Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Transmission replacement questions

Good grief - four in one post!

You really have two options I think.

-you can either go with a local rebuild of your own �.if there is a reliable re-builder somewhere not too distant.

- or, for usually a higher price, you can order a factory rebuilt (with exchange)

The latter will probably have a significantly lengthier warranty period so the extra coin isn't necessarily wasted.

If you're paying to have the transmission pulled/replaced, then the latter starts to look even better in the overall cost involved.

(FWIW, we did a NAPA acquired factory rebuild last year on our 15 year-old vehicle rather than a local simply because we were already into it for a fair chunk after towing and getting the bleeding tranny removed. No regrets.)

had good luck with these guys http://www.certifiedtransmission.com/

the shop that put ours in left the tranny coolent lines improperly connected. these guys still sent out a new trans and took care of it. I can't tell you how many times I have seen rebuilt trannies go bad AGAIN. often times when its a warranty situation they duct tape and bailing wire it just long enough to get past the warranty if you have a problem during the warranty period. I actually think an auto trans is one of the most difficult things for a repair shop to get rebuilt the right way.

I swear to you this is the best stuff ever made. I had a 1/2 ton box chevy that wouldnt move it was slipping so bad. A bottle of Lucas and it went for almost 2 more years. Every Demo derby guy i know ont go to the fair without it in the trans........... If you gotta have a new one get a Jasper and don't look back.

V6 no 4x4. Y'all can quit with the buy another vehicle stuff. I spend that on Alaska every year. Who really cares what it's worth if it's solid and drives. 6000 spent on it is cheaper than 30,000 for a new one.
I'm not vain enough to worry about what I drive.
Now if it was a lemon....

V6 no 4x4. Y'all can quit with the buy another vehicle stuff. I spend that on Alaska every year. Who really cares what it's worth if it's solid and drives. 6000 spent on it is cheaper than 30,000 for a new one.
I'm not vain enough to worry about what I drive.
Now if it was a lemon....

It's your money, but a fellow can go broke trying to save money. With that many miles and years it is only a matter of time before something else goes.



Unles someone rear ends you 2 weeks after you spend the $6K and the insurance company writes you a check for $600. It is never a good idea to put more than 50% of a vehicles value into repairs. If I could pour a bottle of something in the transmission and get a few more miles out of it fine. I'd drive it as is until it quits and then sell it to a scrap yard.

Or a guy could just take the transmission money and buy 1/2 dozen old Explorers and be set for life with parts. Have a little mini Explorer junkyard out back. Maybe use a couple for deer blinds?

It would be beyond crazy to spend all the time and money on keeping the OP's Explorer going for another 20-30 years but hey, it ain't my time or money!


We just had the transmission replaced on a 1974 IH farm truck.
Found all kinds of sources on the internet.

Transmission(used, hope it's functional...) was about $600, shipping was another $300-400.


Compare that to replacing the transmission on an '08 F350 which was around $4000.

4 good tires and a pro brake hob would cost more than that thing is worth. If you put jasper engine and transin at 6k thats 10 $600 payments. If it costs him $1200 a year in repairs thats $100 a month. If the bodys solid and everything else is good its not as dump as might seem. If you do it make sure that you use their install kit and think about anything that will cause problems that you now have access to, starter alt....

If all it needs is a transmission, then a used or rebuilt can fix it and he can continue to use it with satisfaction.

My dad had an old F-250 that he was sinking $3-600 a month into just to keep running... Not to mention the aggravation of it dying wherever it choses. I finally told him he would be better off just going in and getting a new truck. He said "I don't want the payments!".... I asked him what he thought he had now, keeping the old one running?

He went and got the new truck.

Sometimes it's a wise move to just fix what's wrong, and sometimes it isn't.

Cool thing here. U get so much more than U ask for

I got enough now. Jasper or ford.

I do all my maintenance so that's a done deal. I would not be keeping a vehicle that cost a lot to keep going. Ie lemon

I doubt I put 500 a year in it.

As to wreck costs if u think we are paying anything other than liability on an old one you are nuts. No check if it's hurt.

Junkyard of parts. Lol. I guess we just do things a bit different than most

With 300K on the motor, I'd do them both at the same time if I could afford it, if not, find a quality rebuild with a new torque converter. I replaced a front seal, pump & torque converter on a E4OD a couple years ago. It's not that difficult. I'd suggest finding an extra pair of hands to help with the actual removal and again when you stick the new one back in. When you do it, go ahead & replace the mounts. If you just do the transmission, make sure you put a support on the rear of the engine or you may screw up your engine mounts.

A quality transmission jack is worth the cost.


ETA: Put all your bolts, nuts/hardware you remove in a container so they don't get scattered around. If you also pull the engine, keep those parts separate from the tranny stuff...

Yeah, you get the opinions with no personal knowledge of the entire situation. Monday morning quarterbacking at it's finest.

If you can change it yourself I'd go with a factory rebuilt transmission (which has a better warranty than you'll find anywhere else) and a heavy duty after market torque convertor. The factory rebuilt transmission has ALL new internal parts, the case is the only thing that's not new. Also use synthetic trans fluid.

When I was much younger, I once tore a cooling line off & lost most of the fluid...had to use water to get back to civilization.

Sonny Pistole rebuilt two trannys for me and did excellent work for very reasonable cost. Unfortunately they only do standards. I'd call them and ask them who they'd recommend in the Austin area.

One of my friend's had his Silverado 1500 4x4 done by Adam's Automotive & Transmissions in Pflugerville. It was cheap($1100 total) and worked for a couple of years until he got in a wreck that totaled it.

http://www.summitracing.com/?gclid=CLfq1KTg_8ECFQaUfgod0nAAEw
best place and free shipping

I've watched a few videos on how to rebuild an auto trans ... the right way ... and it takes some very specialized (and trans specific) equipment to do it right.

In particular it involved pressure testing the valve thingamajiggies inside the possessed demon box.

When I need to replace the trans in my Chevy I'm going with a GM rebuilt. They have factory trained priests that perform an exorcism and bless the transmission before it leaves the shop.

by all means synthetic.

It sat all weekend and was cold/cool. Reverse just grinded while ago.... Drive is just fine. Just what it did a week ago when it got really cold.

Will have to get on top of this I guess.

Would do the engine right now but simply don't have the extra time, because that takes a bit longer, plus rounding up all the new extra good goodies that happen when you do a motor... Alt/ps, etc....that all need to be new and good...

Still leaning towards ford factory and in the meantime may pour some goop in...

Jeff