Auto Tranny Rebuild advice needed

[rusty]

I am strongly considering rebuilding the auto transmission in my wife's 1992 Nissan truck. It's a JATCO, model RL4R01A. If I had the money, I'd just buy a transmission outright, but I don't have the money. However, I do have tools, time, and an ATSG manual. Would appreciate some feedback as to whether it is a good candidate for rebuild. Is this the right forum? If you guys know of a good alternate auto-transmission forum to point me to, that would also be appreciated.

Brief History:

(1) No fluid change at all until 120K miles, four months ago. (I know, my bad). The fluid that came out was not burnt, and was a nice dark pink. Didn't look bad at all. Used Chevron Dexron III ATF.

(2) Ran great until recently, 125K miles. Allofasudden, slipped so bad it wouldn't go. No gears worked, they wouldn't even engage.

(3) Changed fluid again, with Chevron again - and filter. The filter was gucked up completely, and the fluid was brown and smelled bad.

(4) Transmission worked flawlessly for two days, then started acting up again in Drive. R, 1, and 2 worked OK.

(5) So I drained the fluid again (this was yesterday). Looked OK, filter was clean, fluid had a bit of smell to it, but not real bad. Put 6 oz auto-rx in it this time.

(6) Drove it around the neighborhood last night for 25 miles. R, 1, and 2 work fine. 3rd barely works, OD not at all. But by 15 miles 3rd starts working better, and by 20 miles OD works some.

(7) 12-mile drive to work this morning. Starts out OK, but by 10 miles the truck won't move in any gear. It's slipping like crazy and making horrible whining/whirring noises.

(8) I let the transmission fluid cool for 20 minutes or so, and I'm (barely) able to use 2nd gear to get the rest of the two miles to work.

(9) I'm having it towed home this afternoon.

Transmission Exchange (www.txchange.com) sells a Master Rebuild Kit for $266, consisting of gaskets, seals, sealing rings, o-rings, lip seals, and both steel and lined clutch plates. Does this transmission's behavior sound like it could be repaired with one of these kits? And if so, is this a good kit or are there better ones to be found?

TIA - Rusty

 

[JoggingGuy]

quote:

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Originally posted by rusty:
Does this transmission's behavior sound like it could be repaired with one of these kits? And if so, is this a good kit or are there better ones to be found?

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The master kit plus a torque converter is your basic rebuild to replace all the wear items on an otherwise good transmission. Problem is, you won't know if anything else was damaged or chewed up until you open it.

 

[rusty]

So, if I go ahead with this project - I should buy the Master Kit plus a TC, right off the bat?

 

[deepsquat]

junk yard? Buy a used one...or ebay...you take your chances but I did and it was okay for my honda......

 

[asenna]

You have to know three things...

How much for a professionally done rebuild, how much for a junk yard ( get one with a with warranty) and how much to rebuild it yourself.

Generally the junk yard is the cheapest if you can find it locally. Often risky.

DIY depends on the transmission, how complicated and how much rebuild kit costs, and you often need special tools.

Overall I find a good pro done rebuild makes the most sense. Find a wholesale rebuilder - don't go to a local transmission shop.

 

[Mud]

I can't speak for your model transmission, but the last 3 that I have rebuilt have been a C6, a th400, and a 700R4. Lots of engine work, but little experience with automatics. I also wound up rebuilding the NP205 transfer case in my 79 F150.

I looked around and was not convinced that a rebuilder was always the best route since I did not know what parts were actually being installed and I condsidered a wrecking yard was an unknown risk.

I decided to get a manual and a rebuild video and get after it. All 3 transmissions so far have worked great right from the start, last check the 700R4 has 30K mile on it. The C6 was the worst - absolutely no movement in any gear before I started, no clutch material left at all, the others were slipping/worn out with nasty fluid. The combination of a video and a rebuild book was very straightforward to follow.

I ordered my parts from www.bulkparts.com. Their master kits are very good quality. I also installed new torque converters to ensure that no debris was floating around and I used the pressurized cooler flush from bulkparts to get crud out of the cooler lines and unit. You would be amazed at what comes out of there.

Cost for everything averaged $300-$350 per transmission, and that is with top quality parts and also the peace of mind that I knew exactly what had been done. Well, somewhat peace of mind since you are hoping you've done the job right!

I will never pay someone to rebuild a transmission after these experiences. If you are careful and take your time they are not that difficult. The books/videos also help you to identify what parts are bad and in my case I did not need any special tools.

 

[JustinH]

Phoenix hard parts sells rebuilt transmissions, they do awesome work. They are on ebay and search their name they have a website, search google.

 

[rusty]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

I'm still leaning towards doing it myself, but I'll check out some of the other options.

I don't have a lot of faith in the junkyard approach. IIRC the auto-transmission is rare in this truck. I've already checked the two biggest ones in Albuquerque and they don't have one. I don't want to pay for someone else's bad maintenance that may cause me to have this very same problem again a few months or years down the road.

If I could find a quality rebuilt for less than $1000, I might go that route - but then again, how do you know it's "quality?" - and - you get what you pay for. Best price I've found so far is $1500. I'll keep looking, thanks for the tips.

 

[Gary Allan]

Mud has the right idea ...my only reservations with the newer autos is, as was mentioned, the special tools that may be required. This can be in the form of some "fast learn" module that some crap boxes need. Mud luckily got to use all standard tools on the boxes that he did. These automatics haven't changed much since the 70's ..although I found the Fords and Chrysler easier from a handling standpoint since the valve body typically was completely removable ..while the GM's had them somewhat integrated ..more so in the 400 than the 350 (700R).

Buy the manual first. Here's one place that sells manuals for your trans

 

[Bullet]

Transmissions are complicated for your first time. Generally rebuilding them is replacing the friction and steel plates, TC, seals, and sometimes the bushings. The hard parts normally survive. I've only rebuilt three speed american automatics like the th350m th400, and c6 transmissions, but haven't touched them since the overdrive automatics became the norm and anything after dexton II. I learned about transmissions while attending a Junior collage and passed the ASE test.

A little advise is to layout all the parts on a table in the order and position you removed them and clean each part one by one. Same with the valve body, lay all the parts out in order that you removed them. In other words don't put them in a pile, clean, and start putting it back together. I'm not familar with the jatco, but some assemblies you don't have to completely disassemble, like the one way rollers. Good luck and hope it goes well.

 

[Fuelrod]

I suspect you might need more than a rebuild kit. The overdrives are fragile as are the free-wheeling sprag clutch that is part of the OD. Clean and inspect everything carefully so you can spot failed/damaged parts and you don't waste your time rebuilding junk....