Thread: What is replaced during a rebuild

I don't want to lose my Z-Pack Clutches and other built pieces if they are still good.

Originally Posted by SJAndrew

I think any rebuild would replace all friction materials.

good luck with that thought.

sadly, 90% of the trans shops out there will only replace whats broken, and slap it back together. and use all the old parts again, and sensors. and call it rebuilt. when its only been repaired.

so say your slipping in first gear, they take it out, and change the clutches for 1 st gear, and re use the rest. ive heard this from to many shops.

you really need to trust the shop. a full rebuild is still never a full rebuild. and for what they charge, its a shame. you would like to think they will replace every last sensor and solenoid and the rest of the moving parts, but thats not how they work.

Get yourself someone that knows the transmission and it's going to take time to rebuild.

A rebuild is rebuilding..not making a new trans. Parts and tolerances should be checked. Gears etc looked at for galling, clutches pulled out and inspected/replaced. Steels should also be replaced if they are heated/discolored. If you have special clutches and they are reusable.. talk to the person and request that.

From there.. a good trans shop doesn't stop. They apply the fixes to the valve body and channel plate. Check other "normal" 4T65 wear/issue areas. They they put the clutch packs together. A good shop clearances the packs with extra clutches or thicker steels. This gets rid of the excessive amount of clearance in the housings. GM does not give a spec for how loose or tight the packs should be.

This topic is a VERY sore spot for me, if some of you havent seen any of my posts me and my dad own a trans shop in MI. BTW Im not trying to sell anything to anyone here just giving a point of view from someone in the industry. We try to sell COMPLETE rebuilds and try to avoid doing "repair" jobs, we never put in used junk. Almost all our jobs get new soft parts (clutches/steels), shift kits, AFL valve updates, bigger boost valves, brand new pump guts, full bushing kits, upgraded wide bushings where we can, any planets/shells/shafts/gears that show any signs of wear are replaced, separator plates that are beat up get scrapped, EPC's and shift solenoids get replaced, case hot tanked etc. That is a full rebuild. We get undersold by our competition on a daily basis. They quote people a "rebuild" for less than what we have into one in parts at our cost. I can guarantee you their not giving parts away for free and their not getting parts that much cheaper than us. Used parts to replace the one piece that failed, no updates, no new bushings, no seal kit, dont wash anything just slam it back together and hope it works. Oh and spray paint it silver if its a bench job so it looks nice. General rule of thumb, the cheapest place is usually the ****tiest. Not saying the most expensive place wont rip you off too but if it sounds too good to be true IT IS.

the truth is its really hard to know who to trust anymore. ive been a victim of the repaired trans, but was sold a full rebuild. they wound up rebuilding it 3 times. this was my 97 pick up. same place left my truck in the air on the lift over the weekend, well it slowly dropped and the oil pan nailed a jack stand or some crap. dented the crap out of it, new oil pan was now part of the job for them.

Anthony,

Thank you for weighing in. That's the kind of stuff that is sometimes hard to explain to people when money is tight and the cheap place is appealing. Me peronally .. I'd rather dump a $300 junkyard unit in before sending a trans out to the lowext bidder.