transmission being rebuilt today

fbird18

fbird18

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Location
minneapolis
01 V8 118,500 miles

Dropped it off on friday morning at a reputable transmission shop to get new fluid and filter. When they opened it up, there were metal shavings all over the bottom of the pan. It's been shifting weird lately so I knew sooner or later it would need to be repaired somehow. So I agreed to let them take it apart and replace what needed to be and make it better than new. This morning I got the call and they said it would be $3,505!

Now I know these transmissions aren't cheap to fix, and that this place isn't taking me for a ride, but does that sound like too much money? I'm getting a lot of new parts including a shift kit, and a complete no questions asked 2 year warranty.

I planned on keeping this car for as long as I could, especially now. I'm just curious if anyone has any comments or additional information for me?
 
I went to a shop once and the guy said to rebuilt it would be a potential
$1800 to $2100 with the rest you just said Depending on the parts that are
damaged...He said $2100 at most though......
 
Well, I am in the middle of rebuilding the transmission in my 2000 ls, so I can give you some good information as to the costs. First, the 5r55n transmission that is in the first generation ls' does not have a good reputation. However, there have been many improvements that you can do to greatly improve its performance.

I did the work myself, so I did not have to pay labor. Parts wise I bought a "deluxe" kit I think, with all the steels and clutches, the trans-go shift kit, 3 new bands that were not included in my kit, new torque converter, servo pistons, and an after market check valve for the pump.

You can see a pic of some of the parts here.. http://www.transmissioncenter.org/5r55s_mustang_v6.htm

The shift kit includes a better check valve than stock, but the "superior solutions" version is praised by many that work on this transmission regularly, so i bought it. This will help with the problem of the lag time of the trans shifting from park to reverse.. park to drive, etc..(the stock valve sticks)

It is also critical to replace your torque converter. And most people do any way, because if you have to pull the trans out, u may as well replace some of the critical parts. However, there are big improvements in the torque converters for this transmission. There is a piston inside the converter that sticks on the original. My brother often complained that between 40-50 mph that the transmission could not "choose what gear it was supposed to be in". From my research, this is traced to the torque converter piston sticking inside. I bought my converter here.. http://www.raceconverters.com

I bought the "stock" replacement. If you are interested in what they do to the converters they rebuild, give them a call. The problems with this converter are well known.

The only thing I chose not to replace was the solenoid pack... and after I put the trans back in the car everything was great!... until a day later i got a trouble code of P0731 "1st gear ratio error". I am hoping the solenoid pack is the culprit. I will replace that next, and see what happens.

So, depending on the mark-up in parts your shop will charge you.. you could easily have $800-1300 in parts alone. Plus the labor of removing the trans, rebuilding it, and reinstalling it... (and it can be a real bitch.. the aluminum bell housing did not want to separate from the block on mine) I would say that the price they quoted you is realistic for professional work. Most shops here are at least in the $100 hour range.

Ahh, also, on these transmissions a common problem are worn servo bores. They are similar to having a worn valve guide on a cylinder head. If these are wore, they will need to be reamed and a repair sleeve installed. Not a big deal, but a little more cost if your trans case needs it.

Hope this helps, when it is done, I think you will be amazed at the difference in performance. It is simply a different car!
 
scout233, that's a lot of good info. Thank you very much. It would be nice to do my own work on the transmission, but being able to tackle everything else on the car, I will leave an automatic transmission to the experts. I talked to the guy doing the work yesterday, and he showed me all the new parts I'm getting. I'm getting everything you mentioned there, as well as having the servo bores machined out and having brass inserts installed, also yeah the solenoid pack is being replaced. The bands had chunks worn out on all them, so those are all new too.

Yeah it might be cheaper to buy a new one, but this rebuild will make it stronger than new and it should last longer than the 118,00 miles I got out of the original. I plan to run this car into the ground, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

Any other information or advice for me is greatly appreciated.

On a side question, who has the most miles on their car and what has been done to the transmission to get it there?
 
fbird18 said:
On a side question, who has the most miles on their car and what has been done to the transmission to get it there?
Click to expand...

I have 156K miles and did the solenoid pack at about 100K. Other than that I have had the fluid flushed 4 times.
 
Here's a fun fact:

When I bought my car from the dealer, they did a car fax on it and everything looked good, except for finding out the car had been a rental car out in california for the first 40,000 miles of it's life :eek:.
Who knows what hell it went through back then, but maybe that contributed to the transmission being as beat up now as it was?
 
fbird18 said:
Here's a fun fact:

When I bought my car from the dealer, they did a car fax on it and everything looked good, except for finding out the car had been a rental car out in california for the first 40,000 miles of it's life :eek:.
Who knows what hell it went through back then, but maybe that contributed to the transmission being as beat up now as it was?
Click to expand...

people do not have any respect for rentals
 
My trans made it to 115,000 miles. I also wanted to add that when we pulled the trans, first thing we noticed was that the oil level seemed to be low (looking at how much we drained out of it). Not too long ago my brother had the transmission oil flushed at the dealer, so neither of us thought to check the oil level. Now I am convinced that part of the problem with the trans was simply a low oil level. The trans should hold approximately 12 quarts and i know we did not take 12 quarts out of it.

FYI.. to check the oil level in the 5r55n you can check out this illustration. It is not a difficult thing to do.

http://www.charlietranny.com/5R55Nfluidfill.htm

The trans uses "mercon V" atf oil. Mercon V is Ford's specification for a synthetic oil.. which is why it is expensive. I bought mine from a local dealer.

If you are interested, read this little article about atf oil.. it sums everything up pretty well..

http://www.atra.com/consumers/bulletins/cb-110.pdf
 
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