Transmission Issue

[Gvn96]

Hey All!

I had a 97 expedition 4.6L V8 for about 6 months before the transmission went out. I had it rebuilt by a local guy that does work out of his own shop, was told that the clutches were pretty much "fused together". When it failed, wouldn't even shift into 1st, was stuck slipping...

Fast forward to a month later, I let a friend take over payments on the truck. He has since paid it up to the last payment due next month, and he is giving it back to me (woo, I keep the truck after only having paid $600 on it lol) because the transmission went dead again. said it was slipping horribly and now won't shift into gears again. I suspect the same issue as before.

The truck is completely stock, except for running 33 inch tires and having a 3 inch spindle lift and leveling kit in the rear.

There was only 10k miles on the rebuilt transmission. Not sure what's causing it to fail so rapidly.

Any thoughts? The motor is running great, even with almost 250k miles on it.
Don't want to toss out the truck unless I know the transmission is a lost cause and that I'd just be replacing the transmission in it over and over again.

 

[z168]

have you tried reaching out to the shop? there should be some mileage warranty on the rebuild

 

[Gvn96]

have you tried reaching out to the shop? there should be some mileage warranty on the rebuild

Tried that, the guy who did it runs his own shop. Where he is the sole employee. It seem he is either no longer doing work or has moved locations and is just not answering my calls. Went by his place this morning and all of his signs were gone, so he may have closed up shop all together. Who the heck knows lol...

 

[Bowesmobile]

Okay, first things first.
- check the fluid level and smell the fluid (may have a burnt smell)
- next read transmission codes
- finally report back to us

 

[Gvn96]

Okay, first things first.
- check the fluid level and smell the fluid (may have a burnt smell)
- next read transmission codes
- finally report back to us

Have it over at a shop to be looked at.
Very carefully going to monitor everything they do to it.
Asked the owner to update me with any codes they pull, any part that is going to need to be replaced, any sensor that is bad, etc and to set them aside so I can take pictures of them later (if physical damage is present). I gave him the list of parts the last guy supposedly put in and he started scratching his head the same way I did when I was told the trans was out again in such a short time frame with all the heavy duty parts that were supposed to be used on the rebuild.

SO he wants to dig into it and see if the last rebuild was fudged with stock parts and done with the least bit of work possible to get it down the road for a little while.

I'll report back here with anything and everything I find. I'm out of town for a week after tomorrow - but when I get back I'm going straight to the shop to investigate their findings ^.^

Also have to get new tires and an alignment, possibly lower ball joints. They looked pretty trashed. The camber is shot and the right half of the driver side tire is bald, while the rest of it looks brand new.

Won't trust anyone ever again lol.

 

[Bowesmobile]

Its tough knowing who you can trust before you hand them your vehicle and a wad of cash. Im sorry to hear this guy might have taken you for a ride, no pun intended. But also, seemingly good parts can fail. Im not covering for the original rebuilder and judging by the fact that hes no longer around. I can only guess your transmission woes are a result of a bad rebuild. I recently dropped off my trans at Lakeside transmission after not being able to effectively do the rebuild myself. I got to know Jacque the head rebuilder before delivering my transmission to him. He is a top notch guy, but I would have never known unless I had the time to talk with him. Not everyone has that opportunity. The best you can do is take your time and read reviews, then make the best educated decision you can.

 

[AbbadonTD]

Nothing says 'trust' like open message boards on the internet.