My mechanic says I need a transmission rebuild at 110K miles. I’ve always trusted him 100% cause he’s been working on my cars cheap and perfectly for years, AND he doesn’t do transmission work AND he showed me his online research that said a rebuild is the only thing that fixed these codes AND I double checked :). (Transmission error codes: 36, 53, 74… (Engine codes P0733, P0700).
All the trannie places here in central NJ cost ~$2,600. Although they all want you to bring it in to see if it’s ‘something minor’ (read … they can charge you whatever once they have your car)
My wife and I do most of our driving in our other 2 fuel efficient cars, and keep this car for weekend hauling building supplies and local trips with the kids & their friends.
Even though the rest of the car has been kept in good running shape with recently replaced brake lines, nivomat self leveling shocks, exhaust, blue tooth radio, halo projection headlights; the car has some other unresolved issues like needs a new headliner, torn leather driver seat, bearly noticeable oil seal leak, small crack in the windshield & needs a seat motor.
My wife wants to use this as an excuse to dump the car and get a newer used minivan- I don’t wanna buy somebody else’s ticking timebomb. We’ll have 2 kids in college next year so we don’t have $$$ for cars.
What should I do?
Fix the car?
Get another used car?
If I fix the car, what’s the best way to get a good/reliable deal? Would you recommend an auto trade schools that would install a rebuilt trannie?
If I buy used like 2006-2009 how can I find which minivans will carry 4x8’ plywood sheets lying flat (at least 48" wide cargo area). I’m pretty sure Nissan Quests, and Caravans/T&C’s are wide enough… others?
I would get rid of the van after driving it into ground. Then: 1) have stuff delivered, 2) buy a good roof rack for one of your other cars, and 2) stop driving other people’s kids around.
You`re spending a lot of money keeping this car around. The last time I had something delivered it cost $50. You likely are spending $3000 per year keeping the T&C on the road.
If you must have a similar vehicle, fix this one. Where else can you find a decent van for $2600? If you sell it, you will have to subract $3000 from the sales price to allow someone to fix it and for the risk that something else might be wrong. It isn’t likely worth more than $2600, so you’d have to give it away.
Before you decide, look at the cost to insure it and put tags on it. You may also have personal property taxes that you pay. Some states do that. Once you know the annual cost to park it in the driveway, decide if you really want to keep it.
The transmission fault codes that you listed (fault immediatly after shift, speed error in 3rd) are often caused by a failing input or output speed sensor.
It would need to be diagnosed/ monitored with a scan tool to be sure. Replacing the two sensors may be less expensive than diagnosing the problem, they are cheap, $15 to $30 each. Is the speedometer also failing?
Maybe the transmission shops want to test your transmission to see if an inexpensive fix like @Nevada_545 suggested will work. It can’t get worse than the $2600 rebuild. Get at least 3 estimates. Maybe @VDCdriver can suggest a good transmission shop.
Thanks for all the comments! Sorry for the slow response… I’ve tried to reply several times - but it never worked so I had to make a new account.
I’ve decided to have it fixed since I need a car - one just like this… I found a transmission place nearby that had a 10/10 google review that says they rebuild it by fri… I’ll let you know how that turns out.
@Docnick
"I would get rid of the van after driving it into ground."
Not much driving right now till I get it fixed driving rough.
“You`re spending a lot of money keeping this car around.”
Yeah hear you but 2 cars for 4 drivers doesn’t really work well in the suburbs. So we need the 3rd car… Ironically one of the teens is the ‘primary’ driver of this car - that saves us a little v. having him primary on a newer car.
@jtsanders
"If you must have a similar vehicle, fix this one. Where else can you find a decent van for $2600?"
True I think I’ll have this around for a few more years… although my wife might park it in the street and hope a huge snowplow totals it next winter…
"If you sell it, you will have to subtract $3000 from the sales price to allow someone to fix it and for the risk that something else might be wrong."
True. the cost of the fix is more than I could get from selling it.
"OK . . . what do you say? How badly is it shifting?"
Yeah it’s bad will not really go over 35 mph. Will not shift into the higher gears. It definitely needed to be dropped and rebuilt.
@jtsanders
"Maybe the transmission shops want to test your transmission to see if an inexpensive fix like @Nevada_545"
True But they know that once they got ur car up it’s escalating your commitment. It’s hard to say - nah don’t do the work now that the trannie is up. I wish we could demand that we won’t let them touch our trannies until they commit to the worst case price.
Don’t know how you do that. Around here they almost always say “we can’t tell you the true cost of fixing it until we open it up.” I did find one shop where I flat out told the owner “i’m not bringing you the car unless you tell me the worst case cost” Unfortunately, they had a really bad online review so I didn’t end up going there. I didn’t pressure the shop with the good online review so I guess I’m part of the problem.
On a side note I called a vocational school and they ‘didn’t take outside jobs’ - given the PITA
involved with dealing with ‘customers’ I could see how this would not be worth the effort for them.
@VDCdriver “While I can’t speak from personal experience, I have been told that Hillsborough Transmission” Yeah since they didn’t have any online reviews I skipped them.
I Wouldn’t Approach This From The Direction Of Asking For A Transmission Rebuild.
Since your mechanic may be expert when it comes to engine related problems, but doesn’t do transmissions, he could be wrongly jumping to conclusions.
The fact that the trans does not upshift is not an indication that it’s fried. As has been suggest already, multiple codes code indicate something mundane, like I/O speed sensors. The onboard computer could have taken recieved information and locked the transmission into Limp Mode (which explains the shift problem).
I would ask the transmission shop for a new diagnosis and test drive and let them determine the way to proceed.
I’ve been there, done this. I had a 99 Dodge that went into limp mode, wouldn’t shift, check engine light on, and found 4 codes. New input and output speed sensors (screwed into outside of trans) fixed it.
@thinkin
Just for future reference, can you tell us which trans shop in Central NJ you selected?
In case I need this type of info in the future, it would be helpful.
