Hurray!!!!!!!!!

[97t-bird]

Yes that was a hint of sarcasm in the subject line. I had to put my car in shop (97t-bird w/40,000 miles pictured on avatar) it was having problem shifting 1-2, or 2-3, overdrive seemed fine. Sometimes it was 1,2,3 on each one shifting extrememly hard. Well I talked to my god father who is a ford master tech and we took it out the shop on saturday and put a work order in on it. I got word back on it today and the thing needs to be rebuilt should be around 1,800 with his discount. Does that seem reasonable high/low etc. It just irritates me that it has such low miles never driven really hard etc. And i work about ten hours a week. At least i have my dads ols truck to drive since he got his new 250 last thursday. Parents are going to cover the cost I just feel bad about it. Just needed to vent thanks. Greg

[showtime]

The wonders of Ford transmissions. 80/90's Ford trannys liked to eat themselves up. My brothers 94 Tbirds went at 90k, his 01 Escape went at 50k, my SHO's went at 78k, my whole family and a bunch of my friends Taurus's (4 total) all went and my Mom's is on it's way out.

That price is VERY good for a rebuild, my brothers Tbird was around $2k.

Do you have the V8 or the 3.8? You may want to save up for when (not if) your head gaskets go if you've got the 3.8.

[stealth]

Put a high performance shift kit in those Ford automatics & you'll extend their life expectancy along w/ synthetic fluid. The shift kit increases line pressure & provides a more complete apply & release of the bands/clutches while the synthetic fluid can withstand higher operating temps. Good luck & $1800 is a good price. I had one done w/a converter for a customer $2275.joe

[97t-bird]

Yea its got the 4.6 v8 I was thinking about the shift kit dont know how i could get that one over on ma dad.

[Tim Lingor]

Originally posted by showtime
The wonders of Ford transmissions. 80/90's Ford trannys liked to eat themselves up. My brothers 94 Tbirds went at 90k, his 01 Escape went at 50k, my SHO's went at 78k, my whole family and a bunch of my friends Taurus's (4 total) all went and my Mom's is on it's way out.

That price is VERY good for a rebuild, my brothers Tbird was around $2k.

Do you have the V8 or the 3.8? You may want to save up for when (not if) your head gaskets go if you've got the 3.8.

I think that is a very general statement. I could tell you of a lot of people that have Fords that have not had any issues at all with their trannies. My Mom and Dad's Tempo has over 260,000 KM and the tranny is just fine. My truck gets used hard for towing etc and that tranny is just great.

On the other hand, I have had several GM's and have had tranny troubles with each of them. A Dodge Ram I had was even worse. All of these I bought brand new, so I know how they were driven.

Tranny trouble does not seem to be any better or worse for most brands. GM's in the 80's had the 700R4 which was one of the worse trannies ever made. Ask any GM Mechanic! Yet now with the proper after-market build up, the tranny is very strong.

Dodge with their 42RE's or Ford's with their AOD etc all have their good and bad points. Moreover, every company has had good and bad trannies through the time periods you listed, For example, the heavy duty Ford F250's etc had a C6 all the way up until around 1992. The 4R100 that came out in late 1998 is bascially a C6 with an overdrive added. The internals are very heavy duty. Likewise the GM 4L80E is a very different transmission than the 4L60E.

Without knowing how a person drives their vehicle, or if they do or don't replace the tranny filter or oil when they are supposed to, it is hard to judge a good tranny from one that was driven hard. You should see how hot a tranny gets from doing one single brake-stand. It will put the tranny fluid temperature through the roof. Once the fluid is burnt, or the tranny starts slipping, any tranny will fail.

Greg,

Without knowing the full history of your vehicle, it would be hard to tell what has happened. I have taken out a tranny on a brand new Chevy truck with less than 10,000 miles. So anything can happen. But a rebuilt price of $1800 is quite cheap. My brother who worked for GM as a mechanic, said the the GM rebuilt trannies are very expensive. So for you to get it done for $1800 does not sound too bad to me. It is just too bad it happened as I hate having any form of car trouble!

Tim

[Superior Shine]

Don't buy any cars newer than 1970!!!!!!!

Even though--

My brothers 95 ranger was used to pull trailers for a landscaping business. He dogged it really bad and never had any mech problems!!!

[WaspHunter]

I'm not sure how labour costs etc translate over the pacific, but $1800US does sound pretty good for a rebuild. Having never blown a gearbox, I'll have to list those of my mates -> '94 Ford Laser (auto) was rebuilt for ~$2000US, VL(?, debadged and I'm not good with pre-'86 cars) Holden rebuild was about the same. The Holden owner bought a 180SX, manual and ripped a few of the dog teeth off with his new turbo and got the box repaired for $1200US, luckily the damage didn't spread. Against all advice, he's leaving the synchros and helical teeth in.

Subie's seem to have a good track record around here, but we probably end up paying as much in maintenance as you guys do for the replacement parts. That and the ram raider rep.

[97t-bird]

The price is only the 1800 cause my god father was the onee who put the work order in and he is a for master tech and we are using his dealership. This is the only thing major that has happened to the car we had it since brand new parents gave it to me when turned 16 with 6,800 miles on it now 42. It woud have been substantially more if it wasnt for him working their and being a master tech. Greg
(I do believe it has to be a prety much whole rebuid)