I changed my oil today and checked the trans fluid, pulled the trans dipstick out and half of the metal tube came out with it. It broke at the mounting bracket halfway down the tube.

Has anyone else experienced this? What kind $$ can I expect to pay to get this fixed?

_________________
2006 CRD Sport

Dude that sux...Did you yank on it ,or pull it to the side?
The problem with my tranny-stick is keep'in the darn thing in.Using a ty-rap to hold it down.

Good luck bro.

_________________
Bub
06 Inop Edition CRD Silver
06 Inop Edition CRD Green

No yanking on the tube, I think it may have someyhing to do with the fact that the tranny has been out 3 times so far, 2 rear mains and F37

_________________
2006 CRD Sport

I took my CRD to the oil change place (yeah yeah..) and the kid tried to pull the transmission dipstick out but instead he got the dipstick and half of the metal tube it sits in. Sounds like I have just experienced the same thing the original poster did. Artickid: did you get yours fixed? How much was the damage if you don't mind me asking. Anybody else suffer this problem? If so- how did you resolve it?

Thanks,
nix

_________________
'05 Liberty CRD
'05 Jaguar S-Type R

Braze it back together

_________________
2005 sport crd-SOLD No regrets

Sorry for the strange question, but, what is "Brazing"? And is it something that I can do in an area with limited room? It's very tight back behind the motor/firewall.

-Nix

_________________
'05 Liberty CRD
'05 Jaguar S-Type R

Yes,I have changed two of them ,one on each of my own 05 crd's.They have not been yanked or pulled sideways on by me.The tube cracks at the spot weld at the upper bracket that fastens on the bell housing.BTW that bolt is a bi---It appears that they could have been bent around during the torque convertor replacement at the stealership,but I couldn't prove it.I bought a new tube thru Mopar ,about $14 and it takes a lot of patience and 2.5 hours to replace one. It requires dropping the rear of the engine/transmission WAY down to create enough room to squirm the old one out and the new one in.
If you have the dealer replace it it will be about the same amount of time @ $100.00/hour to put in a $14 part.Do the math.Of coarse if you ask them if there has been a problem with these tubes they will say " we haven't heard of any problems".
Good luck .

Brazing is a high temp soldering process - i.e. you're melting a silver or brass to join two pieces - but you're melting the filler - not the pieces you're joining.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazing

I would not try it in limited room or tight locations - it would be more of a pull it out - braze - put it back - and if you're doing the labor I'd put in new.

_________________
2005 CRD
stuff
Skeptic quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur

Thanks for the information.. sounds like I might as well replace the tube with a new one if it's that labor intensive. Is it really a bad idea to drive around with the tube broken the way it is? I've sort-of shoved the tube back down on the other bit and put the dispstick through so it's in place.

_________________
'05 Liberty CRD
'05 Jaguar S-Type R

There could be a small amount of contaminants like dust or water that could make its way directly into the transmission over time,best to replace it.

I don't know where they break but if you could slip a tight fitting hose over where it's broken that would/could buy you some time

_________________
Atlantic Blue 06 CRD Limited (his)
Joined by a 2000 XJ Classic (hers)

Slip a piece of hose over it with two hose clamps. It might throw off your fluid reading though.

_________________
2005 sport crd-SOLD No regrets

I have a broken transmission tube. I have unbolted the trans rear mount, unbolted the exaust from the turbo and dropped the rear drive shaft. I can't get the trans low enough to get the new tube in, what was your secret?

John

sorry for the delay in reply,out of computer range for several days. When I changed the tube out I had to remove the two rear engine cradle bolts and loosen the front ones enough to allow it to drop when lowered .Be careful to mark the exact position of the crdle with a scribe on all four corners.Also Slowly and carefully lower the engine and tranfer case/transmission being careful not to bury the end of the fuel common rail into the firewall.Even with this lowered it will be a pain in the --- to squirm the tube into position from the top end.You may have to adjust your jack up and down several times to allow tweaking of the tube at different stages.It will go,it is very tediuos and time consuming if you've never done it.I did not have to remove either driveshaft or exhaust.Hope this helps.

rubicon03

I'm bumping this up, because mine just did exactly the same thing. Check engine light came on, it's done that before when the trans fluid was a millimeter low, went to check it, and the dipstick was rattling around with half the fill tube attached (I'd long ago fixed Chrysler's quality defect of the dipstick rattling up and out of the tube, by attaching it with a velco strap). Has anyone had success with attaching it with a hose? I worry the two ends might vibrate together dropping shrapnel in the tranny. I suppose this could be eliminated by leaving a small space between the tubes, and a pretty thick stiff hose?

Your check engine light should never be coming on just because of transmission fluid level. How low is your transmission level? These transmissions like to be run with an excess of fluid, certainly not with not enough.

_________________
Proud supporting vendor of LOST Jeeps
TRAVELING CRD TECH. I come to you!
Need help? Just ask! I've taken it apart more than most.
Email jeep [at] maincomputer [dot] com - BOARD MESSAGING IS BROKEN
Over 125 CRDs currently driving with my timing belt, rockers, or ARP Studs.
Bad noises = REALLY bad things.

I have no idea how low it is, with the wonderful precision of this dipstick issue. I just know when I put in a half quart, and it's around the full mark, the CEL goes off in about 20 minutes of driving, and stayed off till this thing again...so I guess a half quart low.

Thanks for the tips rubicon03! I just had to replace my broken transmission filler tube. It was not fun.

I replaced the transmission dipstick tube on my wife's CRD yesterday because it was cracked. I did not remove the bellhousing bolt that holds the dipstick bracket to the engine. Instead I cut the dipstick tube bracket bracket with a dremel tube. I made the cut on the passenger side of the hole in the bracket that is used to anchor the vent tube. I then cut the new dipstick tube right in the bend of the bracket. I drilled the existing hole in the old bracket (still attached to engine) to 17/64". I drilled the existing hole in the new bracket (still attached to the new diptube) to 17/64" When I installed the dipstick tube the bracket halves overlapped and I used a 1/4" bolt and nut through the holes to make a two-piece bracket. Works great and looks factory. In addition I removed the transfercase skid plate, the transmission cross member bolts and lowered the rear of the transmission approximately 2". I also cut 1/2" from the bottom of the dipstick tube with a tubing cutter to make it easier to slip it into the transmission case.

_________________
2006 CRD Sport
GDE FT ECO tune, GDE TCM ECO tune, ARP studs, HDS-001 203F T-Stat, 3.7L nylon fan & Hayden 2905 clutch, Carter P76148M in-tank pump, Racor 245R122 filter head & 2 micron R25S fuel filter, Provent 200, Samcos, Fumoto F-102, Litens 920834A de-coupler, PML rear diff cover, OEM trans pan with welded in bung, JBA UCAs, full skids.