Technical CV joint that blew out transmission

[kelsey]

Hi everyone,
I am reaching out from seattle washington about our 2015 Dodge ram promaster diesel.
We had known about needing to replace CV joint for a while and when we heard the clicking/thumping at low speed we took it to a local mechanic to ask if they would repair. Luckily the local shop was going to fix it for approx $1,400 USD. Normally, we have been having trouble with finding any mechanic outside of the dealership to work on it so we were very happy.
In short the local mechanic said it wasnt too bad looking and to bring it back on monday afternoon and that it was Ok to drive the 5miles to work.
Unfortunately, the CV joint couldnt handle that and the front axel broke and when the car was coasting back to the local shop (becuase the axel broke 100ft from their front door) the transmission went out.
Now, the car had to be towed and is at the dealership. The estimated repairs include - front axel, tranmisssion unit with mount, hydraulic control unit, flywheel, pressure plate, and they will repair the front brake pads and rotors. The total for repairs is coming it at $17,500 USD.

The trouble is we bought the van as a shell and converted it to a camper so its probably worth approx $35-40,000 USD. And if we dont repair it we will lose nearly all the money put into the conversion and additionally still have to pay the remainder of the loan ($12,000).

Has anyone here ever heard of the transmission going out after the CV joint breaks? Any additional advice about the incident discribed above?

Also I know this is more of a european forum, but does anyone know of a diesel mechanic who lives near Seattle, WA that would work on the van. We have been having an extremely hard time getting help outside of the dealership which is very costly and hard to work with.

Let me know if you have any questions and I appreciate the help!
Kelsey

 

[Jake Royd]

It sounds like your vehicle is an automatic, judging from the fact that the list of replacement parts includes a hydraulic control unit. Probably a 'comfortmatic' which is an automated manual gearbox.
Such a gearbox uses hydraulic actuators to control the clutch (a conventional diaphragm clutch) and to shift the gears.
As you describe it looks like the CV joint failed very close to the workshop.
You describe coasting the last 100ft.

The joint failing would mean you would have then been in a position where you would have no drive. Your vehicle has a conventional differential which when one side is disconnected is unable to drive the vehicle further.

This is where things get less certain.
in my opinion what would happen then is you would roll to a stop and you would not suffer any gearbox or clutch failures , even given the box is an automated manual.

Therefore some other failure mechanism must have occurred.
If the splined shaft on the gearbox end of the CV remained in the gearbox you should not have had a problem.

It's possible:-
The inner CV joint 'be;;'came out of the gearbox and you lost oil and seized the box.
This seems unlikely in 100ft. Did any oil escape?
Perhaps the sudden shock loads applied by the failing shaft broke a diff gear etc.

Where you able to cost the last 100ft with the vehicle 'in gear' ? If so it's unlikely debris jammed the gearbox up.

That's about as far as I can get with the info supplied.
However, I would question the need to for the dealer to replace the flywheel and the pressure plate, these should not have taken any damage.
Also they quote for a 'front axle'. There is no axle as such on a front wheel drive vehicle , you have two hubs and two shafts connecting these to the gearbox. I can't see why these need replacing.

I would have though replace the gearbox and the drive shaft, maybe the actuator.

From their list of bits it would be concluded the whole thing went with a massive bang?
Did it?

If the vehicle is in the shop ask to see the broken bits or have they given you a quote without stripping the units out?

Hope this helps, let us know how you get on.

 

[camionpilot]

As its a Mexican built vehicle it has a version of Chyslers T62TE transmission which is world away from the Euro version of Sevals auto .

 

[varesecrazy]

Chrysler commercial vehicle expertise shouldnt be so hard to find kelsey

 

[Jake Royd]

Camionpilot, yes you are correct. The rest of my post is still useful.