Living on borrowed tranny time?

[Deezul_AwT]

A little back story. I bought my GP off eBay a little over three years ago. Didn't do any kind of inspection on it, so it that sense I got what I paid for. It was a pretty good deal I thought, until I got it home and took it to a shop. Among other things that were just wear from an 8 year old vehicle, I found out it had a junk yard tranny. The shop saw the yellow marker. Transmission did OK for two years. Last year it finally threw a code and I had the PCS replaced. I had about 130K on the car. I thought the PCS would have bought me another 50-60K.

Anyway, within the past 3-4 weeks, I've had some pecular problems come up that are like transmission related. The first is obvious. When it's been under 30 degrees in the morning, I've got to drive a few miles to warm the car up before it will finally shift into overdrive. Not a big deal, but it didn't happen last winter, and it was colder last year. The big problem I'm having is right before it shifts into overdrive, the car really starts to vibrate. It will still shift into OD, and it's not a hard shift, just really unnerving.

The car has 148,000 miles on it, so if the fix is "replace the transmission" that's not likely. I put new brakes, rotors, and tires on it last year, in addition to the PCS. So that's why I was hoping to making it to 200k. Then I'd just drive with the title in the car and sign it over when it gave up the ghost. What are the chances I'll get another 10 or 20K out of it? I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, and I have my Impala to fall back on. But the GP has server me well as a commuter car the past two years, and I'm not yet ready to "promote" my Impala to my daily driver.

Just thoughts or opinions. If you think I'm living in a dream world, say it. I won't be offended.

[JoRoW99]

doesnt sound too bad, everything is still functional. my car doesnt like to shift into OD either unless its warmed up.

and if its your 4th gear going out, your car is still driveable i think.

[FordMan77]

It sounds like TC shudder. And as far as I know until the trans. reaches a certain temp it will not shift into OD, so that part sounds normal besides the shudder.

When was the last time the fluid and filter were changed? What kind of color does the fluid have now? Nice and red, or brown/black? Wipe it on a white towel to check, don't just look at the stick.

And yes, even if you loose OD completely due to the 4th clutch hub stripping out (which will happen eventually), you can still drive it like that. I drove my 00 GPGT like that for over a year before I replaced the trans. Only downside is more heat in the trans (due to turning more RPMs on the highway- was running at about 2K at 60mph) and less gas mileage. Once it wouldn't shift into OD at all, I just left the shifter in 3. No sense having it try shifting into OD if it can't.

That motor will make it to 200K and beyond, but these trans. are not known for their longevity, hence the current JY tranny in it now.

[Deezul_AwT]

Transmission fluid and filter were replaced last year when the PCS was replaced, so I don't think that's the issue. Just an old transmission. Guess I'll just keep driving until I loose 3rd gear. :-)

[klj5022]

I want the PLOG when she croaks

[Deezul_AwT]

Haha. I may try unloading the car on some unsuspecting person, but I doubt anyone would want a 12 year old car with 200k miles on it. I'll try to remember that if I start parting it out. Gonna keep a few parts for my Imp as well.