Automatics past 200K miles.

[daves87rs]

Knock on wood, the two 4 speeds in my Cavs are holding up pretty well.


Wife's Cav just got it's first flush and fill at 51k. Fluid was pretty rough, but the car does a bunch of city driving. For her car, pan gets dropped at 80k with a dex VI fill....


Mine has yet to hit 20k, but it's getting a flush and dex VI this summer....

 

[Nick R]

My grandfatber only got the fluid changed once at 100k so i suppose its possible that contributed to its early demise.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: rudolphna
My grandfatber only got the fluid changed once at 100k so i suppose its possible that contributed to its early demise.



If he did mostly city driving, then yes.

 

[dorkiedoode]

I got a 99' accord ex v6 at 175k. No major repairs and still on the original transmission. Hopefully it will last me over 200k. I should be out of school by then!

 

[swalve]

93 Dodge spirit v6 and 3spd auto. 215,000, still going strong. Never had a trans flush done, maybe a couple transmission fluid "refreshes" (suck the fluid out of filler hole and refill with new).

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Oldswagon
Originally Posted By: lexus114


The turbo 200 was just not built strong enough for the vehicles they were using them in.


The TH200-4R is a 4 speed, and the TH200 is a 3 speed. The TH200 was generally considered a failure and was not durable(especially in V8 powered heavy cars). The TH200-4R was considerbly more durable, although early models had some issues. This transmission was used behind Buick GNX's (it was the only 4spd OD auto GM made with the BOP bolt pattern) . I have had a couple TH200-4R's reach 200K miles without issue.


Yes,I know that. And re: holding up in V-8 powered cars? They didnt even hold up in a V-6 powered car. They were a Chevette transmission Turbo 180,200 and thats all they were good for.

 

[Oldswagon]

Well if you know the difference, than why did you quote Caprice2NV who was talking about the TH200-4R and the TH700-R4, not the TH200?

I said they were most failure prone in heavy V8 powered cars, but I didn't say they didn't fail in other applications. Although, I have seen several last for "reasonable" mileage in A/G-body cars with V6 engines. Servicing and proper adjustment of the TV cable are essential for this transmission lasting any length of time though. The early lock-up torque converters were also know to fail.

The TH200 WAS NOT used in Chevettes, only the TH180 was. The TH200 was a probably most closely related to the TH350. It used lighter parts to reuduce parasitic drag to help increase fuel economy.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Oldswagon

Huh?? I said the Turbo 200,not 200-R4

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: Oldswagon

Huh?? I said the Turbo 200,not 200-R4[/COLOR] Take another look at what I said! Page 8,7th posting down.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted By: lexus114

Originally Posted By: caprice_2nv
My mom's 99 Olds Alero with the 3400 V6 has the same 4T40E trans as the 4 speed Cavalier's and Sunfire's. It's still working perfect at just over 200k with the fluid and filter only serviced once at 120k (a complete fluid exchange at that time). If it can hold up in that car, it should last forever in a 2.2L Cavalier. The 3 speed was supposed to be even more durable, only thing is the TCC solenoid would fail, and they were also controlled by a TV cable instead of being computer controlled. If the TV cable was to break or get out of adjustment, line pressure could be low and burn out the transmission. Not sure if this is how any of them died, but it was common on the
2004R's and 700R4's in 80's rear drive GM's.


The turbo 200 was just not built strong enough for the vehicles they were using them in.


Here is the post I was refering to. Caprice2NV mentioned the TV cable on the TH200-4R and the TH700-R4, then you quote him stating the TH200 was not strong enough. Maybe you just misread his post, but it appeared to me from this post you didn't know the difference.

In any case, the only reason I posted was to clear up any misinformation, I didn't want this to turn into a p$#@ing match.

 

[lexus114]

Oh for crying out loud,dont you have anything better to worry about? The 200-4R was a [censored] transmission as well. Is that better? since they went Metric,not very many transmissions have beeen any good. The good ole day`s of the Turbo 400,350 are gone.Now all we can do is maintain the heck out of them,and hope for the best.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Oh for crying out loud,dont you have anything better to worry about? The 200-4R was a [censored] transmission as well. Is that better? since they went Metric,not very many transmissions have beeen any good. The good ole day`s of the Turbo 400,350 are gone.Now all we can do is maintain the heck out of them,and hope for the best.


The entire POINT of my post was to clear up the fact that the TH200-4R and the TH200 are different, and that the TH200-4R was not nearly as failure prone as the terrible TH200. I have owned approx 4 TH200-4R's over the years and NEVER had any failures or problems with one. And they left the factory reasonable strong in applications (for the time) like the GNX, the Turbo Trans Am, and the Monte Carlo SS. The TH200-4R is no TH400, but it is NOT in the same class as the TH200.

 

[lexus114]

Dude,your reading in to this way too much ok.I`m gad you had you 200-4`s and they worked good etc.etc. I`m also glad that you feel you made your point.Now lets move on! You said you dont want this to turn into a peein contest? Well,lets keep it that way. I dont know why you feel as though you need to defend some of GM`s biggest flops,I.E the Pontiac Turbo Trans-am?

 

[outrun]

1998 Camaro
3800 Series II V6
4L60E Transmission

201,600 miles on it ... original transmission, one-owner (me), daily driver. The only problem is a possible shift 3-4 solenoid intermittently sticking at lower gear. History:

5,000mi (AC Delco Filter/Gasket,+5qts of Mobil 1 ATF)
36,000mi (AC Delco Filter/Gasket,T-Tech Service+12qts AAMCO Blend)
86,000mi (TCI Filter/Gasket, T-Tech Service+12qts Mobil 1 ATF)
132,000mi (Federated Filter/Gaslet, T-Tech+12qts Amsoil ATF)

This makes me think a few things. The 4L60E I got was of good quality. Comprehensive (T-Tech) fluid services are cheap insurance. Third, transmission life strongly depends on power outputs it is designed to endure. Fourth, I am statistically fortunate ... but I highly doubt this one.

Finally on my parents FWD 3800 Series I was prematurely killed. Somehow there was a radiator failure causing water to enter the transmission fluid at the cooler. This is leading me to consider preemptive replacement of my radiator to prevent the possibility of that fate.

 

[AdRock]

I used to have an '86 F150 w/ the AOD trans in it. My dad bought it new in 86. Pan was dropped and filter changed every 30k. I bought it from him with 160k on it. Kept doing the 30k intervals. I eventually traded in the truck with 302k on it. The trans still ran perfect and had never needed a repair. Maintenence is a wonderful thing.

 

[paulo57509]

I pulled the Hydra-Matic out of my '63 Bonneville at 140k to rebuild it. Nothing was wrong with it, more of a mileage/preventative maintenance kind of thing.

After tear down I found that none of the friction and other hard parts were worn so I just replaced the sealing rings and other seals and reinstalled it. It was still fine when I got rid of the car at 329k miles.

The lo band looked brand new; it only comes on in manual Lo so it was probably never used.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: lexus114

Yes,I know that. And re: holding up in V-8 powered cars? They didnt even hold up in a V-6 powered car. They were a Chevette transmission Turbo 180,200 and thats all they were good for.



Uhhh.... no.


The TH200R4 was the transmission used in things like the Buick GNX. It was a B-O-P (Buick/Olds/Pontiac) bellhousing transmission and therefore never went behind a Chevrolet engine... ever. It was one of (if not THE) strongest GM 4-speed rear-drive O/D automatic built before the electronic days. The other candidate would be the TH700R4 (Chevy bolt-pattern) but it had horrible problems its first few years. It did get much better and wound up going behind some pretty stout engines in later years, but to the best of my knowledge it has never been quite as highly regarded as the TH200R4.

The TH200 was a COMPLETELY different animal. Utter junk.

 

[lexus114]

yep,thats nice.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
I dont know why you feel as though you need to defend some of GM`s biggest flops,I.E the Pontiac Turbo Trans-am?

First off, I didn't defend the car, just saying which applications used the TH200-4R. Second, I think you are getting mixed up, I am refering to the 1989 Turbo Trans Am, which essentially used the GNX drivetrain in the Trans Am. Not the early 80's 301 Turbo POS, which BTW did not use a 4 Speed OD transmission. The 1989 Trans Am ran 0-60 in 5.4 seconds, with a 161 MPH top speed packing the TH200-4R.

Here is the car I was talking about that used the TH200-4R:

http://www.carthrottle.com/retrospective-1989-pontiac-20th-anniversary-turbo-trans-am/

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
It was a B-O-P (Buick/Olds/Pontiac) bellhousing transmission and therefore never went behind a Chevrolet engine... ever.


440Magnum, I agree with everything you said, except for the above. Most TH200-4Rs were actually multi-fit bell housings, where they had BOP and Chevrolet bolt patterns. There were supposedly some BOP only ones, but all the ones I owned were multi-fit. Further, this transmission was behind Chev engines in the all 4-spd auto Monte Carlos and some years of the Caprice from the factory.

 

[lexus114]

are we going to move on here,or is this going to be a locked thread?