Best and Worst Transmissions

[Norm Olt]

In the "old days" Chrysler built a pushbutton 3-speed automatic called the Torqueflite, as I recall...

Unless I'm mistaken it was the same tranny behind a slant-6 as the tranny behind the Hemi or a 440. Was this the 727?

Correct me if I'm wrong...

Cheers!

 

[Greggy_D]

To continue Chrysler's streak of bad transmissions:

1. 1994 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible. Trans died at 72,000 with perfect maintenance.

2. 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Trans died at 2,000 miles and was replaced under warranty. The second trans died at 74,000 miles.

Never again.

 

[brianl703]

I've heard good things about the GM 4T40E/4T45E.

 

[JakeR22]

Some are just listing transmissions, and not stating whether they think they're bad or good.

 

[okiedokie]

The odds of any random owner/operator/driver being "bad" (not checking fluids, using incorrect fluids, and/or failing to have required service performed at the specified interval) are exponetially greater than the odds of any random transmission being genetically defective (bad) from the manufacturer.

Just thought I'd throw that out.

 

[Kestas]

My 90 LeBaron had three transmissions (Ultradrive A604). First one was replaced at 80K, second one at 175K. From my years on Allpar, I noticed that a lot of people had problems with these transmissions around 80K.

If you followed the history of this transmission, you'll find that when it first came out, there was a 10% failure rate within warranty. This rate of failure was unheard of in the automotive industry. Chrysler Corp came within a hair's breadth of a having to recall these transmissions. I can only imagine NHTSA went soft on Chrysler, lest the company go bankrupt with that kind of a recall. That's why so many were replaced by Chrysler for free out of warranty.

 

[WishIhadatruck]

GM 4T60E in my '94 Grand Prix has been awesome. No issues and still performs like new today with 199,000 miles on it. The 3T40 in my old Corsica was a good tranny also. I've heard bad things about solenoids in my '01 Grand Prix's 4T65E transmission but I've had no issues so far. I have a '96 Roadmaster Wagon with 99,000 miles on it that I just bought last may with the 4L60E transmission and it makes me nervous. I'm not sure I know anyone that has owned one of these that made it much past 100,000. This one appears to have been well maintained however so I'll keep my hopes up. As someone else has stated, many people never get their transmission serviced or only do it after it starts to shift poorly which is a little late typically to expect it to survive as long as the rest of the car.

 

[Gary Allan]

Virtually any American made automatic before 1976. Way durable and sustained torque that virtually no current auto endures. They did this without fancy coolers or lockup converters.

TF727
TF904
C6
C4
C4S
TH350
TH400
FMX
Powerglide

all easily rebuilt if they did take a dump.

For manuals I too liked the SM420 in my C20.

Unreliable automatics are way too numerous to list. The AW4 appears to be one later model trans that passes with flying colors.

My 604 in my Caravan (I think basically a 3 speed warmed over Omni trans with a lockup) was decent ..but the converter clutch lunched the internals by distintegration. Anything beyond that from Chrysler took a decade to consumer proof them.

The rest appear to have just as spotty a record.

I'd pay an additional $200 in purchase price for a 10 year/unlimited mileage warranty on the trans (with recommended service). That is, they could dump $200 into the trans in durability/reliability and I'd pay the added freight just due to the consumer paranoia that these overly sophisticated boxes have created.

I've never destroyed a manual trans ..but have had them decay a bit. Mainly input bearing noise when you let out the clutch.

 

[brianl703]

My brother had a manual trans in a 1986 Camaro Z28 that failed to the point where all it would do in 1st is make a grinding noise when you released the clutch. He said it started making occasional knocking noises about 20-30 miles before that happened.

The thing probably had over 200K on it. I believe it was a Borg Warner T5 trans.

 

[mark pruett]

Quote:

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If you followed the history of this transmission, you'll find that when it first came out, there was a 10% failure rate within warranty. This rate of failure was unheard of in the automotive industry. Chrysler Corp came within a hair's breadth of a having to recall these transmissions.

---

I read that there was a mistake in the owner manuals for these- they specified that Dexron-II was acceptable, when in fact, they really needed ATF+3. Combine that, with weird programming bugs in the transmission control systems (it was fully electronically controlled) that made it flip into "limp-home" mode, and you had a POS transmission.

However, once those two things were resolved, it settled down to be a reasonably reliable transmission- as the 42RLE, which is used in a whole lot of current DaimlerChrysler vehicles.

 

[benjamming]

Quote:

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1. 1994 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible. Trans died at 72,000 with perfect maintenance.

---

My 1993 LeBaron auto died at ~ 93k miles with absolutely no maintenance except fluid level checks. I wonder if it would have lasted longer if it had been maintained at all?

 

[PowerPeeCee]

Quote:

---

Virtually any American made automatic before 1976. Way durable and sustained torque that virtually no current auto endures. They did this without fancy coolers or lockup converters.

TF727
TF904
C6
C4
C4S
TH350
TH400
FMX
Powerglide

---

I'll second this, What happened? did people entirely forget how to build automatics that don't suck? I wish I could spin the vulcan in my Taurus around and bolt it to a C6 and _never_ worry about it again. Think about how cool an RWD taurus would be, with no visible external modifications

My neighbors have this big honkin' 198x GM Vandura 2500(?) that's obviously never had _any_ maintenance and it just keeps going. It's a Turbo-Hydramatic of some flavor bolted to a 350cid engine of some sort ( I know nothing about GM engines )

You can't show me an recent automatic transmission that can take being bolted to a 350 in a big van on the same fluid for years and years, because they don't exist.

And now they have these 6, 7, 8(!) speed boxes which are sure to be even more of a headache. Urg.

The nice, simple little three speed box in my Grandma's 10 year old Corolla has never needed any attention, either.

I still say the AX4N is

. Read all about it @ http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/index.php

 

[outersquare]

i like the 5 speed auto in the 2003+ 4 cylinder accords. 85K miles, modded ~20 whp/20 ft-lbs more at the wheels, so far so good.


otherwise haven't had a bad auto tranny in the past.

 

[outersquare]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Virtually any American made automatic before 1976. Way durable and sustained torque that virtually no current auto endures. They did this without fancy coolers or lockup converters.

TF727
TF904
C6
C4
C4S
TH350
TH400
FMX
Powerglide

---

I'll second this, What happened? did people entirely forget how to build automatics that don't suck? I wish I could spin the vulcan in my Taurus around and bolt it to a C6 and _never_ worry about it again. Think about how cool an RWD taurus would be, with no visible external modifications

My neighbors have this big honkin' 198x GM Vandura 2500(?) that's obviously never had _any_ maintenance and it just keeps going. It's a Turbo-Hydramatic of some flavor bolted to a 350cid engine of some sort ( I know nothing about GM engines )

You can't show me an recent automatic transmission that can take being bolted to a 350 in a big van on the same fluid for years and years, because they don't exist.

And now they have these 6, 7, 8(!) speed boxes which are sure to be even more of a headache. Urg.

The nice, simple little three speed box in my Grandma's 10 year old Corolla has never needed any attention, either.

I still say the AX4N is

. Read all about it @ http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/index.php

---

probably size, packaging constraints, and fuel economy worked against overbuilding trannies.

 

[Kestas]

A very experienced transmission mechanic told me that new transmissions have components made of stamped and punched steel, where the old transmission designs would have used forged or cast components. He was very dismayed with the quality put into modern transmissions.

Like I've said before, it seems like we've taken a step backward with progress. Any money we've gained with fuel efficiency by introducing 4-spd transmissions and lockup torque converters is spent on repairing these units later on. The 3-spds decades ago didn't seem to need any repair for the life of the vehicle.

The only gain is that automakers can claim higher EPA gas mileage for bragging rights, which mean nothing to the person that wants to go from A to B as cheaply as possible for the life of the car.

 

[Max_Wander]

Aisin Warner seems to make a good transmission. They supply to many OEMs now, 5/6spd Lepelletier system based.

One of the worst would definately be the ZF CD4E used on Fords what a piece of it!

 

[NJC]

Quote:

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For best automatic, I'll nominate the Jeep Cherokee AW-4. It's a variant of a Toyota rear-wheel drive transmission, and it's truly bulletproof.....

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I'll put my vote in the Aisin-Warner 71 (AW-71) trans offered in the Volvos. They were also offered in some Toyotas and seem extremely durable. Mine shifts like new at 135K miles.

 

[brianl703]

I think the newer CD4Es must be better..my brother's 2005 Ford Escape has 41K on it...and 41K of my brother and his fiancee's driving is like 200K of any normal person's driving. (I'm not totally convinced that Camaro's transmission just died of natural causes)

 

[Alan]

I've had good performance and reliability with the 4spd auto's mated to Toyota 1MZ-FE engines.

 

[Gene K]

Good
Toyota 4-Speed (Late 1970's / Early 1980's 4WD P/U).
GM TH400