Questions and Answers

Air And Transmission Filter

Q. Hi Vincent, could you tell me how to open the air filter housing to replace the air filter in my 1998 Plymouth Voyager? I believe it is the black square box like thing on the right side when you open the bonnet. I do not see any screws; I guess two halves snap together from the way it looks.

Also, the manual calls for changing the transmission fluid but does not say anything about replacing the filter or gasket. Is it ok if I change the fluid only or is it implied to change the filter and gasket too. I believe the transmission pan is on the bottom right side when you go under the van (towards the driver side wheel); can you give me a general idea how to do it? Thanks for your time. I appreciate your help very much.

Have a good day,
Syed

A. I haven't done one in a while and I don't have one in the shop to look at so I was unclear how to do it. I asked my resident Chrysler expert Marty Adams and he was kind enough to give me the procedure. Here it is...

If we are talking about a 1996 or newer van you need to loosen the hose clamps to the throttle body & on the bottom of that housing they are talking about, take the two 10 millimeter bolts out of the front of it & disconnect it from the throttle body & the lower housing.

Next take one more 10 millimeter bolt out that holds the box below that to the radiator support,then tilt the top of this box to the passenger side & pull it out. There are two spring clips that hold the two halves of it together.

Now, if the van has a 2.4 liter engine you simply loosen 1 hose clamp holding the air expansion box to the throttle body, undo the spring clamps & separate the cover to the lower housing.

Reverse this to reassemble.

Changing the transmission fluid and filter is fairly easy on that van. All you need to do is remove the bolts holding the transmission pan in place. Do it slowly to let the fluid drain out without splashing too much. Remove the pan and clean the old gasket off. Then undo the filter and drop it out. Install the new filter. If you got one of those transmission filter kits in a box, you have a new gasket with about twenty folds in it and it won't sit on the pan properly. What do in this case is to take about a six inch piece of stranded wire, strip off the insulation and use one strand in each bolt hole to tie the gasket in place. You don't have to worry about removing them when you put the bolts in, but you can if you want.

Tighten every other bolt all around being very careful not to over tighten them. if you do, you'll squash the gasket right out and it will leak. An old mechanics trick is to coat each side of the gasket with wheel bearing grease as a sealer. I used to use 3M Weatherstrip cement to glue the gasket to the pan, but not to the transmission.

Now all you need to do is start it up and fill it with fresh fluid. Be careful not to over fill it. The whole job takes about an hour and you'll save yourself about $40.00 to $50.00.