Transmission

[roland]

I know the deal about transmission problems was posted earlier- , but my car has 95,000 miles on it, hasn't been driven exceptionally hard very often, and all the sudden my transmission just went. I was noticing that it was slipping just a little every once in awhile a month or so ago. So I take it in to get the tranny flushed and new fluid in it, and the guys says it's got some shavings but nothing bad, but it's starting to wear down a little. So last week I'm driving around, experiencing no problems at all, then suddenly a light comes on! I'm sitting at a stoplight, and my O/D light comes up on the dash. "Weird..." i thought, so I pull off the road, turn the car off, turn it back on, the light is still there.

I put it back in drive and accelerate slightly, suddnenly the transmission starts acting really screwy - it keeps flipping through the gears when i press on the gas. So I'm like "uhh wtf is going on now?" I pull back onto the road and go a little ways, and suddenly i notice their is smoke behind me. It wasn't real thick but noticeable, so I slow down and pull off to the side of the road. I see it is coming out of the engine compartment, so I pull off the road again, turn the car off, and by now smoke is pouring out of the engine compartment, I pop the hood and wait for it too clear out. then I notice that their is a stream of transmission fluid coming from behind my car. Apparently the fluid was bubbling up and coming out the top of the transmission.

Now the mechanic who cleaned the fluid says that the Converter inside it might have broken and that something might have pushed the seal out - from the inside - and the fluid is coming out that way, and I may be looking at a total rebuild that will cost anywhere from 800-1800$.
I wasn't too satisfied and neither was my dad (we don't have that much money right now and if the guy made a mistake the first time he worked on the car he probably isn't going to admit to it) - so we take the car to an actual transmission place. They are going to look at it tomorrow, but I was wondering, is this something that has happened to anyone else or is it common for transmissions to just blow like that? It was running fine, and then it just blows.

I was hoping and thinking when it first happened that maybe a hose or something just came loose. The car was running perfect the last week, and then just suddenly WHAM the tranny goes. Could this be something the mechanic did? I can't imagine that flushing the tranny out and refilling it can result in many problems (unless he did something intentionally).

 

[wuzzzer]

I think your statement of "it was slipping every once in a while ago starting a month ago" contradicts your other statement that your tranny just blew up with no apparent warning.

Definitely not the first time that a tranny went south after having a flush & fill.

You're definitely looking at a tranny rebuild, and the $800-$1800 estimate should probably be more like $1800-$2400.

 

[roland]

no but the past week their was no problems with it at all, if it was slipping I didn't notice it, and immediately before it went their was nothing that happened, I was just sitting at a stoplight and a light pops on and the transmission goes like 5 seconds later.

 

[nik97]

Did you check the fluid level after he flushed it initially?

 

[Porkchop]

The OD light is normally the torque converter. The smoke is probably due to you baking the fluid past its boiling point and it coming out of the relief valve on the top of the transmission and falling onto the exhaust.

Been there done that.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

You should have saved the money you spent on the flush to start saving for your new tranny.

Once a tranny -- any tranny -- starts slipping, changing the fluid is a waste of money since the damage is already done and new fluid can't do anything to correct the problem.

Flushing fluid is not usually something that can cause a tranny failure unless the shop is completely incompetent and doesn't resecure one of the cooler line clamps properly. Chances are the shop did nothing wrong, and the tranny just failed as it was on its way to doing before the flush. While it doesn't hurt to have someone else look at it, ultimately you're looking at a tranny rebuild and you're not likely to have any luck blaming it on anyone other than the weak trannys these cars have to begin with.

Start shopping around for prices on a tranny rebuild, and make sure it includes a reman converter as well as at least a 1 year warranty that includes labor.

Sorry for your misfortune!

 

[roland]

ouch

The two people i've talked to so far are both going to give a 1 year warranty, the one guy said he'd do it for around 800-1800$ but he isn't a transmission specialist. The tranny specialists said they'd do it for around 2000$ at most, can just about anyone do a rebuild right? If the specialists can do a much better job then I'll pay the extra 200$ and stick with them, but if any old mechanic can do just as good of a job then I might as well save the extra couple hundred bucks and start saving for a cam weld

 

[Porkchop]

first off you have to realize that the SHO tranny is SHO specific...

Take it to somewhere that specializes in transmissions and is willing to modify them (transgo). If they are giving you any less than ~1800 installed then something is awry.

There are plenty of people on here that could probably point you in the right direction. Try asking on the V8 list.. www.v8sho.com to sign up

 

[SHO#7]

I would not rebuild your transmission for 1800. I would honestly be more than 2k also. Just make sure you get someone who knows that SHO's DO have some different parts. And try to get longer than a one year warranty. That is kind of a thing of the past. We give 2 years as a minimum anymore. If it is a shop that is not experienced with the SHO. You will spend that first year taking it back to them.

The sweetness of a low price, is ofter overcome by the bitter taste of poor work.

In other words, go the cheap route this time, and this time next year when the warranty is over, you will have that cheap repair to do again. For that same cheap price.

Mike

 

[LJRuddy]

The car was running perfect the last week, and then just suddenly WHAM the tranny goes.

When i went to pick up my recent SHO, i drove my mother's caddy 4 hours on highway with not a single problem. On the way back, she just got back into town (thank god) and all of a sudden, the car was slowing down. She tried to give it more gas but nothign happened. turns out, a planetary gear let loose and hammered everything. Ended up getting a total rebuild.

Stuff like that happens so dont feel alone. Good luck with your SHO!

 

[roland]

man that bites!

Well it looks like something was wrong with a thing on the inside of the tranny, it went bad and hit something else, which blew the seal out. It was 1000$ to get it fixed, A total rebuild might have been the better way to go, but I think the tranny still has a lot of life left in it.

 

[Jonny Cash]

You should have saved the money you spent on the flush to start saving for your new tranny.

Once a tranny -- any tranny -- starts slipping, changing the fluid is a waste of money since the damage is already done and new fluid can't do anything to correct the problem.

Flushing fluid is not usually something that can cause a tranny failure unless the shop is completely incompetent and doesn't resecure one of the cooler line clamps properly. Chances are the shop did nothing wrong, and the tranny just failed as it was on its way to doing before the flush. While it doesn't hurt to have someone else look at it, ultimately you're looking at a tranny rebuild and you're not likely to have any luck blaming it on anyone other than the weak trannys these cars have to begin with.

Start shopping around for prices on a tranny rebuild, and make sure it includes a reman converter as well as at least a 1 year warranty that includes labor.

Sorry for your misfortune!

Yup. Its either perfect or its shit.. Theres no in between.