...the transmission has finally decided to
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>
> Wesley

the problem with the 92 caravan is most have a trans cooler on then
the insides of the trans cooler is they break down and cause the
pieces of metal winds up in the valve body and it causes a lot of
problems so when i do a trans i replace the trans cooler and put a new
valve body in them these trans shops are out to rip you off most 404
do now need to be rebuilt they are built to last my trans has 300 on
it i had the same problem and it cost me 300 to fix not 1900 like the
rip off shops charge you can change the valve body your self it is
easy if you take your time

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