Clutch Bell Housing Problems of Plymouth Grand Voyager

The pin (about 1" dia) in the transaxle broke, travelling at about 60mph, and locked up the front wheels of the vehicle. The lockup occured because the pin exited through the housing of the transaxle and lodged itself in between the bell housing and torque converter. The transaxle had three different holes smashed in its side from the failure. I have pictures of the damage which I can email. I was told by the garage that replaced the transaxle that this is a common failure on the Plymouth voyagers although normally the failure doesn't occur until the 90,000+ mark. This failure could have created a serious accident since the front wheels suddenly locked up.

See all problems of the 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager 🔎.

Transmission made a very loud bang and began leaking transmission fluid, consumer was informed that there was a quarter size hole in the transmission case which caused the leak, the transmission would need replaced, upon removal of the torque converter a hole approximately 7- 8 inches long by 6 inches wide was found in the case wall between the transfer case and the bell housing, the mechanic pointed out that a permanent retaining pin which held a larger pin in place had sheared off and sent the larger one through the case wall, this pin is not designed to be serviced and there was no way to adjust or even diagnose the problem prior to its failure, consumer states that this is a design flaw and is furious that Chrysler will not provide him any assistance.

I took the vehicle to a transmission repair shop and was told the main seal (pump seal) was defective and needed to be replaced because of leaking. I choose to pull the trans mission and found a crack on a machined surface inside the bell housing behind the tourque converter. The crack is 1/16" wide and 1" to 1 1/2" long. The machined area looks to be designed to allow clearence for the torque converter. The crack also appears to be push thru from the passengers side drive axle assembly meaning it is raised inside the bell housing. My complaint is this appears to be a flaw in the design that allows clearence for the tourque converter causing a thin wall in the bell housing. Is there any type of recall or investigation that would allow owners to have their vehicles fixed or checked for this problem?.

See all problems of the 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager 🔎.