Thread: Think it's time for a new tranny, would appreciate advice

Hi all,

Unfortunately, it's that time of year. My symptoms appear rather like this thread's:
http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...on-PLEASE-HELP

My experience:
Shifts had been getting rougher and a slight whining sound in first and second. Occasional stuttering in cruise.

Suddenly, I'm revving and no torque is being applied to the wheels. I coast to the shoulder and shut the car off. Wait 5 mins. Restart, shift to drive, get about 100 ft and it slips again. Shut off, wait 5 mins, restart, put in 1st, get about 150 ft and it slips again. Unless I let it cool it doesn't work. If I let it cool I can go 1st or reverse for a few dozen feet and that's it.

Bizarrely, the ATF is clean and red
But I expect to find more metal on the magnet than on the TC when I get inside. I know it's over


I've done my research on the site and have a friend with tools suitable for Bill's tranny swap guide. I just have a few questions, please:

1. Where would you all recommend I get a replacement 4T65E-HD? Used or rebuilt? I've considered:
-moradpartscompany.com
-car-part.com
-tripleedgeperformance.com

I should clarify that I'm basically producing stock power (see sig) and don't intend to mod further, or at least I know that I could blow the tranny if I do. I do like to floor it though. I'd like something that will work well at stock power, including occasional hard driving, but I don't need a super heavy duty custom rebuild with a huge price tag either.

2. To deal with the metal that's surely all over the cooling system, should I flush the trans cooler lines, replace the whole radiator, or install a separate trans cooler?

3. Any other tips for me?

4. Just out of curiosity, what do you all think specifically failed in the old tranny? Why?

Thank you all. School's about to start back up, too. Great. We'll get her running again though.

-Komrad36

You should start by checking the fluid level to verify it is at the proper level as extremely low fluid levels can cause this. Engine must be running and shifter in park range. It is also preferred that the transmission is warmed up but given the scenario this isn't going to happen so you just check to see that it is in the cross hatch area.

If that looks good then check out this info on our website in the Tech section- http://tripleedgeperformance.com/Loss_Of_Movement.html

The cooling system is dependent on how the pan/debris conditions looks. Any vehicle like this that comes in our shop and has a pan full of metal either gets a new radiator or bypass the old one and install an adequately sized external cooler. It is not worth the risk to try flushing the existing radiator cooler if you find a lot of metal debris in the trans.

Thank you FordMan77, Trannyman95.

Thanks to this forum I'm aware of the danger associated with burnouts and thus have always avoided them. The previous owner may not have, nor did they ever flush the tranny or even do the 'safe' fluid/filter change. I imagine this has a lot to do with the failure.

The ATF level is normal.

I plan to keep the car around a while so I think I'll look into the Basix-HP rebuild with TEP shortly. I think I will install an external cooler to prevent the chance of damage and also to keep temps lower than stock.

I'm looking at two models at the moment: the Hayden Rapid-cool 677 and Hayden Ultra-cool 404. The Rapid-cool is more expensive but appears higher quality. Can anyone recommend one of these or another external cooler that works well? Will I need additional hose or other equipment in addition to what comes in the kit?

Thanks!

-Komrad36

I used to use a lot of the Hayden 1405 coolers as they are large enough to work plenty well as a stand-alone cooler and are inexpensive. Several years ago we started using TruCool stacked plate style coolers which are more efficient and mounting is much easier as these coolers have mounting tabs and a nice hardware/install kit. The TruCool 4490 is the universal style cooler we use at the shop as a reasonably priced high quality bypass of the radiator.

C'mon Dave...4590 or bust, right? LOL.

Okay thank you! I'll be in touch regarding a rebuilt unit once I can afford it. I appreciate the help.

-Komrad36

Sorry to resurrect; I just wanted to provide an update to close out the thread. I successfully replaced my transmission with a Basix-HP rebuild from TEP this past weekend! Thank you Dave (Trannyman95) from TEP for the rebuild and all the help!!!

As I'm a complete beginner, I had a lot of trouble and it took me several days. I created a thread with additional info for other beginners looking to do this, based on my experiences. It expands on BillBoost's writeup and is here:
http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...ing-a-4T65E-HD

Any suggestions on improving or correcting it are welcome.

Thank you again for all the help everyone!

-Komrad36

Now that I do not know. I'm not an expert on these transmissions by any means. Sorry. I defer to Trannyman95 and others who know more. I don't think so, but see what others say.