Best and Worst Transmissions

[Gary Allan]

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

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I'd say that it was rather ..bean counters and CAFE fuel economy hoops that made certain configurations a survival guide to selling more units.

It make little sense to save .0005mpg of fuel when the crashing auto makes someone buy an entire vehicle at a very huge cost of energy ..or costs them to the tune of $2500-4000.

 

[97tbird]

curious where the Ford 4R70W stands, which I have in my Tbid 4.6L. This tranny seems to have a reputation for developing shudders (at 35-45 mph)...mine had it a bit when I got it used (I think it did...), a flush with Mercon-v cured it...shudder never returned, and I keep changing the ATF every 20k or so...just to be safe...

Other than that, at 120k miles, all of the tranny is original, and shifting nicely still...

 

[Lonnie]

We just tore apart a Prius transmission with almost 200k miles on it from one of our cars, wrecked. It as no torque converter, no clutches, just a few gears. It looked like new inside. It has a sun gear, a ring gear, and a few planet gears and that's it. There has been a lot of talk about the Prius and we all wondered how reliable it would be. We pulled the pan off the engine and look at the bearings and they are like new. We looked inside the cylinders and everything there looks like new too. The batteries are also as good as new. We did that load test on them and it's impressive how much power there is, there. But back to the transmission. I can't imagine how you could wear this thing out. It's made like a swiss watch and the gear wear patterns are almost not there. It also looks like this thinner WS transmsission fluid is doing its job, too. With only one forward gear and no reverse this transmission is the ticket to a along life.

 

[Virtuoso]

Had real good luck with an AOD tranny in my '88 5.0; it wasn't treated very good either (never changed fluid, beat the #@$%! out of it). The A604 in my Avenger was treated very nicely and still shifted sloppy; and felt like it was going to come apart during the 2-1 shift at times.

The AXOD-E in my SHO sucked big time as well. That tranny was never meant to be paired with that engine.

 

[97tbird]

didn't the SHO have Yamaha made v8?

 

[Mokanic]

Aisan Warners do well as a whole.
Anything with Chrysler/Dodge on it is ready to go up in smoke at any time.

 

[Greggy_D]

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didn't the SHO have Yamaha made v8?

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Yes sir.

 

[sw99]

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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.

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Nice tranny! I had it in my old 91 740 and sold it with 185k and it still shifted fine. Other than a kickdown cable, it was flawless.

 

[sw99]

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curious where the Ford 4R70W stands, which I have in my Tbid 4.6L. This tranny seems to have a reputation for developing shudders (at 35-45 mph)...mine had it a bit when I got it used (I think it did...), a flush with Mercon-v cured it...shudder never returned, and I keep changing the ATF every 20k or so...just to be safe...

Other than that, at 120k miles, all of the tranny is original, and shifting nicely still...

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They don't have a very good rep in the F150's. Perhaps it's due to the weigh difference on the vehicles.

 

[01rangerxl]

The most reliable automatics seem to be pre-overdrive domestic models. Adding overdrive and electronic controls definately caused manufacturers to stumble a bit.

I will say that I think many transmissions get a bad rap because they are not taken care of. Sure, plenty just have poor engineering to blame, but with some it seems like they end up with people who just do not care. For example, the A4LD used in early Explorers and other Ford trucks is generally seen as unreliable. While the A4LD may not have the best design out there, it seems like most Explorers receieve minimal maintenence if they get it at all. A lot of them just get the snot beat out of them for years and then get called unreliable when the transmission finally dies at 100,000 miles with the original fluid still in it. Of course there are some Explorer owners who do care and who drive their vehicles to 200,000 or 300,000 miles without too many problems. I think many newer transmissions just need more care than the old pre-overdrive transmissions did and people just are not willing to pay for it.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Best transmissions we've had -

4L30-E = I've had 2 Isuzu Rodeo's mated with this GM transmission.

Some Isuzu owners have marked this as a horrible transmission mated to an excellent Isuzu engine. But, I can honestly say, neither transmission has had an easy life, but with gentle driving, routine maintenance/service, I've gotten over 160k carefree miles out of both trucks.

Still shifting very nicely.

'79 Chevy 3/4 truck w/4-spd manual gear-box got over 300k miles on that clutch/transmission.

Worst automatic we've encountered -

4L60 GM transmission mated to the 2002 Trailblazer; fell apart at 120k miles. Previous owner drove strictly all highway, which made no sense to the failure.

 

[Sparkman]

The reputation of the 4.0 straight 6 and the attached AW4 is the reason I bought my Cherokee. Though I still sometimes wish I had bought a ZJ, every one I test drove had something wrong with it, and the trannys have a bad rep.

I owned an A604 in a dynasty, nothing but trouble, limp mode can be a very dangerous thing on the highway. The tranny finaly died at about 160k miles, though the 3.3 was still going strong with a little oil consumption.

I think that our Subaru 4EAT deserves an honorable mention, I'm very impressed with its still flawless AWD performance at roughly 210k miles. The drain plug and spin-on filter might have something to do with it. It does however have some firmware "features" that I hate.

 

[74DartSport]

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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.

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Example- Mopar newer truck OD transmissions. Based on the bulletproof 904/727 designs but with the following changes-
1) OD unit added onto the end
2) Lockup converters
3) Stamped drums replaced cast iron
4) Band apply softened thru hydraulic changes and lever redesigns.
Older ones when you put it into gear if the revs were a little above idle it would go "whang!" and slam into gear; new ones have that slowed down=more slippage=more heat and wear.

And don't forget the Mopar A833 M/T; noisy but bulletproof.

 

[55Test]

I'd nominate the 4EAT/F4AEL as a bad transmission. The one in my 93 Protege (that I bought less than a month ago!

) is starting to go, so now I'm back driving my *****, but so far reliable, 88 Corolla wagon.

 

[outersquare]

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Example- Mopar newer truck OD transmissions. Based on the bulletproof 904/727 designs but with the following changes-
1) OD unit added onto the end
2) Lockup converters
3) Stamped drums replaced cast iron
4) Band apply softened thru hydraulic changes and lever redesigns.
Older ones when you put it into gear if the revs were a little above idle it would go "whang!" and slam into gear; new ones have that slowed down=more slippage=more heat and wear.

And don't forget the Mopar A833 M/T; noisy but bulletproof.

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The soft shifts now are result of consumer demand unfortunately.

 

[ebaker]

01 Honda 4 speed behind a V6. Dealer replaced mine 3 times in 80k miles. Evidently this is typical. The "improvments" in the rebuilds failed too.

 

[dave1251]

Thats funny. The Tranny is what I consider the weak link in my Dodge Ram.

 

[PowerPeeCee]

I _like_ "whang!"

Give me Bang-Screech shifts over clutch destroying marshmallow soft shifts anyday.

 

[toneloc12345]

I would have to say the T56 is one of my favorite 6 speeds

 

[benjamming]

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The soft shifts now are result of consumer demand unfortunately.

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Why is that? I know several consumers (myself included) that don't like this at all. Maybe it's b/c I know what this brings with it, but most folks don't?