I am having problems with my mini van and need some help to figure out what to do to fix it.
The issue is lengthy, so I'll lay it out like this.
1) What I have and history of ownership.
2) Description of problems.
3) Steps taken to try and fix.
4) What I have available for parts.
1) History/Ownership.
I purchased a 1994 Plymouth Voyager SE 10th Anniversary edition minivan in 2004 for $50.00 The van has a 3.3 liter V6 with the A604/41TE 4 speed computer controlled transmission in it. The van had 75000 miles on it.
When I purchased it, a piece of the diff pin had broken off and bounced around inside. It damaged the transfer gear and punched a hole in the rear diff cover.
The van sat for 4 months until I put a transmission from a 1991 Dodge Grand Caravan in it. At that time, I also changed all six spark plugs and the plug wires. The plugs are Platniums. I also added an aftermarket transmission cooler and transmision temp gauge.
The van was a daily driver until January of 2006, when the transmission that was in it started to go into limp mode or shift hard. On occassion, in 2005 I would get a Check Engine light when I would take the van outside of town. Pulling the codes indicated a EGR valve issue, but the problem was very intermittent. All other activites included general maint... oil and filter changes, serpentine belt change, air filter, etc. etc.
The van then sat until Memorial Day weekend (2006) when I installed the original transmission case, with all internals having been rebuilt.
I used the "drive and learn" tecnique to teach the transmission how/when to shift. The van had 87770 on it.
2) Problems:
The van intermittently bucks/kicks etc. Problem only seems to happen once the van is good and warmed up Recently, the problem has happened more frequent, and sometimes a loud popping noise (like a back/miss fire) comes from what seems to be the drivers side of the engine. Problem is hard to replicate in driveway. Problem/popping can happen with van coasting, in Neutral if you goose the gas.... At idle, in driveway, the van sounds like it may have a miss when you listen to exhaust.
3) Things tried:
A) put timing light on each plug wire and watched the light... thinking that a single missed fire won't be noticed, but multiple will. Van seems to be missing, at higher RPMs in #2 cylinder.
- Swapped plugs 2 & 4... Test shows same results.
- Pulled plug wire from "spare driver" 1990 Dodge Grand Caravan and put it on.
- Problem still happening and 1990 van runs fine.
B) Replaced EGR valve... After all, the EGR code was showing at times before... Maybe it is bad enough to replace.
- Problem still happening.
C) Swapped ignition module/Distributor pack from 1991 Dodge Grand Caravan.
- Problem is much less... miss/buck is almost not noticable, but "new" problem appears.
New problem is this: On test drive, the van wouldn't shift until RPM was at 4000-5000. At highway/cruise speed of 65/70, the RPM was at 3000. Van seems to have little to no power. Starts from a dead stop feel like my 1949 Dodge when I drive it as an automatic in 3rd gear from a stop.
4) Spare parts I have/can swap:
A) TCM from 1991 Dodge Grand Caravan. Unit has been disconnected from vehicle since 2004.
B) Remaining 5 plug wires from 1990 Dodge Grand Caravan.
C) All 6 plugs from 1990 Dodge Grand Caravan.
D) 2-3 transmission solinoid packs. All three are used (in use) from working transmissions.
E) Torque Convertor that came out with the 1991 transmission.
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HELP!!!
I'm
against the wall. My wife even asked if I was considering getting rid of the van and getting something else... I replied with "Don't know yet." - That isn't good... I hate to get rid of vehicles that I consider to be decent/good, but I'm really getting upset with this whole thing.
TurboDodge.com 
