This morning I noticed my auto transmission started slipping – right around 45mph, without fail, the engine would rev up as if I’d suddenly shifted into neutral. The fluid level checked out normal, but I did notice smoke coming from the tranny area (N.A.G.S.) so I took it by the local mechanic for a check-see.
After a ten-minute road test, he tells me I need a whole new transmission, at the tune of $1200-1500! :eek: :eek:
Umm, okay, I have no reason to doubt this guy’s credibility but…is this kosher? It just seems odd that someone could diagnose such a serious problem in that short a time…any of the gearheads here wanna tell me if this is possible?
BTW it’s an '88 Ford T-Bird (V8, auto), 125K miles, can’t remember when the tranny was last serviced (it’s been a few years.)
Get a second opinion. It may just need an adjustment. I don’t know about your area, but I can think of a couple of competant local independent transmission shops that’ll rebuild most automatic transmissions for $700-900. I doubt you need a whole new transmission, at the worst, you need a rebuild.
While your local mechanic may be able to rebuild a transmssion, it’s a complicated process and every type of transmission is different. That’s why there are transmission specialists. I wouldn’t let a general mechanic do more than a fluid and screen change on my transmission.
Gary T is more of a transmission expert than I am, but I would say that quite likely yes, based on what you have described that it is new tranny time.
For a transmission to suddenly start slipping at about 45 indicates either severe issues with the valve body (may not require replacement of the trans), but that coupled with smoke (indicates slippage of a brake, clutch or sprag inside the trans) indicates that if the trans is not dead, it has one foot in the grave, and the other on a banna peel. (BTW what is N.A.G.S.? North American Green Smoke?)
Doing a $250 valve body repair, and having the the rest of the trans take a giant dump two weeks later would be a bad thing. Then you get to spend the $1200-1500 PLUS the $250 for the valve body repair.
One other misconception. The replacement transmisison you get will almost for sure be a rebuilt, not a brand new never used unit. Some parts will be reused, like the case, shafts and other non-wearing parts. The trans may be rebuilt by the mechanic, or by a trans speciality shop, or by a professional rebuilder who sells it to your local shop for installation.
Depending on the type of trans, and it’s complexity, $1200-1500 is not an overly high price. Again Gary T can give you a better idea. Off the top of my head $700-900 seems a little low for this trans, but again I am not the expert on domestic auto transmissions. You can call around to a couple of transmission shops and ask what a rebuilt trans for your cars costs installed for a price comparsion.
I had a problem with the car I provide for my youngest son a year ago, it started slipping about 25 mph, and he was kind of afraid to tell me about it, so it went of for a week (by his account). What ever it was it got major in a big hurry, and it ended up getting a rebuilt tranmission for about 1200 clams. I did manage to negotiate the offered 90 day warrenty up to 180 days. It was a 91 Buick Century, good shape but two teenage boys learned to drive on it, so I know milage aside it took a beating in that time. Second opinion is nice, but im my case only resulted in it dropping dead on the way to the second place and added a towing charge to the total bill.
N.A.G.S. = Not A Good Sign. Yes, I made that up on the spot.
So, it’s normal for a seemingly healthy transmission to suddenly go south? (Or rather, a dying tranny to show NO symptoms at all until the last minute?) And the mechanic did say “rebuilt”, not “new” – specifically, the clutch has to be replaced, but it’s not that simple, they have to tear down the whole thing & tighten gears & possibly replace other bad parts, yada yada you know the drill…plus, he doesn’t do the work himself, it will be “farmed out” to a specialty shop.
Often times they just all of a sudden die. Other times it is a gradual thing. Somtimes it is so gradual that the owner of the car isn’t aware of the problem, but when I get in the car I have a :eek: moment.
I once had a trans with an internal problem drive in for a smog test, and the trans failed during the test. We had to push it out.
So in your case it could be the trans was giving signs for a while that you have not picked up on. Or it could be that it just died.
Welcome to the world of the auto tranny … every automaatic I have ever bought developed very expensive tranny issues.
in Casa Aru we drive only manual tranny cars. In general they can be ‘shade tree’ mechaniced into working with relatively little cost for most problems - gear replacement is about the only thing that needs a mechanic for [mainly because all of the shimming and such.]
As for transmission shops, I’d try to find an independent shop vs. a franchise associated with a national chain, and who will rebuild YOUR transmission, rather than swap in a rebuild from a mass-re-builder three states away. At least then you have one guy who’s reputation is on the line, and may have more of a stake in getting it right, and the bulk of the transmission only has the abuse YOU subjected it to.
More than likely, an '88 T-Bird V8 car has a Ford AOD (Automatic Overdrive) tranny in it. Forty-five mph is about where the overdrive gear kicks in, so I would guess the band for the overdrive gear has broken or burned up. This is the weakest part of the transmission and is lighter duty than the rest of the parts. That is why the owners manual suggests you use the transmission in “overdrive locked-out position” when driving at non-highway speeds so the trans doesn’t constantly shift in and out of overdrive (4th gear) and cause undo wear on the band.
If you put the indicator into the position that “locks out” the overdrive gear, does the trans work normally?
I haven’t checked around, but I have known several people who have had this transmission overhauled or rebuilt and it was in the $1200-$1400 range.
My previous Ford van was an '85 with the 4 speed AOD. First rebuild was at 175K-soft parts only. Cost~$800. Second rebuild at 300K involved hard parts and was~$1300.
I likely got high mileage out of it by performing fluid and screen changes every 2 years.
