nsantolick

Hi there;

My car broke down Monday. It suddenly mis-shifted upon acceleration and then stalled out a couple of hundred feet later. The car wouldn't turn over. I tried twice, and it acted like the battery was dead. Then, it started normally, but hesitated to go into gear, kind of like really low fluid level sort of stuff.

I drove a quarter of a mile, had a Guinness, called an expert and decided to try to limp home. Made it a couple of hundred feet, then, nada. The car starts normally, but has NOTHING in any gear.

It was towed to the shop that worked on it last.

My mechanic looked over my car and concluded that it needs a new automatic transmission.

He has ruled out problems with flex plates, torque tube, and the torque converter.

The fluid level was normal. He drained it and pulled the "valve body" and found small metallic particles above it. Nothing too large. But he also said that larger parts wouldn't make it to the top of the "valve body..."

I know practically nothing about automatic transmissions. I mentioned the "B2 valve" and he still says it's the whole transmission. He said the fluid, synthetic and only 1200 miles old (Changed in December 2008), has a slight "burnt" odor to it. He feels that the last owner knew that transmission was failing and sold the car because of that.

I've thrashed the hell out of the car since I got it back, on New Years eve. I didn't do anything "stupid" with it, but, I've never had more than 250 miles or so on a full tank of gas. I gun it whenever I have the chance. It's hard for me to believe that the previous owner thought it was failing, but like I said, I know practically nothing about automatic transmissions...

The last transmission fluid change didn't cause any alerts. He suspects that the previous owner changed the fluid to hide the problem...

He suggested a rebuilt one from one of those chain store tranny specialists. (Amco, I believe...)

He tells me that you need to remove the rear suspension, or something like that to remove the transmission from this car.

Can someone offer any advice about how hard it is to remove the transmission? How do you establish that the whole thing is shot in the first place? (as opposed to just a B2 valve, etc) Would it be a bad idea to trust one of those chain stores versus just coughing up the $2500+ for one rebuilt by the likes of 928 International? (I don't know much, but the idea of a generic chain store doing it just doesn't sound too smart to me...)

He thought that labor to remove the old one and install a new transmission should be well under $1000, but may approach that number. Does that sound about right?

I'm glad that there's a current thread about converting cars to manual transmissions. I have half a mind to accept that the Porsche is down for the summer, fix my crapper Maserati & do a conversion myself, rather than dump around $4000 into fixing my automatic, but then again, I'm kind of stubborn and a little pissed off right about now.

When I first got the car, I felt that the transmission felt a little "clunky..." Within a few hundred miles, I noticed a disconnected vacuum hose somewhere near the master cylinder. I popped it back in place and immediately noticed how perfectly smooth the shifts became.

The "chunkiness" came back soon after and I couldn't find any other loose vacuum hoses. Could a vacuum issue have CAUSED this transmission failure??? I certainly cant rule out OTHER vacuum leaks, by the way...

Anyway, I need advice. I really love the car and would like to have it on the road ASAP, of course. The current shop is owned by a mechanic with 40 years of experience. You know what I mean...

Anyway, he says I need a new transmission. He guestimated that the chain place would be around $1500 for the rebuild, and the whole repair should cost about $2500 or so. With a 928 International rebuild, I'm CERTAIN that the job would be done perfectly, but nevertheless, will cost nearly 2X what the cheap chain store would cost when you take freight and returning my core into account...

Frankly, I'd just assume to not take any chances and go with the "good one" but I'm still not too convinced that the whole thing is shot.

Oh well... Really need help. I'm taking it surprisingly well, but had nightmares last night, so I fear what's percolating in the subconscious... Hoping for the best...





Nick - Hazleton, Pennsyltucky - 1989 928S4 Auto - 78,000 miles - Pristine car...

AO

Dude...

I'm sorry to hear your misfortune. I have a neighbor who own an Amcco Xmission place and I would trust him to rebuild mine. The issue is the cost of the parts. I don't know if they can be compettitive vs. 928 Int'l's rebuilt Xmissions.

I'm sure a few people with more experience can/will chime in.

ROG100

Do you have a picture of the parts found in the pan?
Could be the B2 valve. A fix worth considering.
About $130 IIRC.

blown 87

I have little faith in the ones around here for European trans.