Ok, my son has a fender bender with Mom's 2000 Chrysler van (157,700 miles on it!) in Clemson, SC. The front end is smashed in, radiator destroyed along with cooling fans, AC condenser, tranny cooler, left side running and signal lights, and bumper, hood and fender. Looks like a loss on the old girl. But, the Southern boys agree to try to fix her up so we can limp home. My idea, not theirs! We install a used cooler, radiator,and fans. We have to hard wire the fans, the original plug was crushed. I had to rewire the left running & turn signal lights. Took a day to do it all. Also, cut away some of the left fender with a saw for better tire clearance.
Got it all together and no coolant or tranny leaks! Paid the guys and hit the road. One issue I didn't foresee: the wiring and sensors that control the tyranny shifting was apparently crushed, so it never would shift out of 1st. gear.
So, not being one's to give in, we hit to road on Monday night and drove 5 hours, slept for 7, got back on the road and drove another 15 hours (including food and oil stops) to get home tonight at 9:15 PM. We covered 800 miles, averaging 45 MPH all in first gear. the old van was amazing. It never overheated and ran like it didn't even need another gear. We were really lucky to make it. Pictures tomorrow!
