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Howdy!
I’ve never taken apart an automatic transmission before, and was wondering how complicated is doing a rebuild on it? I’ve messed with manual transmissions, but never an automatic. I was thinking about removing it and taking it to the mechanic’s school to be rebuilt for the cost of the parts, but was thinking, maybe it would be something I might be able to do? Anyone ever try it before? Anyone have any experience with taking stuff to be fixed to the local mechanics school?
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You’d need a couple hundred bucks of specialty tools to do the job right, and the tools needed depends on the trans you’re looking to do. What kind of trans are we looking at? I would recommend you get some important info first. Order the ATSG overhaul manual, the ATSG update manual, and a DVD of the rebuild of your trans. If by chance this happens to be a 700R4 or a 4L60E send me a PM I think I can help you out with some good info that I bought to do my Suburban trans when it blew.
Local tech school may or may not want to do this. I’ve spoken to the instructor at mine and they don’t get in depth with them really. So many shops just swing remans anyhow they just basically want the students to see what they look like inside. I hope not all the schools are like that. Also, they tend to want to have customer work come in during the unit they are working on. If you come in with an automatic trans when they’re doing driveability you’re SOL.
The big thing with automatics is you need to be very anal retentive about details when you build them. Thats the difference between a trans that runs 150k and one that doesn’t make it to your next oil change. Nick a lip seal just slightly, don’t get things spotlessly clean, miss a small thing on a partially binding shuttle valve in the valve body and you will burn it up fast. Not nearly as forgiving as a manual trans.
If you look through the manual and watch it done on a DVD you’ll have a lot better idea of what you will need to have and what is entailed to do the job. From there you can decide what you feel comfortable with instead of getting it all ripped down and possibly unable to get it back together properly but have already tied up hundreds in a rebuild kit and torque converter.
OK thanks. I was looking for a cheap fix. Not sure if the junkyard transmissions are any good and couldn’t afford a rebuilt one from Ford. It’s for a Ford Ranger 4.0. With 4 wheel drive. I don’t think I’ll be able to get it done myself. I’ll have to call the school to see what they think. maybe end up going to a junkyard and hope I get a good one.
A lot of those trucks got scrapped because the trans went out. At the least they’ll have enough miles that the trans would be mostly used up. You’re better off rebuilding it. You didn’t mention what year this is, but it might be worthwhile to at least search a few YouTube vids for what these look like coming apart. The vid Eric did was an import trans and they are put together night and day different from the domestics RWD trans.
Do some research first on that transmission. It may be as simple as a valve body kit and or solenoids. Ranger forums would be a good place to start. Some of them sites have quite extensive transmission repair categories.
As far as rebuilding, some are not easy some are so so. Have a digital camera taking pictures with each step and watching how each mated or went as you go.Helms manual on it, time, patience, a few tools, some research from both youtube vids, and as ytram stated, a good ranger specific forum, good to go.
I’m still holding out hope Eric will do a full on rebuild of his Odyssey a/t. And I don’t even have any A/T vehicles:
This is the second of a good set from this guy:
I consider this a kinda “half” rebuild, really if you’re going to go through the trouble of taking it out and apart anyhow, why wouldn’t you disassemble completely(hydraulics included) to make sure everything is going to work great down the line? Maybe I’m just weird…
A ranger automatic transmission with converter from “Pull-a-Part” in Atlanta, Ga. USA is 80 dollars with warranty. That means if you bring it back they will replace it or refund your money but you have to do the work. Might be worth the experience to visit a similar salvage yard, pick out a transmission and take it home. There you can play to your hearts content with only a small investment. If it turns out to be a good transmission, even better.
http://www.upullrparts.com is in MN. They have a yard in East Bethel and another one in Rosemount. Been there a few times, pretty reasonable operation they have there.
Automatic transmissions aren’t really for the DIY as pointed out. They are after all the most complex component on the automobile. As mentioned they also require quite a few special tools that by the time you get through buying you might as well have taken it somewhere to have it rebuilt. That said I’m in the camp of finding a replacement trans. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.
Sounds good! I’m thinking that once it’s out of the truck, I’ll probably take it to the mechanic school to see if they will rebuild it. Otherwise I’ll have to find a local junkyard near here and maybe get lucky finding a good one.
I actually found a rebuilt trans on ebay! Who knew? It has free shipping and is half the cost of a rebuilt from the dealer! The seller has good feed back and it has ebay buyer protection. Only thing is, I’m not sure which trans I have in the truck. Is there any way to tell which transmission I have? Maybe the dealer can look it up if I give him the serial number? :woohoo:
You can purchase a torque converter separate. Transmissions are identified by the pans. Take a picture of the pan and then either check with the dealer or an auto parts store to help you identify it. Also if you called the dealer with your vin they should be able to tell you the trans that was installed originally.
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