Help! 7.3L Tranny Options.

[MadScience]

I went through this a year and a half ago. It's very hard to tell how much is actually replaced (and cleaned), even with some of the more well advertised rebuilders.

The stock 4r100 will last about 150k miles, rebuilds depend a lot on how well they were done. In particular, missing anything that's worn, or any dirt is no good. The two shops that are mentioned above just keep the case, which makes missing anything really unlikely.

I ended up with a BTS, John Wood was my other (first) choice, but I couldn't get on his build schedule at a time that would work for me. Ended up paying a bunch for shipping, since I'm a long way from them, but am super happy with the results, and in particular the torque converter. Both Brian, and the Woman who runs the phone there, are super nice and really easy to work with.

John Wood will dial a build for your needs (since we're not making huge power and racing our vans, this can mean a cheaper transmission). Brian only builds one transmission, so if you ever junk the van, pull out the transmission and drop it into a race car.

[86Scotty]

I would just buy another tranny. You can find a low mileage used 4r100 pretty cheap. They are very tough, you've just had some bad luck.

[carringb]

#1 killer of rebuilds is debris from the broken one still circulating. Was a Magnefine filter installed the first time?

I installed a Magnefine preventatively around 200,000 miles. Almost 450,000 now and my 4R100 is still going strong.

[nemesisnight]

Is the flashing OD light a warning then of tranny issues (are we talking about the dash or the shift column)? Mine for the last year will randomly go back and forth from flashing to not on my shift column light. sometimes it will be flashing for weeks and then it will be off for weeks but it always seems to drive the same and I can still use the OD button. My trans has 220k and is original as far as i know so it worries me going into the deep backcountry if it were to ever fail. So far its holding up decent though, I get some hard shifts occasionally but thats about it.

[carringb]

Flashing OD light is basically a check engine light for the transmission. It has detected a fault. It could be something non-damaging like a missing signal, or could indicate something serious like high temps, or slipping (measured by delta in/out shaft speeds) that is indicating a serious problem.

[bet on black]

just picked up my rebuilt 4r100 and converter today from Circle D here in Houston. it was $3200 including some upgrades, a performance valve body, and steel planetary gears. they even put new seals in the sensor plugs for me.