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I had to unseize the brake shoe lever on the left side. As a loosely mounted component in the backplate it presented a challenge. After thinking for a bit I used a pair of vice grips to clamp the thinner end of the shoe side lever to the cast bridge between the shoes. Then I drenched the joint in PlusGas and went to work with a hammer and flat punch on the lever poking out the back of the backplate. A few taps from the left then a few from the right and the lever hinge started moving. Eventually it moved freely by hand and I lubricated both levers with green brake grease hopefully to stop them rusting up again. I did the handbrake shoes today without removing the hubs. I made a special tool from an old 8" long posidriv screwdriver to fit the springs. I cut the pointed tip off the screwdriver and then made a wide saw cut through the recesses in the end to create a four small prongs that are used to push the spring hooks into position. I also used an adjustable pipe grip wrench as a spreader to enable me to fit the adjuster. It was a bit fiddly for the first side developing a technique but the second went back together in a couple of minutes. The new disks are on now. Tomorrow I will make a start on unseizing the right hand brake caliper. I should have used the brake system to pop the pistons before I removed the calipers. Now I will have to reconnect the hoses and hope that I can force the stuck piston out without bleeding the system if I can get away with it. I am going to change the brake fluid anyway so I've got enough new fluid if I have to bleed it. I also have new pistons and seals for both calipers. Hopefully the Voyager will be useable again by the weekend.

Solved with perseverance. It needed lots more blind poking with the screwdriver on the adjuster. I tried ten squeaky clicks at a time followed by outward pulling on the top of the disc while gently hammering the side of the hat near a stud and rotating and repeating on the next stud. Then repeating with more adjuster twiddling. I have removed the disc rotors from both sides ready for shoe removal tomorrow.

I am trying to remove the rear discs on my 2001 Grand Voyager. Another driver in our household kept forgetting that the Voyager doesn't have an electric parking brake and it has been driven with the brakes on frequently and now needs new brake shoes. I have got all new parts to go back on, discs, pads, shoes, springs, slides, adjusters, pistons, seals... I have removed both calipers for rebuilding but I can't get the discs off the hubs. The clips on the studs must have been discarded when a previous owner had the brakes done. The discs rotate freely by hand. They probably have very little lining left on the shoes inside and I have pushed the cable levers rearward to create some more slack for which there is quite a bit of travel on the levers. I have tried to wind in the adjusters but I can't see them or tell if they are actually rotating when pushed upwards with a screwdriver. The disks are stuck solid. I have tried penetrating oil, hammering and heat from a blow torch which is something that I don't like doing near bearings but I'm getting desperate now. I am going to hire a three leg puller with an eleven inch span tomorrow but other than trying that I don't know what else to try that is non-destructive. I have thought about cutting five radial slots, one from each of one side of a stud deep into the hat but not through it but all the way through the disc surface. With five segments clearly cut, driving a cold chisel wedge between them may fracture the disc enough to get a chisel between the hub face and the rotor hat to separate them.

My Goodyear NCT tyres would last 15,000 miles and often sufferred punctures. They were particularly useless at getting the car moving when one wheel was on mud. That is something that often happens around here in winter as we don't have kerbs at the sides of our narrow roads. I switched to General Grabber AT 215/65R16 tyres 22,000 miles ago and they still have at least 7mm of tread left. They wear evenly across the tyre at 36psi and no noticeable change better or worse in fuel economy or noise. They perform absolutely brilliantly on wet roads and I will never fit anything else on my Voyager.

I have just seen an example of a current VIN Build Sheet posted on a US forum and it appears that only code numbers for options, assemblies and subassemblies are published in the VIN sheet which isn't much use as a franchised dealer still has to decode to part number. I have had enough of this type of thing, so I have written to my MEP to get it changed (see quote below). If you feel the same way, write your own letter to your MEP and lets see if we can fix this.

Noises are hard to diagnose in text form on a forum. If the noise only happens when you are turning in one direction then it could be something related to a clearance gap or wear limit when the steering is in that position. Check that the wheel arch liner is securely fixed and not rubbing the tyre. Check the driveshaft CV joints and rubbers for wear and damage. When turning right, this is more likely to be the left (or nearside) driveshaft but could be either. Check the front wheel bearings if the brake disc is moving axially into the caliper pads during cornering. Easy to feel for by rocking and push/pulling the tyres with the front wheels jacked up. If you find free play, check ball joints as well to avoid a misdiagnosis. If the noise is at low speed and on full lock it could be a power steering noise. My guess, without hearing the noise, is that the outer CV joint on your left driveshaft is starting to wear out. If the noise turns to clicking then it's about to break.

At the turn of the century (1999) I used to be able to get a 'VIN Build Sheet' from my Chrysler dealer detailing the part numbers of all the components and subassemblies that went into an individual Jeep or Chrysler vehicle. The dealer would call head office for me and some time either later that day or the following day I would get a call informing me that my FAX had arrived. That nice friendly dealer closed a long time ago. The last time I asked a Chrysler dealer for a build sheet they would only get one if I was bringing the vehicle in for them to do the work. How do I get a VIN Build Sheet from Chrysler now without bringing a vehicle in for work? I need to find the part number for my TCM. The one on the car is 14 years old and the paint has fallen off the TCM and so has the sticker attached to it. I have located a number of used TCMs from breakers but I need the part number to choose the right one. My dealer wont tell me part numbers prior to paying for an order and I don't want to buy a brand new one.

I had a P1784 on our Grand Voyager earlier in the year and I installed a new Mopar solenoid pack, input and output speed sensors, filter and ATF+4 and all seemed OK... for a while at least. After about 500 miles the code was back again but intermittent. After 1000 miles I noticed that fluid was weeping from the bottom of the transfer gear cover. The car hasn't been used for a while and I finally had time to have another go at it this week. I removed the gear cover cover and let it drain off overnight. I cleaned and degreased the gasket faces properly but noticed that the corroded outer face of the cover seemed to stay oily. Reassembled using Permatex Auto Trans RTV hand tight for an hour, then torqued to 20Nm and left for 24 hrs before refilling ATF+4. All going well so far. Refilled the transmission checking the level when idling in park and getting filling it to cold level high mark. Pulled away and it seemed great up the hill from home but P1784 back again. So now today I have gone through the wiring checks in the FSM and this is what I have for the test results. Test 6: Remove Transmission Control relay, Fit jumper wire to connect socket for relay pin 30 and 87. With a 12v test lamp connected to -ve terminal on battery, connected lamp to Pin 4 in Solenoid harness. Result=Lamp glows very brightly, proceed to Test 7. Test 7: Jumper wire removed, relay reinstalled. Ignition off. Measure resistance between Pin 50 in TCM harness and Pin 2 in Solenoid harness. Result=Nothing! Appears to be open circuit. Repeated using another digital multimeter, same result. Value displayed is technically less than 5.0 Ohms. Proceed to Test 8? Test 8: Measure resistance between ground and Pin 2 in Solenoid harness. Result=Nothing! Appears to be open circuit. Repeated using another digital multimeter, same result. Value displayed is technically less than 5.0 Ohms. Do I treat this as a short to ground? Test 9: Remove Transmission Control relay, Fit jumper wire to connect socket for relay pin 30 and 87. Ignition on, engine not running. Measure voltage between Pin 50 in TCM harness and ground. Result=0.02v Value displayed is less than 0.5v, Proceed to Test 10. Test 10: Replace TCM - Not done this yet. So I need a second opinion. Do I have a short to ground or is my TCM bad? Oh, nearly forgot, I think the transfer gear cover has a pin hole in it. A small amount of weeping visible from the cover surface after fully degreasing the outer face.

If you have an ODBII scanner and a monitoring application you could monitor the coolant temperature from start up to normal operating temperature. I reckon you should be able to spot the thermostat operating (or not) from the graph.

I eventually found the answer to my own question. I need 3.5L to 4L of ATF+4 to drop the pan and do a filter change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fFsLtHV4os or... I need 9L of ATF+4 to do the job properly and flush the old fluid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4Q348-0rs I guess I will buying another 5L pack of fluid today.

I couldn't find info on the transmission pan bolt torque in the FSM that I have so I'm posting it here in case someone else is looking for it. According to the instructions that came with my new Wix filter:- Initial tightening to 80 inch pounds force (9 Nm) Final tightening to 120 inch pounds force (13.6 Nm)

Thanks. I bought a 5L pack of Millermatic ATF+4 for £25.69. My speed sensors and filter kit turned up today. Just waiting for the new solenoid pack to arrive now.

If the blower is on full it usually means that the blower motor resistor pack has failed. I found a guy in the UK that does economical repairs to some types of blower motor resistor packs but unfortunately not the Valeo model fitted to my Voyager. I had to buy a new one. http://www.blower-motor-resistor.co.uk/

I just bought a 5L pack of Millermatic ATF+4 from OpieOils via eBay for £25.69 including free delivery.

The blue smoke is from burning engine oil. Could be worn Turbo spindle bearing and seals causing oil to be pumped into the exhaust. Worn piston rings general engine wear. Worst case is dieseling on your lubricating oil when the turbo spindle is worn and lubricating oil is being pumped into the compressed air scroll and into the combustion chamber. Eventually all of the lubricating oil is consumed as fuel and the engine siezes. White smoke could be unburnt diesel or coolant. Could be a damaged fuel injector, fault with injector timing or DPF (if you have one). Knowing how most people don't know how to look after a VM diesel engine, I reckon it is probably a coolant problem, cracked head or failed head gasket. A VM turbo diesel needs at least 30 seconds of idling after starting to ensure good oil pressure is on the turbo spindle bearings before driving. It also needs at least a minute of idling before switching off to allow the turbo to slow down and cool down with oil pressure on the spindle bearing. If the car has just done a high speed journey or been driven hard to get high exhaust gas temperatures (EGT) it will need longer idling to cool down, 3 minutes or more. Today you won't find any manufacturer say this is necessary, but if you do this from new with any turbo diesel engine you are likely to have fewer problems with cracked heads, failed gaskets, failed turbos or dieseling on your lubricating oil.