transmission or torque converter?

[ncboman]

97 silverado 1500
2wd
4.6L 6cyl
auto/air
99,800miles

Lost all gears (including reverse) except low and 2nd. Sounds rough.

torque converter or trans?

:o

[Rock Chuck]

My guess is trans. The converter makes a 1/2 shift between gears but it doesn't affect the shift from fwd to reverse. Which trans do you have? If it's the $%^&* 700R4, it's due to go out. I've lost them in 2 vehicles in the low 100's.

[ncboman]

I doan know which trans is in it. :confused:

What did you do when your's went out?

This is a problem I haven't ever had before. :confused:

[Rock Chuck]

When an auto loses gears, the best thing to do is start getting recommendations on which rebuild shop does the best job. It's cooked.

[MoMike]

This is a case where you will normally be better off having the old one rebuilt instead of buying another at a junkyard.

[Sabre]

This is a case where you will normally be better off having the old one rebuilt instead of buying another at a junkyard.

The only trouble with that plan is that you can have the tranny replaced with one from a junkyard four times for the price of one rebuild.:eek:

[Rock Chuck]

Last one I had done was at AATCO for $2100. They had a decent warranty but they used all OEM parts. About 6 mo. out of warranty, a piece of a flange on the torque converter broke off and the flying steel gutted the transmission. It cost me another $1700 for a 2d rebuild - but this time at a shop that used heavy duty parts. If I could have seen the future, I'd have just traded pickups. So it goes.

[MoMike]

The only trouble with that plan is that you can have the tranny replaced with one from a junkyard four times for the price of one rebuild.:eek:

True, but you might find yourself replacing it four times before you find a good one.

Been there, done that, won't do it again.

[Sabre]

True, but you might find yourself replacing it four times before you find a good one.

Been there, done that, won't do it again.

I've been lucky with the junkyard replacement method. Only had to do it once and it lasted another 50,000 until I sold the truck.;)

[Altjaeger]

I had a 3 speed automatic tranny in a 1986 Chevy half ton rebuilt for $1,000 20 months ago. Take it in and let a reputable transmission shop look at and estimate it. Should cost nothing. Better in truth than a bunch of us making educated guess from 1,000 or more miles.:)

[Rock Chuck]

You're probably talking about the Turbo 350 or 400. Both were far better transmissions than the later 4 spd autos. With only 3 gears, they were also much cheaper to rebuild. You pay dearly for that OD if you have to rebuild it.

[ncboman]

I'm in the middle of a job and can't/won't pull off to fix a truck so I have a couple of days to check around before I make a move.

some of the remanufactured trans advertised online have decent guarantees but I haven't got prices yet

... want to check with a certain shop first. They specialize in trans work and did me good some years back. :rolleyes:

[happycamper]

Sounds like the trans.

[ncboman]

The truck is in the shop (Torque n Tune of Elizabeth City, NC).

I talked to the owner this morning and told him what I had. He replied that I probably still have 1st and 3rd gear and could drive it in, which I did (about 30miles).

The guy knows his stuff about transmissions and said I might be lucky. I asked and he said lucky is perhaps 400 bucks. Otherwise a rebuild is 12-1300 in today's market, down from 15-1800 a few years ago. :rolleyes:

[ncboman]

Today was not my lucky day. $1300 :o

[ncboman]

truck's ready to be picked up this morning.

Hopefully the truck will be fixed but I'll be broke again. :o

[Rock Chuck]

From my experience, any tranny fix under $1500 is a steal. I'm thinking that my next truck will be a 4-spd. I can fix a clutch myself.

[ncboman]

From my experience, any tranny fix under $1500 is a steal. I'm thinking that my next truck will be a 4-spd. I can fix a clutch myself.

My big chevy has a 5speed in it. More aggrevating to drive but I do seem to get better mileage than with an automatic.

[Sidekick]

Good luck finding a late model full sized 1/2 ton pickup with a standard transmission. Not many around. I much prefer to shift my own gears.

[Bill Gunn]

My big chevy has a 5speed in it. More aggravating to drive but I do seem to get better mileage than with an automatic.

Mine's a 5 speed too.
If I told you the mileage I get, you'd call me a liar, and I wouldn't blame you.
I can't believe it myself.

2002 Ford F-150 extended cab, small V-8, & 8' box, 3.08 rear end...

"Ain't nothing prettier than a new set of truck tires"

Great song...
(Warning, Hillary picture included)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE2qN7A7Fk0

[Hi Ball]

The days of getting a good part from a junkyard (especially transmissions) are a thing of the passed. To repair a tranny is not cheap but doing it 3 or 4 times in one year is not a lot of fun either.......it still cost money and a lot of down time with NO WARRANTY on those Junkyard parts usually, ok maybe 30 days.

[ncboman]

Mine's a 5 speed too.
If I told you the mileage I get, you'd call me a liar,

try me.

I'm not a ford man but I'm interested.

Last fall when I pulled my camper back from Ohio with the 5speed big truck, I think I averaged 13.something overall but that was thru mountains and loaded down pretty well.

The 6cyl silverado I just had the auto trans rebuilt on is giving me almost 20mpg with a ladder rack, tool box and a good bit of work stuff in it. :)

[Bill Gunn]

When I first got the truck in 2001, we use to make a lot of trips to Oneida Lake for fishing, and visiting friends. The round trip was 322 miles, almost all Highway 65 to 70 MPH.

Like I said the truck is a 4.6L V-8, 5 speed w/OD, and a 3.08 rear end that was special ordered.

Towing my boat with 20 gal. of gas in the boat, and the gas tank full on the truck, 2 guys with 4 days worth of underware & fishing gear we made the round trip. At the lake we burned the gas tank almost completely dry (and caught a LOT of perch :p).

We drove back & filled the truck at exactly the same gas pump as full as we could get it, and it worked out to 17.4 MPG.

Here's the truck and boat...

http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2250/777751/1363903/373065457.jpg

A few weeks later we made the trip without the boat, same 2 guys, and got 24.6 MPG.
I was surprised and very happy then.

Through the years I have been changing the oil every 5,000 with Mobil #1.

About 1.5 years ago I drove to Hart Barrels in Eastern NY to pick up a .222 rifle I had them re-barrel, and it was a 305 mile round trip, almost 100% thruway driving at 65 to 70 mph.

My cousin was the navigator, and checked the mileage. Again we filled at the same pump both times as full as we could get it. My cousin checked the numbers over and over because he couldn't believe it..... 27.2 MPG

The 3.08 rear end, and overdrive with the smaller V-8 ( 4.6 ) and the Mobil #1 seem to work for me !!

[Bushman]

That 4.6 is a good mileage motor and a long lasting one too. I tried one out, but I didn't think that it had that much more than my old 5.0. I've thought about an automatic instead of that 5 speed manual, but the cost to repair an automatic, not being able to start an automatic by rolling it and worse gas mileage, I think that I can live with my 5 speed and lock outs for a while as a trip truck. That 3.08 rear axle ratio is the key Bill, if you can live with the lower torque. You wouldn't have gotten that high a gear ratio in a 4wd and I'm surprised that they would let you get it with a manual transmission. Like you say though, it was a special order. We were getting those kind of mileage numbers with the 4.6 in my buddy's Continental this year when we took it to Canada and I'll bet that it has about that same kind of gearing.

After I ate the oil seals out of two $750. turbochargers using that 5W20 Mobil 1 that was about as thick as salad oil, I've never used another quart of the stuff. They have thickened it up some since then, but I never forgave that oil for the hole it helped put in my bank account. Castrol 10W30 Syntec has been the truck oil ever since.

[Bill Gunn]

That 3.08 makes it hard to get the boat out of the water if your not use to it with the standard.
I don't have trouble, but every time I let someone else pull it out, they stall it, and their good standard shift drivers.

The only time I can tell it on the road is if it gets really hilly, then I run in 3rd (climbing) and 4th (cruising).

I really like the truck.

[Bushman]

Bill, Even my 3.55:1 gears are high for pulling a boat up a ramp. That 4wd low range lever gets pulled when I'm on a boat ramp for better control. Are you using cruise control to get those kind of mileage numbers, or feather footing it? I figure that I can beat the cruise control in hilly country, but probably not if the road is level. Are those the standard size tires on your truck, it looks close to the ground so I thought they might be smaller. A light trailer doesn't always decrease your mileage a lot either because it can break up the suction that forms behind the vehicle. I see that a lot when I'm pulling my 5x8 utility trailer.