Transmission on it's way out

[slbeck1]

My 1999 2wd Sport OHV V-6 has a terminal case of Transmission sickness. Slipping out of gear...transmission shop wants $1900.00 to rebuild. Does anyone have other thoughts, or options; besides the obvious one of trading it in on a new truck? Anyone in the Atlanta area that may be able to help?Thanks Sean.

 

[Chainblade]

cost me about that much to get a remanufactured transmission put in for my 94. I'd call around. Prices ranged a lot. After I got it done, I found a place that would had rebuilt it for like $1200. Then I found some mechanics on craigslist that would had done it for even cheaper. I guess it just depends on how much you like the truck and if you have the money for it or a new truck.

It was worth it to me at the time but then 6 months after that, my engine needed rebuilt top and bottom, which was going to cost a lot more. Sucked as I just put in $2k on the transmission and needed another $3k+ to rebuild the engine. I decided just to buy a "new" Explorer in my case.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Did you ever replace the fluid, and the filter? How many miles does it have?

 

[slbeck1]

125K miles. Fluid has been changed at 30, 60, 90K...Has trans cooler installed. Big issue is that I tow a boat and another car from time to time.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you ever overheat or run hot for an extended period of time? Slipping out of gear could be related to a failing EPC solenoid, blown valve body gaskets, loose valve body bolts, damaged pump gears, low fluid level, leaking O rings around the filter, clogged front cooler or in the worst case some sort of internal damage.

 

[slbeck1]

It never ran when overheated. It did make a bad grinding noise once, sounded like the rear differential was binding.

When I first started towing a 21' boat, I heard the tranny or driveshaft bang at take off from a dead stop...I changed the way I launched from a dead stop and never heard that sound again...Guess I was asking too much of this lil tranny (that was 1yr ago)...Perhaps it is one of the other things you have mentioned.

What can I do to eliminate some of the cheaper possible causes?

 

[slbeck1]

Engine coolant was bit low.Could this cause my transmission to slip permenant damage?

Engine coolant resivour was empty. Little low in radiator. Could this have caused my transmission to slip? I refilled the radiator to full.

Could this have been my issue? If so then weird, because the temperature gauge was always steady in range.

 

[BrooklynBay]

This link is # 2 in my list of useful threads: Dead Link Removed

 

[HahnsB2]

Manual tranny swap, can be done for under $500, far more reliable, better gas milage.