Hello Chrysler enthusiasts!

I'm about to buy a 2004 Chrysler Voyager. This is not my first chrysler but it is my first minivan however. I would like some advice from you who already own one of those about what should I be carefull of when buying it? Right now it has 157.000 km (that's about 99.000 miles) on it. The thing I'm most consered of is the transmission for wich I believe is 41TE? On how many kilometers (or miles) should the tranny be rebuild and what exactly does rebuild mean? Changing fluid isn't rebuild right?
Is there anything that I should be aware of? Any recalls, known problems, maintenance tricks, etc...?

Thank you very much!

PS: I come from Europe, so the engine is diesel (2.8 CRD). The engine itself should work fine for another 100 miles (or so I was told), but have no info on tranny and its lifespan?

 

Look here:

https://www.chryslerforum.com/forum/...ad.php?t=13772

The auto boxes are good. I'm sure there are members on here who have over 150,000 miles on their autos without rebuild.

 

Thanks!

Just one more thing - what is the aproximate mileage at which the trannys need to be rebuild? Are there any symptoms for that?

 

Mileage for rebuild.....no one can say.

It depends on what sort of life the car has had. If it has been driven hard all its life and used for towing, the transmission has a higher chance of failing early.

If the car has been driven normally, then I'd fully expect the transmission to last the life of the car......but it may fail early too.....thats the nature of complicated mechanical devices!

That said, the 41TE transmission has been in production in various forms since 1956. Its had all its bugs ironed out, and is regarded as a very good auto transmission.

When you test drive the car make sure is shifts up into all 4 forward gears.....it won't go into 4th untill you get to at least 40mph. Make sure it's not slipping in any gear. (difficult as torque converter naturally slips until lockup at 50mph)

Pull the dipstick out and have a look at the transmission fluid. It should not be burnt (smell it) It should be red in colour, although colour is not necessarly an indicator of fluid or transmission condition.

 

Booke23 advice is good.

My 2005 CRD auto has 155,000 miles. Transmission fluid changed every 60,000 incl filter.
Never towed anything and led a relatively easy life, but seems just as good as new. As Booke23 says, just goes into 4th at 40mph.
Because of it's mileage I am considering moving to 30,000 intervals. But general advice seems to be just keep going as is.

 

Thanks, you really helped me a lot. Tomorrow I'm taking it on a second test drive before buying to check that if any of the four gears are slipping. I believe that slipping gears should also be reported with computer error codes? I'll run diagnostic and read the codes and I think that error code "P1870 Transmission Component Slipping" should be reported if tranny has such problems, am I right?

The reason I'm bothering with the transmission so much is becouse on the first test drive I got the feeling that the transmission is not shifting soon enough. I had to rev it up to about 3.000 RPM befor tranny shifted. Somewhere I read that 41TE also has a learning procedure to adopt to driver's style so late shifting could as well be due to the more dynamic driving habbits of current owner, right?

Thanks guys!

 

The only time my 2.8 Auto shifts up above 3000 rpm is when I am accelerating at full throttle, or am driving it in L mode rather than D. It shifts up well before that when driving at normal pace (Usually about 2000 - 2200 rpm).

The transmission does have adaptive shifting to suit driving styles. However 3000 rpm for upshifts sounds pretty extreme. I'm not sure about the fault codes for trans slipping, it probably does store codes, but maybe not until it slips quite badly?

If you are in doubt about it, walk away. There are plenty more fish in the sea.

 

On the first test drive I didn't put much attention into RPMs but I think it was around 3000 or maybe a little less (when accelerating at normal pace). Anyway, six hours from now I'll take it on a second and final test drive before buying or leaving it. And this time I'll be more observable of the RPM during shifting at normal pace... Slipping transmission is a serious problem and I'm not willing to face that problem right after the vehicle is bougth...
Therefore your help is greatly appreciated since it helps me to know how the car should behave and how it shouldn't.