Vigo wrote: They will live forever if you pre-emptively take the engine halfway apart every 80k miles. I would say they are as long-lived as the dodge 3.3/3.8 except the 3.3/3.8 you dont ever have to take halfway apart, ever.
Seeing as most of what I'm looking at is well beyond that mark, I think I'm going to avoid them, since I have no idea about the maintenence history of random vehicles on craigslist 
Finally heard back, and the Ranger my friend has is a stick, so it would be out. If you see anything interesting on Craigslist down my way and either need me to go check it out or want to come down to look them over, just let me know. 
Will do. Since what I'm looking for is so pedestrian, its going to take the potential for a massively good deal to make me travel too far from the 275 loop, though, even if I'm likely to get something with less rust in Lexington. Planning on calling/emailing a few people later today. Need to talk to the wife about budget limits (trying to convince her that the entire cost shouldn't come out of my "toy money" account), and see if I can get a somewhat better vehicle than scraping the almsot bottom of the barrel.
Found a 2001 Chrysler T&C for under 2K with 180K miles on it, with heated leather seats. Hoping it'll still be around when I get a chance to look at it.
Picked up a 96 Grand Caravan today for $1600. May have overpaid, but I consider it the convenience fee for not having to go shopping anymore for a non-enthusiast vehicle.
Its got the 3.3, and has a smidge under 115K miles. Its got some minor issues, and the trans fluid is not perfect, but doesn't seem burnt up. Tires have enough tread to last a while, and the AC supposedly works. I didn't test that last one, as its in the 20's here right now. After doing a few calculations, as long as it doesn't have any expensive problems between now and October, I'll break even compared to renting (and fueling) a cargo van for long distance scooter racing trips. And, I'll be able to use it for shorter ones, too, so I'll have the piece of mind of not having to tow a scoot on a trailer behind my somewhat unreliable rallycross car.
In the grand tradition of crappy craigslist pictures, here's the picture I took of it once I got it home. Its jammed in a driveway with 3 other vehicles, so not much room to compose a great shot:
Vigo, since the trans fluid is not totally burned up, is it safe to assume I should be okay to drain and refill with fresh ATF+4, and that shouldn't cause any new problems?
Usually a fluid change will not cause any problems. It's flush machines i have heard horror stories about.
If it doesnt have a trans cooler i would put one on it. If you feel like just a little extra insurance, I have used these in the past and think they are good: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/261137452988?lpid=82. They've addressed recurring stuck governor issues for me in the past. The trans in your van doesnt have a governor but any crap you can keep from circulating is a plus. The pump inlet filter on trannies is not that great of a filter and will let a lot of stuff get pumped around.
Also, i dont know how long you plan to keep this thing, but mopar sells a nice reusable pan gasket. If you put one of those and a drain plug in the pan during your fluid change, any future fluid changes will become much easier.
If you dont plan on spending $40 on a reusable gasket you may never need to reuse anyway, my personal preference is to RTV those trans pans. Thats how they came from the factory, and the cork and solid rubber gaskets you get in a filter kit will ALWAYS leak some, at some point. The only trick to RTVing those pans is that if you dont let the trans drain out for hours, like overnight, there is one spot on the rear pan rail that always gets fluid dripping down it. So make sure to wipe that spot immediately before lifting your RTV'd pan into place.
You'll need to log in to post.
