Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives I smell a very large repair bill

We have an '04 Pontiac Montana that we bought from my mother when she quit driving. It has about 110k miles on it. Yesterday it started shifting with a clunk. The oil is gray, not red. Any guesses as to how much a fresh tranny will cost?

This is the 3d GM product I've had that's lost a tranny between 110 and 130k. It's also the reason that it's the ONLY vehicle we have with an automatic.

I'd think that would be more a reason to avoid GM products than automatic transmissions.

I've had several Honda and Toyota vehicles that have all gone over 250K miles before I got rid of them, and I've never so much as changed the fluid in their automatic transmissions. GM is your problem, not auto trannies.

Any trans will eventually give problems if you feed it that cheap gray oil and water mix.

Hmmm...I have a friend that has replaced 3 auto trannies in a Honda. Do you think Honda is his problem, or do you think a small sample size might be the problem?

I'd say your friend could probably tear up an anvil if he's screwed up 3 Honda trannies. In addition to the Honda's I've owned I've had friends with dozens of them, not one has ever had to replace a transmission.

Ya, that might be true too.

Well look on the bright side, most guys with Montana/Lumina's have done the centrehead at least once by then...unless they didn't notice & pooched the motor with antifreeze in the oil

There was a period of time when accord and oddesey's had crap for transmissions. Honda quietly extended the transmission warranty to 100K, but my dealer didn't tell us about it when we brought in an accord coup with 70K on it with a dead tranny. Found out about it on a forum, and once reminded they replaced the transmission FOC.

Try a fluid change. Much cheaper than a tranny change.

Agree, a flush and fill with a new filter might be the cure.

Change the tranny fluid, then put a diesel in it. mtmuley

For quite a few years Honda couldn't keep an automatic transmission behind one of their V6s.

I know of hondas owned by a co-worker whose transmissions gave up the ghost, one an Odyssey with 200k and a Accord with 250k . Damn piece of crap Hondas

Tranny job is worth more then the Vehicle.

1/2 it's value, maybe. Otherwise, it's a very good car.

We had an '04 Montana as well. While it started out nice, it quickly turned in to the biggest POS I have ever owned. I still have a used throttle body sitting on the shelf in my garage after the mechanic misdiagnosed one of the problems it had. If you ever need one, its yours. Cheap.

Sorry I digress.

I agree with others. Try a flush and fill and new filter and see if that helps your current problem. I hope it works.

GM trans are built to maybe see 100K. After a rebuild in my 97 Tahoe and 3 grand, its finally built right, with high quality parts and an upgraded valve body.

The key to a lasting automatic trans is heat management and fluid changes. Try a fluid change and see if that helps...it may be too late, but that will let you know for under a hundred bucks!

A fluid change won't tell us where the metal filings are coming from.

YEP...metal filings are always bad...except on a lathe!

Let me tell you about Honda's transmissions. I ran local freight for about 2 years. We had a circle around our terminal about 30 miles for territory. Every Monday we would get about 15-20 Honda factory replacement tranny's and drop them at the various dealerships around the area. I felt like a stranger in an unholy land when I had to drive the truck into their lots. That was about 2005-2007/8. I know it seemed like a bunch of them to be delivered every week.