I almost hesitate to post this question because I'm sure the answer is, "it depends".

I'm weighing the cost of keeping my Dakota - which is almost paid off - vs keeping it knowing I'm probably due for some hefty maintenance costs, and ongoing high fuel costs. May sound like my mind is already made up, but I'm truly torn.

My primary concern is the tranny. I've got 148,xxx on the original transmission and although I have it serviced like clockwork every 30,000, I'm starting to notice some "character". I'm not experiencing any slipping or hesitation, but it does shift odd sometimes. One of those things you can feel, but not necessarily explain. I just had the service done 10,000 ago and the technician said everything looked great.

I have no idea if I should be proactive and have the tranny overhauled now or later and I have no idea what kind of cost I'd be looking at. I've gotten a wide range of prices. All of them significant enough to make me wonder if it's worth the investment. I'd probably have to do some creative financing with the equity I have in the vehicle to pay for the work. Everything else on the truck is sound. It's well taken care of.

Thoughts?

 

Like I told somebody else on here, call a local race shop, get recommendations. Alot of time, racers do side work out of their garage or race shop. One of our racers rebuilt my transmission for $900 plus parts and had it done same day. And that's a fair bargain considering what you have to go through to drop the trans for two people. Much better than a money hoarding shop.

 

Haven't been successful yet in finding a local race shop, but I did take it by a couple of highly rated (and recommended) shops just for giggles.

Both shops drove the vehicle and said they couldn't really "feel" anything wrong. One shop offered to drop the pan (free of charge), so I gave them the go-ahead.

Was told there was some minor metal bits in the pan and some "clutch" material in the fluid - even though the fluid is still pretty ruby-red, even after ~10,000 mi since my last service.

So, what the heck does that mean? If, according to two different shops, it's, "driving great" but there's some "stuff" in the pan, I really don't know how to interpret that. The one shop that dropped the pan hesitated to give me a ballpark of how long I might have before I needed any serious work.

I got an estimate from both shops that if I had the tranny rebuilt, it would be $2500 - $3000. Ouch!!

So, I need some help interpreting this information. I drive pretty conservatively, do the tranny service like clockwork, off-road a little, but mostly Forest Service graded roads. I don't tow anything.

I have $1200 left on my loan (approx 6 months). I'm trying to decide if it's worth keeping the truck or if it's time to sell while I'm head of the game.

Oh and I lied earlier. I have 142,500 mi.

 

J,

There is ALWAYS some minor material in the transmission pan, it's normal.

Not shifting properly could be caused by many things including a bad TPS sensor. Remember, it's electronically controlled.

Has anyone connected a scanner to it? Most OBD scanners won't read transmission codes but a good shop (or the dealer) should have one that can read the line pressures, etc. That'd give you a good idea as to the overall health of the tranny.

Good luck.

 

Just keep driving the truck and once it's paid off then start putting some back until you have enough for a rebuild. $2500-$3000 is retarded. You could probably buy a brand new one for that. Mine does similar things as you described but I do a lot of stop and go driving. Keep the Overdrive off when in town stop light to stop light and it cuts down on some of the shifting.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I was googling rebuilt transmissions this morning and they are ~$2K... So why would a rebuild cost more than that!?

As I've said all along... The transmission on any vehicle is the most mysterious component. Because they're so mysterious to the layman, it's easy to be misinformed.

I will continue to drive it as I have. Oh, and I've always taken it out of overdrive while in town. That's a good tip though!

 

You could always put a manual in its place...

 

Um... no. ;-)