[Stratuscaster]

The A604/Ultradrive/4*TE transaxle has been in continuous improvement since it's debut. The fact that they still use a form of them today, and even developed a 6-speed model, tells me that issues have indeed been attended to.

You can't really put a date on "when they fixed it" because that all depends on what you consider was "broken."

As with any mechanical device, the proper care and feeding and maintenance goes a long way towards a long life.

My 98 Stratus is approaching 150K miles, my 98 Grand Caravan is approaching 120K miles, and my 95 Grand Voyager is approaching 190K. All have their original transaxles, and none has had any major transaxle repairs.

[Tom Dawson]

I use to work for a Chrysler/Jeep dealer and I can from first hand knowledge seen the dramatic drop in transmission claims on both A604/41te
and a606/42le transmissions. They went from total failures to seeing an ocasional input shaft break.
Tom

[Doug D]

If you were a registered user, you would not be seeing this!

To add to what Strat said we recently (this past March) traded in a '00 T&C Ltd AWD with nearly 162K miles on the original transmission and it had no transmission problems in that time - it shifted flawlessly. It did have a minor transmission line leak, but nothing wrong with the transmission itself. There are days I wish I had not traded it in though I do love our Journey.

In addition I have a 2006 Ram SLT Quad Cab Short Bed 5.7L Hemi® purchased new with the 545RFE transmission (62K miles) and it has had no problems whatsoever. We also have a '09 Journey SXT 3.5L that has the 62TE (based on the 4*TE design) and has performed flawlessly as well over 11K miles.

If I were in the market for a used minivan today, I would lean towards anything '02 and up. The '01's seem to have a rash of issues (not transmission though) inherent with a new generation. My 2000 was the last year of the Gen III Chrysler minivans.

[KOG]

Our experience is that the transmission problems were under control by the '94 model year. There were differential problems later (97-98?) due to a redesign which let the spider gear pin get loose and carve out the case. And the MOPAR rebuilts we've had on earlier models, all of which were dated 96 or later and supplied under warranty) have also been flawless. The kids have an 02 T&C which had the transmission computer fail at about 60K, but the transmission itself has been fine.

[ImperialCrown]

The 'Ultradrive' has been out for 20 years now and has been refined to a point that it is probably as reliable as any. It will have a lasting poor reputation from 'consumers magazines' and yes, the early ones were horrible. The differential pinion shaft has been a 'floating' design for 10 years now and I haven't seen a broken case for awhile.