Well guys the tranny on her is shot to ****. I need to either rebuild it or replace it and so far its not cheap. Any recommendations would be appreciated. I'd hate to scrap her or get rid of her but i may have no choice. The was a ton of filings on the magnet and some course shavings in the pan.

 

i would replace the tranny. should last you a long time after doing that... probably cheeper than a new car anyhow

 

I agree, the cost to replace the tranny is cheaper than the cost to replace the entire vehicle (unless the engine and body are junk too). Trade-in value is in the toilet with a blown tranny anyway.

 

My main thing is trying to get the funding to do either.

 

Can't help ya there.

 

Prowling around and looking and I found a re-manufactured by mopar tranny for $1099 plus shipping. Do you guys think buying one from somewhere and just having it installed be a good route to go or just let a shop obtain one?

 

go talk to shops... get quotes on if they buy a tranny or if you buy the tranny... personally i would buy the tranny myself and either install it myself or have the shop do it... to many shops buy crappy parts to skimp and overcharge you

 

+1

A shop likes to charge you labor and mark up the parts for a added bonus. For that matter some shops charge a flat fee of lets say $300 to pull and install a trans. Now with that said, I would pull it and have it rebuilt then reinstall. The reason for this route instead of exchanging is to ensure everything fits and it stays OEM. Too many times I have "exchanged" and not had a direct fit or improper gears and loss of power. I would also replace the torque convertor with an over sized one.

If you take it to a shop bring your own fluid, just ask how much you will need.

 

I have found a shop nearby that will do it for anywhere from 1555 to 2500 depending on how bad it is. They have positive reviews and some certs i have never heard of but told ne that somewhere along the line i got hosed. Just need to get the d down there for him to look at and give the estimate.

 

$1500 to $2500 is a pretty broad area, if you ask me. If they're simply pulling and replacing the tranny, they know exactly how long it will take from experience. If they're rebuilding it, they also know exactly how long that will take, and how much it will cost (the rebuild kit is under $200, and it takes about 2 hours by an experienced rebuilder). For them to leave $1000 in the wind makes me think you're about to get screwed.

Incidentally, you should pay around $500 to $600 for a used tranny, and no more than $700 to have it installed, and even that's too much, if you ask me. Your total bill shouldn't be more than about $1200 to $1300.

Have you considered doing this job yourself? It's much less complicated than you think. And to be perfectly frank, you could probably manage to rebuild your tranny yourself, too. There are maybe a gazillion how-to's you can reference, and when it comes right down to it, they're not that complicated. If you're even a little mechanically inclined, you could manage it pretty easily. You could be actually out of pocket for around $200 for the rebuild kit and maybe another hundred or 2 for some tools.