Where to go for Transmission Problems - Opinions Needed

[KarmicFlea]

Hi again everyone.

I'm trying to make a decision so this may be more of a rambling instead of anything productive, and I think I already have my answer, but if I could get some opinions it may help me.

I need to get some tranny work done on my 93 Explorer XLT and I'm having trouble deciding where to bring it. I feel like I've been getting screwed lately no matter where I bring it and have lost all trust in private mechanics and shops alike.

I've more or less settled on bringing the truck to my local Aamco transmission shop, however I went to talk to them today and asked what I thought was a pretty simple question. "How much in a worst case scenario is this going to cost me out the door?" To which the guy behind the desk (who is the owner) could not tell me. I even told him that I may need to borrow the money to get the work done and that I need to have a final figure so I know how much I should borrow. All he could tell me was that "on average a rebuild would average between $1900 and $2100." This is the first time I can remember that a shop hasn't been able to give me a total estimate. Is this normal at a transmission shop?

So after this encounter i have been reconsidering where to take the truck. I like the idea of bringing it to a place that can give me a nationwide warranty, and extend that warranty to 3 years / 36,000 miles, but after going there today my feelings on this place is shaken.

My other alternatives are to bring it to a trusted local shop that I know will do the job right the first time, and charge me fairly but will give me only a local warranty and I move around a lot so the 1 year warranty they give won't help me.

Then there is the option of bringing it to the Ford dealer, which is probably going to cost me a small fortune compared to a private shop and still offer me what I think would be a 1 year / 12,000 mile warranty, but I think it would be nationwide. I will call them in the morning to find out the details.

So there are some options and I'm having problems deciding, so maybe some of you can describe your experiences to help me.

Thanks in Advance!

 

[jd4242]

i would get the one with the best warranty,or buy a build one that you know will hold up or switch it to a 700r4 and have someone do the work.a4lds are crap and will break again sometime, it just all depends on what you use it for and how long you plan on keeping it.he is a place that sells good built one that will last or the adapters needed to swap to a 700r4
http://www.transmissioncenter.org/a4ld.htm

 

[boggs1227]

the only advise i can give you is from my experiance at aamco.... i let them do the rebuild for me cost 1500.00 but at first when i went in the shop door i could tell that it was a newlly started shop and that they did not have all of their machines installed . i asked right off like you did ..."how much is going to cost " and was given a apx% 1300.00 price range ( so i said ok and go ahead and start work on it ) .

now i know that when tearing into a engine or transmission you don't know whats wrong and really what parts are needed till it's dis-assembled . the truck had a bad delayed reverse ( which does not surprise me after i got it ...it had been in the woods dead for 3 years ) but yet it drove fine in drive .

anyways .... 3 days go by and it's the day that they said it would be done and it was not ..2 more days go by and then finally got it back .i tried looking for my reciept but could not find it ( out of warranty anyways 12/12,000 ) but they replace a good amount of hard parts ...the sun gear for one and then they replaced the servos , gov , modulator ,converter and every thing else like bands and a updated shift kit .

got ready to test drive it and it shifted WAY to soft ( you could hardlly tell you had shifted into the next gear type of soft ) so i told them about it and they did some adjusting to it to make it shift a little firmer .got it back again and droive like dream so here i am at the counter and got the bill ....

$ 1800 and the guy is telling me that it's really more like 2000.00 job ! i told him that i only got 1500.00 ...so we looked at each other for a moment then he goes into the office and talks to his buddy and said that would be fine so i guess i either lucked out or that them keeping it for more than a week and they had to re-adjust it that 1500 was fair .but a week later after driveing it i looked under the truck and noticed that 4 pan bolts were gone !!! so i had to go back to them and have them replace the missing bolts .


so 1500 is what i got away with on a supposed 2000 rebuild but yet aamco like to give you that crappy 12/12 warranty and they had a better warranty for another $ 500 .....( i chuckled at that in the back of my mind ) .

as you know the al4d is nota very good unit and these shops know that and charge you accordlly for that reason ...if i had to do it over again with aamco i would have to say yeah just because they area nation wide shop but to go back to that one ...mmmm' don't know i want to say no just becasue the crap i had to go through but that fact could had been from many things like a new shop ...under staffed ...etc ... .



have you heard of "everdrive " they sell used quality parts like engines and transmissions and at the time i priced one out and it was $800 but they come witha 3 year unlimited mileage warranty ( not bad for used ) all you have to do is buy new front and rear seals and take a pic of them and the receipt and e-mail that back to ever drive to start your warranty .really thought hard about this but since i don't have a transmission lift jack and also another set of hands to help me work on the truck haveing aamco was a better deal for me at the time.

 

[Currency]

All he could tell me was that "on average a rebuild would average between $1900 and $2100." This is the first time I can remember that a shop hasn't been able to give me a total estimate. Is this normal at a transmission shop?

A local transmission shop here told me $1,350 for a complete rebuild with a new transmission cooler. That's with me pulling it, Dropping it off and picking it up and reinstalling it. Not to big of a chore because I plan to have my engine rebuilt about the same time.

A friend recently purchased an A4LD for his 1989 ranger, With shipping from Canada to Mitchell Indiana it cost him $1,000 total for a used not rebuilt tranny. I think my option is a better one

Hope this helps.

 

[KarmicFlea]

Responses

Thanks Scott for detailing your experiences. I just had this tranny rebuilt 2 years ago at a small shop in Central Florida (technically its still under warranty for several more days, but that is local only and now I live in CT.) After installing a new PCU I have run into a problem in which the truck won't shift into 3rd or OD. I am hoping that the problem is something external to the transmission (governer, torque converter, or some sensor somewhere), but I am preparing myself for the worst. (For anyone who had the thought that the PCU is responsible, I've already checked that. I've also had the valve body replaced to rule it out.)

JD, thanks for the info on the 700r4 unit. I wasn't even aware that that could be done. I've always heard that GM transmissions were (for the most part) stronger than Motorcraft trannys. Should the tranny need to be replaced do you think a shop like Aamco would replace the A4LD with a 700r4? Or would that be something that a shop would do but say, not provide a warranty on the job? The whole idea is intriguing. This will be the 3rd time work has been done on my tranny and frankly I'm getting sick of paying for the A4LD PoS.

At this point I think I'm bringing it to Aamco in the afternoon, but if anyone has any other thoughts I'd still like to hear them.

Thanks again!

 

[doonze]

Well, I don't know about a GM being better then a Ford AT in general, but I will have to admit I'm had problems with the AT on every Ford I've owned, the TH300 in my Trans Am however I've ran out of fluid 2x, netural dropped it, drag raced it, and generally done everything I could to destroy it and it's still going....stong.

700R4 are prone to issues as well, but most of those will be with 400+ HP setups, I'm wishing I had done a 700r4 instead of the TH300 in my TA, that OD would be nice.

Maniak has done this swap, you can ask him how he likes it. But I think I heard him say in a thread that he's thinking of doing it different, but I don't remember why....

 

[jd4242]

yea its the built ones that you want to run.everone ive talked to love them,the only problem ive heard is that 1st gear is lower and in 4lo it will pull through the brakes.i plan on doing this swap in winter but plan on doing it in 2steps.fist im going to do just the trans with no 4x4,so i can still drive then when i can afford the 4x4 brackets ill get them.just one way at looking at it since the first step will cost you the same as a pos a4ld rebuild and outlast your truck!
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[boggs1227]

no problem ..... i should had mentioned the 700r4 swap to you . i think it was maniak or someone else was talking at the time that the rebuild was i think more than the al4d but of course they last much longer so i guess the increased cost makes up for dependability.

 

[KarmicFlea]

Thanks to everyone who answered this post. It's been a while since I accessed the site and I thought it would be good to let you all know what I did. The idea of swapping over from an A4LD to a 700R4 was intriguing, but after talking it over with a guy at a shop seemed very expensive. I would have been over $4500.00 to do the conversion. So I took the cheaper way out and brought it to Aamco and had the A4LD rebuilt again. Total cost was $3000.00 with a 3 year / 36,000 mile warrantee. Until later!