I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 with 5.2 motor. I recently was having tranny issues so i took it to AAMCO. They replaced the governer pressure switch and solonid. Now my tranny is leaking out of the bell housing but only when i drive it a few miles. I took it to them and they want to do a soft rebuild on the tranny for 1800 bucks! Iv been checking the fluid level and its not low but leaks like crazy. I get it back from them and the level is a quart an a half low. Added fluid Let it run for 20 mins. in nuetral and no leak. Drive 5 miles down the street. LEAKS. Wipe it of let it run 20 mins. no leaks. What is going on?? Any suggestions?

 

Did your truck just mysteriously develop this leak after you had those sensors replaced? If so, something smells fishy... Might want to shop around a little bit for a gasket and seal replacement deal. If you lived near me I would do the job for a hundred bucks plus parts.

It's your pump gasket or front main seal leaking. Not hard to fix at all. Drain the pan, replace filter while at it, adjust bands accordingly since the pan is dropped, check for anything out of the ordinary floating in the pan, then drop tranny pull pump, replace gasket and or seal, reinstall, refill with fluid and your out the door.

Maybe 4-5 quarts of fluid used at 6.50 per quart = 26.00 - 32.50

Seal and gasket kit = 50.00 shipped, possibly less if we could order just the front seal and front pump gasket alone.

New filter = 15.00

Requires pulling the transmission to get to the gasket and seal but not more then a few hours work. Find some other shops around for this job, doesnt have to be a transmission shop to change a seal and a gasket. Get some quotes. To do this work shouldn't cost any more then 200 dollars to a shop if you provide all the parts. Unless you need to have your tranny rebuilt, keep your 1800.

http://www.transmissionpartsusa.com/

You can either get the master rebuild kit from this site or you can get all the gaskets and seals for less then 50 bucks.

Here is a link,

http://www.transmissionpartsusa.com/...15&Search.y=16

 

Wow, no more than 200 bucks huh?

 

It's 2-3 hours work at the max for removal and reinstallation and that's working on the ground... If a vehicle lift is used its even less.

What is a shops labor rate? 50-75 dollars an hour? at 50 thats 4 hours worth of time, at 75 thats roughly 2.5 hours. Any decent shop with a lift could do the job in this amount of time.

Also, it's not necessary to change filter and adjust bands. Thing is that if your going to drain and drop the pan, may as well get that task done while everything is out in the open. If all your concerned with is the leak and a shop is trying to stick you for everything they can, those front leaks are the only things one should be discussing, especially if all you are after is a quote. And last but not least, the idea is to shop around. I know what is involved so I know that this isn't the biggest job in the world. To me, I think that 200 would be a fair price to pay for strictly labor and a 2-3 hour job. If a shop asks for more, get their quote in writing, and move on, idea is to comparitively shop around for the best deal.

 

just an FYI, i heard AAMCO is the WORST place to go for tranny work......ive nver heard one good thing about them....


and id bring the truck back and demand they fix it...and tell them it wasnt there before.....i wouldnt pay a dime...and if they dont fix it...well someone might end up with a black eye.......



this is why i do all my own work, so i know whats being done.....our trucks are not hard to work on at all.....i changed my t-case in about 2 hours, on the ground, outside, no jacks (only ratchet straps) and no air tools, and it was a breeze, aside from benching the new t-case in......I say this because im backing up the post stated above, you can pull your tranny and do whats needed in a matter of a few hours, its very straight forward.