The junkiest automatic transmission ever manufactured?

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Wifey's father was a Doctor in Petaluma, CA, in 1965 he was looking for a family car.
At the Olds dealer, he bought a beautiful 4-4-2.
We have his beloved Oldsey; perhaps the most original copy left. 90K miles; always garaged.

The car has the Olds Jet-Away 2 speed; Oldsmobile experts call this trans the Junk-Away.
I want to install a 200 4R but just can't butcher this original car.
 
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Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
The old 4-speeds seemed to outlive the new, current 8+speeds.



Not even close. The 8 speeds are just if not more durable.

Them new fangled transmissons with 6 to 10 speeds. Old people refuse to adapt to change.
 
Originally Posted by tony1679
Originally Posted by 14Accent
GM 4T60/4T65E, those were no treat. Decent enough, but they don't take to abuse well especially behind a 3800SC, let alone the 5.3 in the SS/GXP cars.
Agreed. Ask me how I know!
whistle.gif


From my personal experience, the worst transmissions I owned (in order) were:
1. 545RFE - 2003 Dodge Dakota 4.7L 2WD
2. 4R70W - 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis (I know I'll get flamed for this, but it was mainly the torque converter)
3. 4T65E-HD - My current SS (not terrible thanks to extreme caution/care/maintenance)

My favorites, again only from personal experience (most are manual):
1. Tremec T-56 - 1997 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (let's just not mention the opti...)
2. Tremec TR-3650 - 2004 Ford Mustang GT 40th Anniversary Edition
3. If I'm forced to list an auto, I guess whatever is in my Elantra. Can't find much info on it. But still far from superb.

Man I miss that T-56. If only there were some magical way to pair it with my LS4...
20.gif




So it's not the transmission with the issue. It is you don't have total control shifting.
 
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
The old 4-speeds seemed to outlive the new, current 8+speeds.

Not even close. The 8 speeds are just if not more durable.

Them new fangled transmissons with 6 to 10 speeds. Old people refuse to adapt to change.

Well I consider myself old but I like the newer transmissions with more speeds. The key is the programming. My Mazda SkyActiv Drive with six speeds just seems to know which gear it should be in. Today's transmissions should automatically know if you are going uphill to stay in a lower gear or going downhill to provide engine braking.

A few years ago I rented a Chevrolet sedan that was constantly shifting. Going through a mountain pass it was shifting every 30 seconds. Annoying as all get out. I wish I could remember which model it was. It was a compact.
 
Totally agree … I ran a thread a while back asking folks to name a prior vehicle that would have been made much better with 6 speed on up autos …
 
Those 3 speed junk boxes coupled to a 4 cyl economy car from 1980's thru 2000's. All of them abymsmal.

Neon, cavalier , Corolla, Subie.

4 speed -6 speeds solved so many issues. 8-10 mixed with stars and zeros.
 
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Originally Posted by madRiver
Those 3 speed junk boxes coupled to a 4 cyl economy car from 1980's thru 2000's. All of them abymsmal.

Neon, cavalier , Corolla, Subie.

4 speed -6 speeds solved so many issues. 8-10 mixed with stars and zeros.

I had a 31TH in a 95 Neon and it was solid, . The top gear ratio is pretty much the same as many 5 spds so I could wring upper 30's mpg out of it, and the tall first gear worked pretty well for the tighter autocross courses. Maybe with a double digit hp 1.6L it wouldn't be great, but with the 2L it wasn't terrible IMO.
 
Originally Posted by DoubleWasp
Hard to beat the AXOD, but I'm gonna throw 700R4 on to the pile.

The early Ford 4R70 definitely belongs there, as well as it's AOD predecessor.

Anything Jatco that came in a Mazda.




LOL @ 700R4. Maybe the earliest 80s 27 spline. I've seen so many last so long in all itterations. It still lives as the 6l45/50


Originally Posted by madRiver
Those 3 speed junk boxes coupled to a 4 cyl economy car from 1980's thru 2000's. All of them abymsmal.

Neon, cavalier , Corolla, Subie.

4 speed -6 speeds solved so many issues. 8-10 mixed with stars and zeros.



TH125 was a decent trans. I have an original one still kicking in a cavalier with over 300,000 miles.
 
Wait Wait... My 2002 Honda Accord has 250K miles.. I bought it at least 6 years ago from the person whom bought the car new. It was a 1 owner A title. This is as far as I know the orginal transmission. BX7A-1 it says on trans.. I bought the car with 168K on it. The car now has over 250K. Now I will admit you really have to maintain the [censored] outta them... I do a drain and fill on every 3rd oil change.. However I do no think they are the worst.. I know they are not bullet proof but I would not call the them a bad tranny... At least the bx7a-1.... I know there are some that i heard horror stories about.. That they went bad after 30K miles on them but I think Honda fixed the problem..

Perhaps one of the other Honda V6 trannys.. i know they had a few ....
 
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I'd have to say the ZF6 that came in the super duty pickups could be a contender for at least top 10 best transmissions. Hard to kill, unless you shift it like a race car and blow a synchro.
 
If it's Japanese, auto and has 5 speeds my parents can kill it. Otherwise never lost an auto transmission.
 
Originally Posted by Gasbuggy
Originally Posted by DoubleWasp
Hard to beat the AXOD, but I'm gonna throw 700R4 on to the pile.

The early Ford 4R70 definitely belongs there, as well as it's AOD predecessor.

Anything Jatco that came in a Mazda.




LOL @ 700R4. Maybe the earliest 80s 27 spline. I've seen so many last so long in all itterations. It still lives as the 6l45/50


Originally Posted by madRiver
Those 3 speed junk boxes coupled to a 4 cyl economy car from 1980's thru 2000's. All of them abymsmal.

Neon, cavalier , Corolla, Subie.

4 speed -6 speeds solved so many issues. 8-10 mixed with stars and zeros.



TH125 was a decent trans. I have an original one still kicking in a cavalier with over 300,000 miles.

I was told by a transmission shop they were the best FWD automatics ever produced.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
Those 3 speed junk boxes coupled to a 4 cyl economy car from 1980's thru 2000's. All of them abymsmal.

Neon, cavalier , Corolla, Subie.

4 speed -6 speeds solved so many issues. 8-10 mixed with stars and zeros.

The Aisin Seiki/Aisin-Warner 3-speed automatics used in Toyota (and other manufacturers) products was as near bullet-proof as any automatic transmission ever produced.
 
Originally Posted by Gasbuggy
Originally Posted by DoubleWasp
Hard to beat the AXOD, but I'm gonna throw 700R4 on to the pile.

The early Ford 4R70 definitely belongs there, as well as it's AOD predecessor.

Anything Jatco that came in a Mazda.




LOL @ 700R4. Maybe the earliest 80s 27 spline. I've seen so many last so long in all itterations. It still lives as the 6l45/50


Originally Posted by madRiver
Those 3 speed junk boxes coupled to a 4 cyl economy car from 1980's thru 2000's. All of them abymsmal.

Neon, cavalier , Corolla, Subie.

4 speed -6 speeds solved so many issues. 8-10 mixed with stars and zeros.



TH125 was a decent trans. I have an original one still kicking in a cavalier with over 300,000 miles.


700R4 was a well known eater of the 3-4 clutch. Decent amount of them never saw 70k miles.

Technically, it doesn't live on, since it's been subject to huge engineering revisions since then and is no longer called the 700R4 as a result.
 
I nominate just about any FWD Ford AXOD or ATX series transmission in the 1980's era Tempo and Taurus.
 
Originally Posted by joegreen
Originally Posted by road_rascal
Originally Posted by Michael_P
The Chrysler A-604 Ultradrive transmission, hands down. Honorable mention goes to the Ford AXOD.


Yup- I had to take Chrysler to small claims court over that pile of junk. 3 rebuilds in less than 70k.

Do you know what kept wearing out to require rebuilds?


I'll have to dig up repair slips (I kept those and all the court proceedings) but I know the first time it was worked on the trans went into limp mode (this happened quite a few times). Usually it was just a sensor but there were a few clutch packs replaced, gears of some sort, input sensors, etc. The third time the trans failed was due to the fact a local Dodge dealer put Dexron fluid in instead of 7176 during routine service. The third trans failed about 13k later (car had about 84K) and Chrysler told me to pound sand- it's past the warranty period. That's when the fun started.
 
Chrysler's A604 from the 90's has my vote as the worst, tied for next worst GM's 4T60E and 4T65E. All were pure tempermental junk. one of the best which came from a respected transmission shop, Ford's AOD.
 
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Honda's late 1990s to mid 2000s efforts, the Ford AXOD and the Focus DCT, and the earlier Chrysler FWD efforts that weren't from Mitsubishi.

And I also knew someone who killed an 4L60E.
 
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