New member in Brevard County

[98SF19]

Hi all. Owner of a 98 Silver Frost here, welded by Carlos Leon of Palm Bay several years ago. Bought her in 2000 from Jarrett Bodiford Ford in Plant City. Nothing major done on the car other than welds. K&N w/o mousetrap (Porterized), Aluminum SFB's, wired open secondaries, all 8 coils replaced (complete set of generics off Ebay), (tried to repair IMRC but that DAMN CHEAP PLASTIC could not be remedied). CD player's been dead for at least a year now (don't know of any easy aftermarket replacements), side view power mirror issues, wavering ABS light, A/C is 50/50 - charged twice this summer, clearcoat bubbling/oxidizing at bottom of trunk door, etc. All known and common issues, especially for most old cars.

I was sticking to v8sho.com for so long, I didn't think there were any FL clubs around. The reunions were always up north or out west, and nary a mention of anybody from FL on there, hardly. I'd known about SHOforum but just hadn't delved in enough I guess.

Currently, my car sits in a mechanic's lot with a near-dead transmission (this is what led me to join this site). Over the course of about two weeks, the car began making what I thought was the infamous cam-slip clicking sound, even though I'm already welded. When tranny began to act weird from reverse to drive or from a stop, I knew the tranny was the culprit, and also since my coils were recently replaced. The mechanic, who's been working on trannies for 40 years, owner of his current shop for 35, gave me a quote for a REBUILD of $2870 after tax. -yeah- This includes a 2 year, 24k mile warranty though. Called Mr. Lewis at FPS in Atlanta --> $3600 installed in his shop. I know he's good, but I just can't afford that. Can anyone offer any tips?

Also, any info on the TC upgrades from SHOsource would be nice. Anybody using one now? Site says they're applicable to 1996-1999 SHO AXAN trannies. I hope they meant AX4N!

Thanks!

 

[K-Dawg]

I'd try to dig up a new, used or rebuilt transaxle and have someone you know or someone from this site install it for you.

 

[SHOtime2511]

Welcome!
im in Merritt Island and there are a couple others down in Palm Bay,the rest of us are scattered farther south.where abouts do you live?

 

[98SF19]

I'd thought of calling around to junkyards for Gen 3 SHO's but that would be an extremely daunting and time-consuming effort, and even if I did find one or more, of what value would they be considering that they'd probably have lotsa miles on the tranny anyway, in which case, a rebuild would be needed to make the whole effort worth while. Dealers/Ford charges an arm and a leg for rebuilt units, MORE than what I was quoted by the mechanic who has it now. A coworker of mine who works on cars, trucks, tractors, etc. himself said that this old guy is the best around when it comes to transmissions. He only works on automatic domestics.

My intent is to get the tranny up and running, get the CD player back working, throw on some minor graphics, maybe some fog lights and other cosmetics, and dump it for whatever I can get. It'll be difficult to part with, especially when she's looking hot, but my family's welfare takes priority over my attachment to a car. We'll see though . . . =)

I live in Rockledge, been in Brevard county for about 30 years now (that's almost my whole life, btw). I work all over the county. What part of MI do you live in?

 

[K-Dawg]

SHO transmissions in all conditions are always for sale on the internet.

 

[SuperchargedSHOguy]

Melbourne here...save the coin and go for Dougs transmission...most just have no luck what-so-ever with a standard rebuild, especially with a shop not known for working with SHOs.

 

[98SF19]

Melbourne here...save the coin and go for Dougs transmission...most just have no luck what-so-ever with a standard rebuild, especially with a shop not known for working with SHOs.

Thanks for the response. Is that from an EEC perspective? Is the SHO AX4N hardware significantly different from other Ford automatic tranny's?

 

[SHOtime2511]

Im just north of 520 off of North Banana here in MI.
if your planning to get rid of the car id just buy a used trans from someone here on the board,get it up and running well then sell it.but if your going to keep it id save up for Doug's rebuild.

Thanks for the response. Is that from an EEC perspective? Is the SHO AX4N hardware significantly different from other Ford automatic tranny's?

its really about 50/50 between crappy factory EEC settings and weak internal parts.
doug's transmission should take care of everything.don't quote me on that,im no gen3 person.

 

[38SHO]

my dad runs a transmission shop, he won't have a 2 year warranty, but the price is probably 800-1000 bucks cheaper then the guy in Palm Bay quoted you... but don't hold me to that.....

bad thing is its in Lake Park Florida..... about 100 miles south of Palm Bay.........


never done a gen3 SHO before, done one gen2 SHO...... has done probably thousands of taurus overhauls throughout the years..... they are frequent customers........ been in business over 30-40 years......

if you tell him your gonna use your own converter and bring it to him, it might be cheaper..... but you won't have a warranty on the converter from him........ I.E. if the pump drive splines strip in it(VERY common problem) your screwed, if it devolps a leak(also kind of common) your also screwed..... both easy fixes with a new converter, but probably a good grand in labor

 

[chrism3784]

I sometimes see gen3 SHO's in the junkyard here. But sad thing is, thats probably why there in there, either transmission, or cams.

 

[98SF19]

Hey everybody - here's an update on my transmission quest. Well, after several months, the long-time tranny guy I took the car to made it clear (through his secretary wife) that he's not interested in doing the work, citing the difficulty with getting the tranny free of the engine. I even implied that I'd be willing to fork over more if he needed to build something to accomplish the job. -Didn't matter- They want the car off their lot. I was even told that they've discovered paint peeling off on their personal vehicles, supposedly from the overhead power lines (implying that I should get my car outta there to avoid the same thing happening to me - OH, the humor!!)

Right now, Doug's still an option, but I'm trying to see what Jasper can do for me, although I don't expect much - I hope I'm wrong.

Is there anybody here that has done 3rd gen transmissions that would be willing to work with me? I'm in east central Brevard County and I'd be willing to go south as far as Port St. Lucie, or even up as far as St. Augustine to have the work done.

-Ryan

 

[K-Dawg]

Give this place a call. I've never used them, but I've heard good things.

http://www.autorepairinflorida.com/Dannys-All-Star-Transmission-4364.html

 

[SHOtime2511]

back when i used to take my car to mechanics i only used Sammys here in Merritt Island.
They have been around since the 60's and have always been honest with me
and everyone I know that has used them.(321) 452-2021

 

[SuperchargedSHOguy]

If you get a remanufatured one or junkyard one, contact us and we can put it in.

 

[98SF19]

Helluva story for you guys. I apologize for not updating this thread earlier. I hope 7 months isn't too long! I wound up just breaking down and going to Aamco on north Merritt Island. They said they'd done a few Gen 3's trans. rebuilds in the past and the girl even described some other common problems with the car, so I had no reason to doubt her. Bottom line, got a rebuild with lifetime warranty - $2600 +/-. Drove off the lot with no problems. Went about 5 months, then POW!! The irony is that when it happened, I had just left the new park on Hall Rd (M.I.) and was coming south on Courtenay (right in front of the Aamco shop that did the work) when it happened - smoking out the back like General Lee running from Rosco P. Coltrain. I had my aunt and her godson and my 5 year old son in the car with me, so it was very inconvenient. Anyway, I had lost everything except reverse and was in a turn lane in the middle of Courtenay. Aunt's godson and I pushed the car into Buffkin Tile. Here, I was able to drive IN REVERSE along the edge of north bound Courtenay the quarter mile or so to the Aamco shop. After being told that it would be ready in a few days, they had it for 2 weeks before I got it back. Took it off the lot - problems. But it seemed to work itself out over the next few minutes. That was about a month and a half ago, and I'm keeping a closer eye on the fluid levels and any leaks when parked. As of today, I have issues driving to work in the morning - North Wickham Rd. is a **** of a place to have trans. problems with the morning commute.

So that's it. I expect I'll get a "shoulda gone to Doug" from somebody, but if I have to lose a week or two without the car once or twice a year for the next few years, I'll call it even with the money I saved by staying local.

 

[SHOtime2511]

That sucks,at least it has that warranty.
Post up some pics of your car I'm sure I've seen you around.

 

[98SF19]

The problems mentioned in my last post have steadily gotten worse. Fluid levels stayed in the hatching, but the banging was occurring at all different times of day - early morning drive, mid-day commute, driving home at night, didn't matter. The car is back in the shop after almost losing driveability this past Tuesday night (I think my car's a Democrat).

So Brian, if you go by there and see a 98 SF, that's her. If you don't see her, I guess that means the tranny's getting worked on or I've already taken it home. Since you live in that vicinity (kinda) you wanna meet up when I pick up the car? I just took my wife and kids to the park on Hall Road when I dropped the car off on Friday. There is plenty of room there in the parking lots from midday to about 5:30 pm weekdays. I even used the baseball/softball parking area to do some wide-open straight runs after I picked the car up last go around. The only other SHO person I've met is the one that welded my cams. He's done a good bit of work for me, but doesn't return my calls anymore. My issue at the moment (other than trans) is A/C (evaporator, per Gattos). I know it's a bear to get one of those out, or else I might just check out a junkyard or two. It's not a problem now, but in about 8 months - different story.

 

[chrism3784]

Dang, transmission problems are a *****! I just blew the second transmission on my gen1 sho. Make sure when all is done and you get the car back, to get that better transmission cooler installed. I just got rid of my gen3 sho a month ago. Needed the money. Fortunately never had a tranny problem, and carlos welded my cams to last spring. I miss that car. Theres not much a demand for gen3 down here, I barely got 2,300 for it, selling for 2 months, and there was nothing wrong with it. Looked good to.