Advice on tranny work?

[rangerNY]

Hi all,

Just picked up a 96 Limited. 4.0 with 138K on it. The thing runs great and was very well maintained - should be a great local driver/toy. It does need tranny work. Reverse is more like neutral, and the shift from 2nd to 3rd doesn't happen so I'm not sure its just the common reverse band issues. Any ideas?

If it needs a total rebuild, I don't mind spending a few extra bucks to make some performance enhancements while I'm at it. Any suggestions?

 

[wood1]

Greetings...

I'd pull the valve body. These transmissions often have blown VB gaskets. Either way, read up on the VB rebuild thread in the transmisson forum. You may end up deciding to install a rebuilt VB with all the upgrades, or rebuild your own. It's not too hard.
Happy exploring...

 

[rangerNY]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm taking it to a couple of local tranny shops in the next few days to get some opinions on what needs to be done and the cost. I'm nowhere close to the level of doing my own rebuild. Maybe someday when I really have lots of extra time on my hands ...

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I'm sure that you could handle a valve body rebuild after you read some threads on this forum. The thread you need is called the 5R55E valve body rebuild diary by Glacier991. You could send your valve body to Central Valve bodies if you don't feel comfortable rebuilding it on your own. They offer a discount for members of this forum.

 

[rangerNY]

I was reading that particular thread. If I had a better place to work than my driveway on a 30 degree incline, I might go for it. I can't imagine dropping the tranny in that environment, especially since I've never done anything like that before.

 

[BrooklynBay]

You don't have to drop the entire transmission to remove the valve body. Drop the pan, and filter, then drop the valve body.

 

[rangerNY]

You don't have to drop the entire transmission to remove the valve body. Drop the pan, and filter, then drop the valve body.

LOL. What does that tell you about my level of experience with transmission work? I might crawl under there and take a look this weekend.