94 caravan tranny bad

i have a 94 caravan 3.0 liter with a blown tranny. if i get, lets say, a jasper tranny or a rebuilt tranny, and get someone to put it in, should i just expect it to run perfect? or are there other things such as external components (relays, fuses, switches) that may be bad also?
the trans has been bad for a couple of years but i continued to drive it. now....it just spins and wont "engage" it just whirrrs and whistles when you put it into gear. i know my way around cars....except for transmissions. when i first bought the car, there was a lot of clicking coming from the lower radiator area. now, i think that was some kind of solenoid that controls the trans that may be bad also.

thanks for your help

mark

 

The tranny is pretty much self-contained. The only thing really external are the cooling lines, shift linkage, wiring harness, and of course the van's main computer. Providing you don't have engine problems, a fresh tranny should get you going again. You just want to make sure the rest of the vehicle is worth what you will spend on the tranny. Don't want to throw a couple of grand (or whatever) into a tranny and have the engine throw a rod two weeks later.

 

i have faith in the van. 94 caravan that i bought 3 years ago for 1000. engine is in good shape. just got it inspected, 4 new tires, alt, battery....now this. i do want to fix it. but i dont want to spend 2000 on a trans and then have to buy this and that and this and that. its in my back yard and wont move, i dont want to tow it to the trans guy for a diagnosis. or should i? car has 115,000 miles on it. should last a while longer. so you think i can install a trans and just be back to normal?
any ideas on the loud and fast clicking noise coming from the bottom of the radiator?

 

can someone explain to me what a shift solenoid is and where it is located?

 

Briefly it is an electrical component that controls the shifting. Modern automatic trannies are largely controlled electonically with sensors and solenoids. What happens is that when you accelerate the vehicle speed sensor sends a signal to the computer (along with other signals like the throttle position sensor). When the computer decides it's time to shift, it energizes or de-energizes the proper solenoid(s). When the solenoid opens, or closes, it sends fluid flow to a different portion of the tranny and you get the next gear up or down. That's way simplified and I probably missed something key, but you get the idea. Often they are under the pan, but you may see some that are mounted externally.

Do I understand you bought it 3 years ago for $1000 and now the tranny is a goner? If that's the case, I think you got your money's worth and you may be better served putting the tranny replacment money in a different vehicle.

My $.02 worth.

 

i appreciate the help tow guy. do you think that was the clicking sound that i heard? the solenoid acting up? not knowing when to shift?

 

I can't say I've ever heard of a tranny solenoid being heard actuating, but I have no claim to being a tranny expert.