Trans issue

[mrasmussen]

I have a 2003 5.4L with 125k miles. I've had it for 25k of those miles and I have taken great care of her. Actually, I just had the trans fluid changed a month ago. I also put about 4k of additional work into it to get it to be a daily driver.

Today, I think the trans just went. I backed out of my driveway, put it in drive and it took 10 seconds to kick in, and actually move the truck. From there drive just got worse and worse until now I am not sure if drive can even move the truck. The truck is parked in my driveway. I called a trans shop and they said that trans which is also in the f 150's is known to have some ribbon or solenoid go. They can replace the ribbons for $1200 or just rebuilt it for $2000 and then it has a year warranty.

So, my choices are

1. spend 2k on a refurbished/rebuilt trans from a local trans shop
2. spend around 25k on a new expedition that is more reliable and forget models that are 14 years old. That would mean selling this vehicle for what, 3-4k with a blown trans?

Any opinions? It is really nice not having a car payment, if I go newer I will have a payment for 4-5 years.

I love the truck, not sure if I put in 2k now, and then what next the engine blows?

BTW, the engine seems to be in awesome shape, hums along, but who knows.

 

[stamp11127]

Check this out:
http://www.monstertransmission.com/Mild-Rebuilt-4R70W-Transmission_c_4020.html

Down here with a bad trans expect no more than a grand for it.

Me, I would swap in a rebuilt trans and a new radiator. Had a radiator take out a rebuilt trans years back. Now they are part of the repair.

No problems on the new car? BS. Keep reading on here

 

[mrasmussen]

Check this out:
http://www.monstertransmission.com/Mild-Rebuilt-4R70W-Transmission_c_4020.html

Down here with a bad trans expect no more than a grand for it.

Me, I would swap in a rebuilt trans and a new radiator. Had a radiator take out a rebuilt trans years back. Now they are part of the repair.

No problems on the new car? BS. Keep reading on here

I'm keeping her, just hope the things that break stop lol.

So this one is 1300 plus shipping, tax, whatever. Any ideas what a typical shop gets to install this? I would say a typical shop is $100 per hour?

http://www.monstertransmission.com/...ce-Transmission-4x4_p_11942.html#.WTIDY2jyvic

 

[stamp11127]

There would be additional costs - torque converter, flush, fluid etc. It would bring you in the neighborhood of the quote but have some minor upgrades as compared to a stock trans.
Labor rates vary by area. I've seen $90—$150 hr here.

 

[Big Brian]

If you brought a trans to me (I owned a repair shop for several years) I would not install it.

I told my customers that wanted this, what if it doesn't work? You will have to pay me to r&r it again. If it fails down the road, again you have to pay me.

Sometimes they did not like this answer so my favorite reply to that was

do you take your bacon and eggs into a restaurant and have them cook it?

Some places would do it, but I would not install customer supplied parts except in rare cases

if you have a shop that you trust that can do it for 2 grand thats the route I would go. Its a reasonable price

 

[mrasmussen]

After thinking about it last night I was going to go the $2k route and just let the shop repair the truck. The shop said they would put in beefier ribbons? (an f-150 part) that the guy said would toughen it up a bit and cost no extra because he is already in there.

I have never used this shop before but they have been around since 1975

 

[stamp11127]

Check their BBB rating.

 

[03 exp]

Well first this is first ! Check trans fluid level running make sure is not just low!

 

[cekkk]

I have a 2003 5.4L with 125k miles. I've had it for 25k of those miles and I have taken great care of her. Actually, I just had the trans fluid changed a month ago. I also put about 4k of additional work into it to get it to be a daily driver.

Today, I think the trans just went. I backed out of my driveway, put it in drive and it took 10 seconds to kick in, and actually move the truck. From there drive just got worse and worse until now I am not sure if drive can even move the truck. The truck is parked in my driveway. I called a trans shop and they said that trans which is also in the f 150's is known to have some ribbon or solenoid go. They can replace the ribbons for $1200 or just rebuilt it for $2000 and then it has a year warranty.

So, my choices are

1. spend 2k on a refurbished/rebuilt trans from a local trans shop
2. spend around 25k on a new expedition that is more reliable and forget models that are 14 years old. That would mean selling this vehicle for what, 3-4k with a blown trans?

Any opinions? It is really nice not having a car payment, if I go newer I will have a payment for 4-5 years.

I love the truck, not sure if I put in 2k now, and then what next the engine blows?

BTW, the engine seems to be in awesome shape, hums along, but who knows.

I'd replace the tranny if I trusted the shop. I just sold my 2004 with 155,000 on it to a friend who knows it well. I bought it with 25k on it in '06 and took great care of it. Wife's car for the most part. Might add, we lived in the mountains 25 miles from a small town, so all highway miles. But it was the third of four Expeditions we've owned, all trouble free but for a transmission in a 2000 XLT replaced under warranty.

 

[AftonJay]

And make sure shop that did the original fluid change used the right fluid and not some "universal" type of fluid. If I am not mistaken it requires the use of the Mercon V not a generic Dexron/Mercon . The truck I assume was running and operating fine, you have a tranny fluid change done and now the transmission is toast? I would be asking some questions of the place that did the fluid change.

 

[songshan311]

My 05 navigator had a trans issue right after trans fluid change as well. It did not shift from the first gear to the second unless restart the vehicle. I only need to restart the vehicle once a day. Everyday, I had to start the vehicle, turn it off, and restart it again to make the gears changeable. However, even after restarting, the shift from the first gear to the second is really rough, like an old man coughing. I drove to four different shops, got the same answer:the trans was gone. Was it really gone? Fluid level was good, fluid model was correct, the shift from the second to the third gear was better, only a little rough, the shift after the third was perfect. No issue to shift from backup to forward. 2WD.

 

[theoldwizard1]

If you are thinking of keeping the car for 3-5 years, check out a Ford rebuilt transmission. Not one rebuilt by your dealer, but one rebuilt by a Ford authorized rebuilder. The reason is suggested this is that it comes with a 3 year, 36,000 mile warranty, GOOD AT ANY FORD DEALER !

 

[William A]

I was faced with the same dilemma two years ago with my daughter's 00 Taurus. The trans went on New Year's day while driving to my sister's for dinner.

The engine only had 86k miles on it and I bought the car 3yrs' prior for $3k. Do I sink another $2k into a rebuilt trans or do I try to sell the car?
After doing some research, I found many of these cars for sale with over 200k miles on them. This gave me peace of mind that the engine should (hopefully) last for quite a while. That really swayed my decision to have a rebuilt trans installed.

I had a locale Aamco shop do the work. I did a search for reviews and found this one particular Aamco shop (not all Aamco shops rated the same) with very good ratings . After speaking with the owner, I found out why. This guy was genuinely honest and helpful. He explained what happened to the trans and that it is common in the Taurus model. It came with a 1 yr. warranty, but I could have extended that to 3 yrs. for an extra charge. The job even ended up costing less then the original quote and he included a coupon for my use.

The Ford trans in the aforementioned post sounds like a good idea to me too. Also, I've heard of Jasper engines and transmissions which also come with a 3yr. warranty which are suppose to be good.

Aamco is nation wide as is Ford, not sure about the Jasper co. If you are a AAA member, you could contact them to see who they would recommend.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[mrasmussen]

Looked up the trans shop on BBB, A+, 42 years in business.

https://www.bbb.org/upstate-new-yor...e/monroe-transmissions-in-rochester-ny-31615/

I'm going to go back to the shop this week and tell them my experience and see what happens.

I should have videoed the original tow trip.

If this thing goes, I'm done with old

I decided I will lease an f-150 if this truck doesn't last me 2 years. I'm trying to go without a car payment for a good period of time.

 

[and0r]

If you brought a trans to me (I owned a repair shop for several years) I would not install it.

I told my customers that wanted this, what if it doesn't work? You will have to pay me to r&r it again. If it fails down the road, again you have to pay me.

Sometimes they did not like this answer so my favorite reply to that was

do you take your bacon and eggs into a restaurant and have them cook it?

Some places would do it, but I would not install customer supplied parts except in rare cases

if you have a shop that you trust that can do it for 2 grand thats the route I would go. Its a reasonable price

plenty of remanufactured trans offer full warranties which cover any labor.
you definitely want to go with a remanufactured trans and not a rebuilt one.
remans typically have upgraded components and go beyond a simple rebuild. a remanufactured trans is better than a new one in many cases.

not sure if this is against board rules, but "powersourcre" is known as the best place to purchase remanufactured engines and transmissions

 

[Big Brian]

yes I know they come with labor warranties. I would not deal with them. They can easily blame the installer for a problem. Then it becomes a he said she said situation.

I just steered clear of them when I had my repair facility.

 

[mrasmussen]

So day what, three? Felt great today, even snappier shifts. Maybe it was just goofy during the learning phase?

 

[drewactual]

they're always learning...

the better wager is sluff/clutch material clearing out of solenoids and valve bodies- finding the nooks and crannies where they can do no harm other than take up space..