OT: transaxle rebuild

Several. Not domestic junk, of course. You may need special fixtures and tools for dissassembly/reassembly; some units cannot be done without them. The setup of the final drive will req specialized tools and precise measurements. A 'rebuild' usually includes only soft parts. If you have damage to some hard parts, availability may be non-existant unless you are a trans shop with some cores laying around. As always, nowadays, the use of CAD in the design of complex assemblies means the level of sheer complexity in this unit will be several levels above some GM turbo 350 of many moons ago. Also, the unit prolly blew up for a reason, like planned obsolescence or just plain shitty design or component quality. If it is computer controlled, you MUST eliminate malfunctions of the shift program as a failure cause. Otherwise, you're wasting your time(might be anyway....) Good luck.... JR Dweller in the cellar

It's not "domestic" per se. It is a Ford, but it's just a rebadged Mazda.

You may need special fixtures and

The specialized tools thing is what I am concerned about.

It's of the "shitty design" variety. No replaceable filter. Inadequate heat dissipation. Several other smaller flaws. Ford has an "upgrade kit" for rebuilding this trans that takes care of a lot of the issues. A lot of Contour owners have put an external cooler and inline filter on their vehicles and this helps longevity significantly.

Possibility. Haven't done anything yet, but just trying to decided if I a) just dump the car as is. b )Buy a replacement and deal with RnR, c) or rebuild it myself knowing full well I may not be any farther along than option A(other than I may learn what inside one of these things).

JW

On 30 Jan 2006 09:58:31 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm, "jw" quickly quoth:

It is that hard. I needed a separate 2 month course at UTI for them, and that was before transaxles. You need to know how to clean out teensy oil passages, measure clutchpack heights and pressures, etc.

And you have to have $5 grand in specialized tools to remove and/or replace the special assemblies. About a quarter of the tools on the Snap-On truck were AT-specials when he stopped by the Ford dealership back in the 70s. None were cheap.

Just before I drove up here to Oregon, I had my tranny rebuilt in the F-150. (I didn't have the time or the tools for it.) The 4-speed auto with overdrive cost $1,825. Ford had just doubled their parts prices the month before and I believe they've done that again since 2002. Of course, the rebuilders get them for half the price we pay as outsiders.

Check the parts prices before you even think of doing it yourself. And read the manual to see how much the tools will cost you before you start. You'll likely either have to build some of those tools yourself or just buy the rebuilt unit. Or you could bribe one of the AT men at the local dealerships into doing it for you or loaning you his tools. (Right, fat chance of the loaners.)

- Press HERE to arm. (Release to detonate.) -----------

The problem with being a first time auto trans rebuilder is the learning curve. If you are willing to take it on as a learning project and realize that you may may make mistakes that require a second or third go at it, by all means proceed. But be aware that you may think a component looks okay, and reassemble it, only to find later that it wasn't.

I rebuilt a Chrysler automatic some years ago. Bought a rebulid kit, borrowed the special tools from a friend who was a professional mechanic, read the rebuild manual, spent a couple of evenings in the garage and thought I had done a good job. Installed a new torque converter, got it all buttoned up, added fluid, started the engine, put it in drive, and it drove fine...for about 3 feet.

Turned out that one of the components, which I assumed had been intentionally machined, was not. What I thought were machined grooves were actually very deep wear grooves that appeared to have been cut on a lathe. But the machining process hadn't been done at the factory. Not having had the experience of knowing how a good component was supposed to appear, this was a reasonable error, but I was not happy to have to pull the trans again and take it to a rebuild shop after doing all that work. Now I avoid auto trans rebuilds because I don't have the time to do the job two or three times in order to climb the learning curve. I prefer to leave the details of the rebuild to someone with experience and access to spare parts.

You might call around to some speed shops in your neighborhood and try to find someone who rebuilds automatics on the side and feels comfortable with your trans. I have had excellent results with a local hot rodder who enjoys doing this sort of thing. I think he charged me $250 for the last one he did for me several years ago and it worked great.

James

I've worked on the Contour engine and found everything extremely hard to work on. I'd pass on this car for any major repair. Most shops won't work on them as the cost of repair easily surpasses the cars value. Believe engine has to come out with the trans. Local shops want $1,900 for the job. Car is worth $1,800. Go find you a Camry or a Nissan Altima. Both are about the same size and built better.

Its not a mazda, this ford was a big hit overseas. and its NOT JUNK. My wife put 180,000 miles on hers before we sold it. It was the most reliable car we have owned yet. We have had imports and domestic cars/trucks and our 1995 contour with a 5 speed was a great car, it was also very fun to drive, even they day it left. I did all the maintence and it never needed anything more than normal items. It also got 33 MPG.

I agree. I would have never bought the car. I "inherited" so to speak. It was my wife's car before we got married. She bought it new. Just doing simple stuff is pain on this car. Belts, plugs, wires, etc should be simple on a 4 cyl. Ford/Mazda found a way to make it difficult.

I figured as much. That's one reason why I hate working on FWD cars.

Didn't plan to take it to a shop. I can do the R&R myself pretty easily. Just have never tackled rebuilding an auto trans.

Go find you a Camry or a Nissan Altima. Both are about the

I am not looking to buy a replacement. Just weighing the options of what to do with this as for as cost vs return. It's a spare car and taking up space.

Try changing the fluid and clear the computer codes. Use type F if it's slipping. Worth a try?

Tried that. I don't know if it took it out faster, but it lasted for a whole day after that.

JW

Just to point out that the bluebook value of your vehicle isn't necessarily what it's "worth", it's a guideline for what you can sell it for.

If you know the rest is in great condition, it might be worth the certified rebuild.

jw wrote:

Blue Book is ~$3000, but based on what I have seen similar models sell for recently, I can't reasonably expect to get much over $1800. I might convince someone to pay $2k, but I'm not going to hold my breath on it.

You are right. Blue book doesn't detemine worth. As my Dad always says: "It's only worth what someone is willing to pay".

As a general rule, I consider blue book to be the very top of what I should offer/get a "perfect" vehicle. Anything that needs to be fixed gets discounted from that point. (perfect is variable based on reasonable expectations for item in question)

JW