I have a 1999 3.3ltr Petrol Auto Chrysler Voyager. The gearbox failed so I purchased a used replacement with round pins on the ACU connection (the one with the small bolt holding it in place). I foolishly assumed that the "other" connector block (I think maybe for the speedo and other?) was also round pins - but its not! ARGH! My Voyager is now on a vehicle lift in a workshop as I type this with both the old and replacement gearboxes on the floor. My mechanic is thinking about 2 choices and I ask you wise ones here if either will work or if you have another alternative?

1. Remove the connector block/valve assembly (whatever that is) from inside and replace with my original one so the existing connectors on the wiring harness fit on the same original internal connectors.

2. Get the connector block from the replacement gearbox vehicle wiring harness (that is still available) by cutting it off and cutting off my original connector block. Then putting the replacement connector block on the replacement gearbox (where it used to be fitted on the donor vehicle) and joining the wires to the existing wiring harness.

What do you think?

Can anyone give me wiring info on what this "other" connector is for please? My mechanic tells me it has about 9 connectors so its obviously not just a speedo. he said he thought it might be something to do with the gearbox "range" something-or-other? Any help on this immediate problem would be great! I will report back when all sorted - however it is sorted - so the info may assist others in the future of course :-)

Kind regards,

Spidey :-)

 

just swap out the valve body, the valve body has the trans range sensor bolted to it,just make sure it has the same amount of pins.i think its 10.moe

 

Hi Moe. That was the good news I was hoping for. It will put a bit extra on my bill as the mechanic needs to split both gearboxes to access the valves but better than finding it cant be used at all!

I went to great lengths to ensure that the ECU and the range sensor/speedo pins were the right ones. I ordered the gearbox from a breaker about 200 miles away. I said this in an email before ordering it:-

"I need to establish if the ECU and the speedometer have flat pin or round pin connections. I have asked a mechanic to check what I have so I can be assured of getting the right gearbox. I do not want to get it in, only to discover that these two items are then not able to be connected!".

Up to this point I had been informed that the pins were either round or flat and this distinguished one suitable box from another. It transpires that the box I have has round pins for the ECU but not for the range sensor/speedo!! Seems the Breaker I bought it from only checked the ECO connector and "assumed" the other was round pins too! Bummer! ASSUME nothing. It makes an "***" out of "U" and "ME"!!!

I politely asked if they would cover the cost of swapping the valve bodies but they politely declined! They said "We dont cover any labour charges for any fitting work but see how it goes and if you need any other parts for the vehicle I will see
what I can do for you." I will hopefully get some parts cheap then!!

He also added "I have spoken to a transmission man this morning and
says it should only be about an hours work to swap and he says he would
take the pan off anyway to clean the filter and give it a check over
before he fitted it, so that wont be a bad thing." That is a fair comment I suppose as it is a second hand box strainght from the doner vehicle.

Right now I am waiting for news of progress from my mechanic. I am sure I will be posting here again about one thing or another. Many thanks for the "hand holding" Moe. Nice one mate.

PP :-)

 

Chrysler has an adapter harness to mate the old with new. I think the size of the hole in the transmission is different too, so there might be a problem with your swap. If they haven't done it yet, you may want to have them check these things.

 

Ok, final update on this as promised. The problem was that the ECU connector group had round pins and the Range Sensor group had flat pins. Up until this point it was generally thought that the transmission had one or the other but my donor transmission had a mixture! Grrr! As my wiring harness had both connector groups as round pins, it made sense to open the transmission and swap as little as possible. My old transmission therefore provided the flat pin connector assembly (NOT the whole valve body) and so this was a very quick fix (well, quick if you already have both transmissions on the floor and opened up that is!). While the transmission was open the filter was also changed so I now have a transmission that I hope will last for many more miles :-) It rund beautifully again and Spidey is a very happy chappy once again.

So, in conclusion, thankyou for your comments above as this did give much needed assurance that the mission was not likely to be entirely fruitless. This is yet another brilliant online community where the knowledge and wisdom of little known information of many comes together for the benefit of those with neither - in this case it was me!

Spidey :-)