derogate Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I swear i'm never buying another atx vehicle in my life. i knew the pathy's had a habbit of tranny problems, but i got a pretty good deal on mine, and it had been totally looked over before i bought it. a few months back I started to notice some weird tranny behaviors (a good jolt going from first to second gear) so i added some lucas oil treatment to it, and it seemed to help a little bit. im thinking "great, now i hope i can squeeze another year or two out of this tranny if i treat it good" well, roughly around the time i added an aftermarket tranny cooler, most likley before, there is this weird surging thing on my tach when in second gear and i accelerate. its noticble without viewing the tach. it only used to do that in second, now i can notice it in first aswell, when i really give'er. Its quite an odd thing and I'm not entirely sure its the tranny.... but now this aswell. I just made a trip to kelowna from vancouver last weekend (400 km's of hills and valleys) and noticed that when i was cruising in 3'rd gear and rapidly let off the gas, the RPM would dip down to about 1500 - 2000rpm from where it was when i was giving it some gas (anywhere from 3.5 to 5.. i dont use Overdrive going up hills) ... then jump back up to 2500 or so. That seems to me, that the transmission is slipping when I let off, then catching soon after. Same goes for the pulsing thing now that i think about it... slip... catch.... slip.... catch.... etc. I dunno... anyone have any insight or similar experiences? IF i do need a tranny rebuild, thankfully i have the money, but is it still going to be reliable afterward (from your personal experiences), or should i get a used tranny from japan type of thing? need some input. thanks again guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 as always it depends who rebuilds it but it should last a looooooooooong time especially since you have that external cooly.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Change the fluid first. Use an anti-slip additive when you refill it again. They may help quite a bit, but otherwise, it sounds like your tranny is on it's way out. Sorry. When you added the tranny cooler, I hope you bypassed the stock cooler totally. It doesn't do ANY good to run two coolers when the first one has a history of clogging up and killing trannies. You have to take the stock cooler out of the loop completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibstillaweiner Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 :oops: my tranny crapped too, when i was in ny the tranny would not shift in 3rd or overdrive after a particular run,,, on a trail, not sure why, but i descided to get it fixed, so i dropped it down, took it apart and had someone help me with the install of new parts, it broke again :oops: roughly 2000 miles down the road, :oops: now its apart again, -thnkboutit- (have pics) im going to swap that crap auto for a manual 5 sp, theres the best advise for you, and when im done with the auto rebuild, (ill do it myself this time) i might keep or sell or donate to a younger enthusiest.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 im going to swap that crap auto for a manual 5 sp, make sure to add an extra quart of GL into it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 make sure to add an extra quart of GL into it... 5.1 quarts of GL-4 (NOT GL-5) to be.... specific. Personally, I don't care for auto trannys (unless it is a stop and go commuter, which I avoid like the plague) and the only one I had was my first car. It failed on me, but thats probably because I was a dumb punk. To each their own, but if I have a choice, its a manual. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derogate Posted August 8, 2005 Author Share Posted August 8, 2005 yea I bypassed the stock cooler, as suggested, and swapped out the old lube with new stuff and a bottle of lucas oil treatment. I know its on its way out, but hopefully i can squeeze some more life out of it. anyhow, never really got an answer to this so here it is again. Whats better a rebuild or low km import tranny? I dont have the resources to do the drop down or assembly of the tranny, so i have to take it into a shop for that no matter what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 import used maybe cheaper but then it is used.. i'd have it rebuit especially if you have someone trusted.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Exactly what MZ says. (sorry about not answering the question the first time). If you know a good tranny place, then have them rebuild it (with some kind of warranty), if not, I'd say the gamble is about the same, buying a low mile used one as a crap job by Joe mechanic. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derogate Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 thanks guys. all the input is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj big shoe Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 It may be apples and oranges, but I bought a used manual from a Japanese import place for about $550 and had them instal it for another $400 with a clutch I provided and its been running strong for about 35K miles. It is a bit of a crap shoot buying used, but they gave me a 3 month warranty and an Aamco rebuild would've cost $2,000 with the same guarantee (They only warranty manual trannies for 90 days). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 It may be apples and oranges, but I bought a used manual from a Japanese import place for about $550 and had them instal it for another $400 with a clutch I provided and its been running strong for about 35K miles. It is a bit of a crap shoot buying used, but they gave me a 3 month warranty and an Aamco rebuild would've cost $2,000 with the same guarantee (They only warranty manual trannies for 90 days). Aamco rebuilt my 89's AT long time ago.. they did a good job and i think it was only a 90 day warranty also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I got a Jap import used manual tranny as well, and it shifts like new. Granted, mine's only been in for about 10,000Kms, but it seems better than mine ever was. It should last a long time as long as I don't make the GL-5 mistake again. :oops: Oh well, live and learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Excuse my digression, but are the import trannys like the motors, used 60K and pulled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Excuse my digression, but are the import trannys like the motors, used 60K and pulled? Yessir. Something like that. Mine (by feel only) seems to have very low miles. Very very notchy, and shifts smooth and silent. I don't think my old one was ever that good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj big shoe Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Excuse my digression, but are the import trannys like the motors, used 60K and pulled? Hey Greg,Japan's "Sha-ken" law is why they have so many low mileage engines and trannies to export. This link has some info on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 AT's have become extremely complex little buggers. I'd confidently argue that they are more complex than an engine. When all is well, they are quite convenient. But when one little thing goes wrong (and there are literally THOUSANDS of things that can go wrong), it gets ugly. It's quite challenging to rebuild one and have EVERYTHING go back together and work perfectly. So I usually recommend getting a known good lower mileage used OE transmission over getting one rebuilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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