i finally found a new bus to replace my rotted out 2000 caravan. this thing was super cheap, and came from arazona so the body is totally rust free ! the reason it was cheap is the fact the differential pin come loose, broke in two, and spit the spider gears out of the case cover and created a small hole in the upper case. when this happened, the elderly lady owner was slowing for a stop. she said it made a strange noise [ ], then when she went to go, it wouldn't. anyway, i got it home yesterday and up in the air. the ring gear and axle side gears look ok, as well as the case holes that the "death pin" resides in. i didn't look close at the split pin retainer hole tho. what are the chances of replacing the missing pieces and repairing the case with the trans in the bus ? then have it work again ? what makes this happen in the first place ? i know the obvious correct repair would be to replace the whole transmission. what years interchange ? what could be the electrical differences between 1995 and 2000 be ? this may seem like a "hack" repair, but back in the mid to late 60's, we did stuff like this quite frequently on open diffs of all makes because we liked to have lots of "fun" roastin' the weenies, and we broke lots of parts. those types of repairs lasted a long time from my feeble old mind, so why couldn't it be done on this deal ? sorry for the long ramble, but "inquiring minds want to know " thanks in advance !

There is a tsb on this. The death pin shears and the cross shaft walks out. There are some small "tangs" you can buy to hold the cross shaft in if the death pin shears

Replace the death pin put the shaft back in - or replace the shaft if it's damaged and it will likely run.

Buy the updated tangs though !

Edit. Try to stay with the same year transmission -people have had issues with different years and controllers.

If it were me if slap it back together and jb weld the case. Got little to lose

Cross shaft retainer pic. Bolts to ring gear

interesting there is a tsb on this. you don't know the number off hand do you ? my local transmission shop thought i might be able to get away with this as long as the area by the converter wasn't hacked up. he said this area of the case is pretty thin. also, he said if i bring a shopping list, he can get me the needed parts cheap[at his cost], or he thinks he might have several of these laying around in his junk stash. those retainer plates look like a good idea, so i'll most definitely go with those. all i got to lose at this time is just my labor and a few parts. and even if i ultimately have to go with a different transmission, i'll still come out ahead of the game because of the body condition. nothing around here [ western pa.] that has any kind of age on it, has rust issues unless it's parked during the winter, or oiled up from day one. and i can't afford a new[er] one because of medical issues my wife and i have and their cost. thank you sir for giving me some pointers !

Years ago my 86 Daytona spit a spider gear out and it got embedded in the case.

Put the gear back where it belonged, JB welded the hole int he case and ran it for years.

Of course it was a 5 speed, but the symptoms were similar.

I don't know the tsb info. I was told that by my trans guy.

It could work. Not a lotof room to access stuff there plus there is now large pieces of transmisson case floating around the trans.

Did the same with our 2000 Neon. Bought a core trans from the junkyard, rebulit it and added the blocking plates..

Done,

I've seen his problem many times over the years... Never had one yet that when the pin broke it didnt take the case out with it.

Several times you couldnt tell how bad the case was till you get the carrier out of it

It when they went to a spring roll pin instead of a screw in pin when the problem showed up.

got the thing up in the air yesterday, and it sure is tight in there to do anything ! i'm off to the trans shop tomorrow to rummage around in the junk pile. this will show me a couple of things. one, what one of these things look like when you can actually see something without stuff being in the way. and two, how big is the lube supply hole between the diff and the trans. then i'll think about how i want to proceed. i've never had one of these completely apart. just oil/filter changes and valve body mods.

Seen quite a few of them with the diff cross pin welded in. Not saying it is the right approach, but done correctly, it is permanent.

I have one opened up on the bench right now if you want to see anything in particular . Its out of an 02 T+C

This was a common problem on ford 5-speeds found in early '90s SHOs. The problem is usually caused by a situation where one wheel is spinning and the other is still, like the typical one wheel on ice scenario. The spider gears spin very fast and gall to the cross shaft. This breaks the retaining pin, the cross shaft moves out and becomes a crude boring mill.

On the transmission I repaired, which came out of a running car, the retaining pin had already sheared and there was significant galling on the cross shaft. Fortunately the cross shaft had not made the hole in the differential case any larger. The short shafts were not affected. I was surprised at how soft the cross shaft was.

After this occurred, the transaxle cases were scrap. Your mileage may vary, and the JB Weld repair may be enough. If so, a couple of new used parts and you're good. Making sure the cross shafts won't come out again is just common sense. Welding or staking plus using the roll pin would be a good idea, IMHO.

In the case of the ford transaxle, all the gears were in a common case, there was no oil supply hole for the differential.

R.

went to the trans shop this morning and he had a gutted case in the junk pile. he showed me the area that was of concern. it is a clearance "divot" behind the ring gear that may, or may not be able to see with the carrier still in the case. if chunks got rattling around behind the ring gear, the case can crack or break in this divot, caising a leak that acts like a front seal leak. i think i can get the carrier out if i get a little "creative" with the tin work in the immediate area. are there any shims that will fall out if i remove the axle retaining tubes ? should the end play be checked before i do this, and will it change after it is put back together ? what would be the best way to check the end play ? i've never been in one of these things this deep. any help or advice is greatly appreciated ! on the pic offer. can you get one of this area from the diff opening ? thanks for the offer !

Bearing preload shims are under the carrier bearing cups in the extension housings.....,,no they will not fall out . No is it required to replace them unless your changing the carrier.

The 02 Caravan has a rather large aluminum support/crossmember right behind the trans thats holds the rack and pinion assy and the lower control arms attach to .

I have serious doubts you will be able to get the carrier out of the trans case with this crossmember / support in place,,
I always just drop the trans.
Odds are you have a busted case anyway . I can have them out in under an hour

the more i look at this, you are probably right. i'll bet the case is toast behind the ring gear. so, next question is, what are the differences between 95 & 2000 transaxles, other than the electrics ? is it possible to use a different year and swap in my electrical parts ?

Getting fuzzy with the my menory,,,, But I think the connector for the valve body is different between the 2

Probably more but thats the 1st thing off the top of my head .

Also,, as a general rule the final drive gear ratio is usually lower on a 3.8 trans versus 3.3 engines trans

would that be god or bad on a 3.3 shorty ?

bumping this, as hopefully today, i'll get a bunch of things out of the way and with fabbed "feeler" wires and mirrors, i may be able to see if there are any cracks or holes into the converter area. also, i'll take down the filter pan to see how many chunks made it into that section. in any case, i'll be that much closer to removal if it comes to that. i still need to find out the electrical differences between a 95 [which i have] and the 99, which is the subject of this discussion. many pics have been taken already, with more to follow, but i haven't dumped them from my camera yet. they will be at the appropriate time and posted then. as this is a learning experience for me, i hope it can be a teaching one for others. to be continued.......

worst case was confirmed yesterday. after getting a couple of braces and the converter inspection plate out of the way [plus mashing my thumb - which ,luckily, i can't feel anything, but had to stop & find bandaids], giant holes magically appeared allowing me to see what i believe is the edge of the front pump. also, you can shine a light through the flex plate holes and see it in the diff section. so, it gotta come out. today, i need to fab an engine support bridge and unhook every thing. hopefully, getting it on the ground. rats. well, it was a game plan while it lasted. will be able to get some really good pics then to post. if i could just get some definitive facts on the differences between the 95 transaxle and the 99 one. one thing is readily apparent tho..... the under side of this thing is amazing in that everything is RUST FREE ! a very rare thing in western pa. unless you spend time going west or south to import something. i am very happy about this ! so the learning continues.....

UPDATE. transaxle is junk. got an '02 junk bus with a good drivetrain. just some very slight changes in the hookup, but the transmission will work. the "misshap" even got the converter ! oh well. i'm learning things, and the '02 buss has good tires and lots of good parts plus the engine is in perfect running condition. all for $150. the transmission is getting a seal job plus a shift kit before being installed. if it works out, this bus will last me till i'm done for good.