Need help! rebuild myself or pay the man!

[jmoracco]

Ok, Im mechanic, but I work on mack and volve trucks. I do have the capacity to probably rebuild my 5r55e, but i have never opened an automatic trans up. can anyone give me some advice please, and if you have or know where to find detailed knowledge of the rebuild steps and processes i would appreciate any help or advice; Just to let ya know my situation: I have a 98 with 187,000mi on trans and ever since i got it it showed a code for the converter not locking up correctly, it overheated a while back when i towed my boat. shifted good just real smooth, maybe too smooth? lately i hear a rattle in trans when in drive and is topped when its cold it shutters on take off. then when warm shutter and rattling goes away.. trans fluid got real dark and odd colored real fast recently.
ANY SUGGESTIONS OR ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED, THANKS GUYS!

 

[drdoom]

I have a similar problem. 176,000 miles, transmission is shot. People in better financial shape than myself, and a very honest transmission mechanic, say "scrap metal". Trust me, if I had the cheese, I would replace the vehicle. I need this truck for my work, which after some slow times, I now have a few prospects. So I am going to rebuild this transmission myself. I could buy an Ebay transmission, but with the shipping hassles & core returns, I have decided to just order parts instead, and do a shade tree rebuild.

 

[Facimeor]

I stongly suggest anyone with reasonable mechanical skills and the ability to follow online instructions and electronic manuals to dive in and do it. Im in the middle of a repair on my 5R55E and to be honest its really not that difficult.

I equate a transmission rebuild to a caburator rebuild. Its really just a matter of taking your time taking it apart and seeing how it all fit together, replacing the wearables, inspecting hard parts for damage and putting it back together. Take your time, mark EVERYTHING for direction it came out and go for it.


Edit: in my case I had a perfectly good functioning trans in forward with no reverse. I did finally determine I had a broken rev/low band and decided to take the plunge myself (tranny virgin) and Im glad I did. The rebuild parts will cost me less than $200 in the end and thats including fluids. A local shop quoted me $1500 just to replace the rear band even if I brought the trans to them. Of course, I havent got it back together and running right just yet, but I have no doubt it will work fine when done.

 

[Schaeff58]

I stongly suggest anyone with reasonable mechanical skills and the ability to follow online instructions and electronic manuals to dive in and do it. Im in the middle of a repair on my 5R55E and to be honest its really not that difficult.

I equate a transmission rebuild to a caburator rebuild. Its really just a matter of taking your time taking it apart and seeing how it all fit together, replacing the wearables, inspecting hard parts for damage and putting it back together. Take your time, mark EVERYTHING for direction it came out and go for it.


Edit: in my case I had a perfectly good functioning trans in forward with no reverse. I did finally determine I had a broken rev/low band and decided to take the plunge myself (tranny virgin) and Im glad I did. The rebuild parts will cost me less than $200 in the end and thats including fluids. A local shop quoted me $1500 just to replace the rear band even if I brought the trans to them. Of course, I havent got it back together and running right just yet, but I have no doubt it will work fine when done.

@Facimeor:

SO its a few years later and I was wondering if you did finish this repair, how it went and I guess I can ask how long it lasted at this point. I have the opportunity to buy a 2003 explore very cheaply with about 140k and a bad trans... think its the 5R55E thats in it. I have pulled transmissions and replaced transmissions, but never rebuilt one. Ive got the time so was thinking about this vehicle.

Thanks

 

[transman304]

The transmission is going to be the 5R55W/S. Parts will cost more than the 5R55E but still a doable job for DIY. Get a workshop manual and look over it closely and get familiar with what to expect. Hardest part is identifying wear areas that will cause a failure if you don’t know where to look. Also I replace several parts during overhaul just because they have a high failure rate and don’t want a comeback.
Brad

 

[drdoom]

I did it myself, and have over 120,000 miles on my overhaul. Rock solid.

 

[Schaeff58]

The transmission is going to be the 5R55W/S. Parts will cost more than the 5R55E but still a doable job for DIY. Get a workshop manual and look over it closely and get familiar with what to expect. Hardest part is identifying wear areas that will cause a failure if you don’t know where to look. Also I replace several parts during overhaul just because they have a high failure rate and don’t want a comeback.
Brad

Thanks Brad!

I have not even started to look into this but that is good advice thx. I will confirm what exactly the vehicle is and the trans as well. So I do remember reading that the servos need to be updated? Is that something that comes with a rebuild kit? Would any rebuild kit have updated parts? Is there a specific brand of parts that you would suggest?
Lots of questions, sorry....

I did it myself, and have over 120,000 miles on my overhaul. Rock solid.

Dr, thanks for the comment! Good for you! I have watched some videos and some of it looks not to bad, but other parts look like I could screw it up pretty quickly! I am still thinking about this repair. Im sure I can get the vehicle pretty cheap, but.... to quote another member I too am a "transmission virgin" but I think I can do it.

 

[Schaeff58]

Well looks like this is not gonna happen..... vehicle was traded in.... so that's that. He did tell me that could happen, so Im ok with that...
Thanks to all for the input.

This is a great place, good folks, and great help!