Transmission Rebuild - When/Where?

[SierraHawk]

Took two more runs up the hill. The engine pitch changes (hi/low/hi/low/hi/low) occur more at 1/2 throttle. They disappear when I either shift to a lower gear or keep the throttle wide open. Actually, the engine pitch changes do occur when the trans shifts in either direction but it does it only once with each gear change. I did not know that the torque converter will "lock up" in any gear other than OD. Hope that it is the T/Conv that I am hearing. I will let you know if any problems appear. Thanks for your responses.

[lazzboy]

Just got a rebuilt done on my E350 with quigley package, had the 4r100 trans. Sound exactly like the problem I had. Come to find out I lost my 2nd gear completely. Took it to Mission Viejo Transmission. Did a great job took it out right in front of me cracked the case open and the pan to find some (alot) metal shaving and parts of my second gear in their as well. Bottom line van runs great put approx 2,600 miles on it the first week got it back no problems. They put some wizbang torq converter on it and deeper oil pan also recommended 15000 miles on trans oil changes. in cost me 3,200 seems like the going rate also a warranty of unlimited miles in 2 years. Good luck oh by the way my van only had 67,000 miles thanks Ford great engineering.

[SierraHawk]

Thanks lazzboy, The symptoms I posted above don't seem to getting any worse. I definitely have all three gears and OD is working. It is just the odd change in the engine noise that I hear just after the trans shifts up into a higher gear while under load. Fluid was changed 30K mi. ago (around 90K mi). The old fluid was relatively clean and there were no metallic debris seen in the filter or the pan. I will go with the theory that it is the T/converter locking up until the trans fails altogether.

I thought I would get more comments. Given the limited postings it may be safe to assume that most of the transmissions are holding up. It's nice to know that the cost for a rebuild is less than the $5K I have been quoted. A friend of mine has a trans shop in SD. He said that the transmission flush shoves all of the dirt and debris back into the parts where they can jam up actuators and such. He says that it is the trans flush that keeps him in business.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by SierraHawk

A friend of mine has a trans shop in SD. He said that the transmission flush shoves all of the dirt and debris back into the parts where they can jam up actuators and such. He says that it is the trans flush that keeps him in business.

That's an interesting tip. Does your buddy feel that it is the person doing the flush that causes the problem by maybe applying too much pressure or possibly the transmission needs more flushing than what’s normally done? I can see how over pressure can damage seals and what not. I never really thought about excess debris not being pushed out during the flush but I can see it happening. Gonna have to re-think that one...thanks.

[carringb]

I've also been told never to use a flushing machine, for the same reason.

Easiest way to change fluid on the vans is to pull the transmission cooler line, start the van, and let a couple gallons go into a bucket (it goes fast). Top off and repeat if desired, reconnect lines, fill, and verify level.

The in-pan filter only needs changing every 150,000 miles. I installed an in-lines filter which can be easily replaced. The only reason to drop the pan more often is to inspect for debris.

[SierraHawk]

lazzboy - It is the process of flushing in general-all of the debris from even normal use is jammed into areas where tolerances are very small. Some methods may be better than others but he says that garages that flush transmissions have created enough business to allow him to go from one shop to four in the past 8 years.

[panion]

I had my 4R100 transmission torn apart with only 40,000 miles on it when I converted to 4x4. Needed to replace the long output shaft with the shorter one for mating to the transfer case. Transmission guy found signs of excessive wear that he showed me. He talked about these transmissions being known to be weak and have issues. He did beef up the torque converter, and added other heavy duty parts that I can't recall. He also removed an oil line from the outside that was originally designed to bypass the oil to warm up the transmission faster. Said it was a major culprit for these failing. Total cost $1700. But that was with the transmission dropped off and picked up.

tom.

[robtbritn]

195,000 miles on my transmission and no problems yet!

When I was up at Salem Kroger in Red Bluff they told me of a local shop they use for transmission rebuilds. They can rebuild to stock specs or heavy duty/stout…just depends on how much you want to spend. They will make recommendations for you as to what they feel is the best rebuild for your particular application and how it is used.

http://www.salemkroger.com/

Rob
2000 7.3