Transmission Swap

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I have a 09 Corolla with 171k miles and a dead transmission. The shop is putting in a used one with 73k miles on it, and are giving me a 12k mile, 1 year warranty on the replacement, which I thought was nice. The owner must feel good about this unit, since the yard he got it from only offered him 6 months and he extended it for me.

My question for BITOG is, is there anything different I should do in maintenance for this new transmission, or just stick to the OM for fluid service intervals? I'll be asking what fluid the shop filled it with and will likely be sticking with that. I would just love it if I could put 171k miles on this transmission too, so I may be overthinking this a bit.

The initial failure was a stuck manual valve and the mechanic said it only got worse after they took the valve body off, which I believe is why they are just replacing the whole unit. As always, thanks in advance for your insight.
 
Originally Posted by Ponchinizo


My question for BITOG is, is there anything different I should do in maintenance for this new transmission, or just stick to the OM for fluid service intervals? I'll be asking what fluid the shop filled it with and will likely be sticking with that. I would just love it if I could put 171k miles on this transmission too, so I may be overthinking this a bit...



Change the fluid every 30k miles with Amsoil ATL, or Redline D6, or MaxLife ATF. Hopefully the shop doing the swap will put in a decent fluid such as Amsoil ATL, Redline D6, or MaxLife ATF.
 
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Quote
I would just love it if I could put 171k miles on this transmission too, so I may be overthinking this a bit.


I'd be awfully disappointed if I only got that out of a quality Aisin transmission that I had maintained properly, and did not abuse. Follow what Molakule said above and you should be able to do much better this time around.
 
Originally Posted by Ponchinizo
The initial failure was a stuck manual valve and the mechanic said it only got worse after they took the valve body off, which I believe is why they are just replacing the whole unit.


So why don't they repair or replace the valve body for a few hundred instead of the whole transmission which I assume is over a thousand?
 
I had the same thought.
They tried their basic fix.
Then, when that didn't work out, doing a deeper fix on a 171K trannie made an OK junkyarder seem like a better option?
 
Originally Posted by Kira
I had the same thought.
They tried their basic fix.
Then, when that didn't work out, doing a deeper fix on a 171K trannie made an OK junkyarder seem like a better option?


Depends how much labor is involved to take everything apart.
 
Very nice of the owner to extend the warranty, Id definitely go with a used one in that case. Intervals would be in the 40-50k IMO, just for peace of mind.
 
If a tranny shop thinks a unit's bad, listen. He's probably seen (and fixed for free) the heartbreak of metal scattered throughout or guts that have been abused by bad hydraulics.

My dad's 05 matrix AWD had a bad tranny and they just swapped it out. Had something to do with the downshifting/ low range mode. He drove it in the snow on the hills of Vermont-- why not use that feature?

You'll be out of warranty by the first change, right?
 
The swapping of used transmissions is super common on old vehicles. The so-called one year warranty is just playing the odds. The consumer wants to feel comfortable they are not paying for a lemon and and the shop knows there is a really good chance it will last a year. It's a win win situation if the price is right.

Where things go bad is when the shop sells a "rebuilt" transmission that is really just used transmission that checked out on their transmission dyno but is priced as a rebuilt. A good cleaning with a pressure washer and some silver spray paint can make that happen.
 
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Originally Posted by Oro_O
Quote
I would just love it if I could put 171k miles on this transmission too, so I may be overthinking this a bit.


I'd be awfully disappointed if I only got that out of a quality Aisin transmission that I had maintained properly, and did not abuse. Follow what Molakule said above and you should be able to do much better this time around.


I got this car at 120k-ish and I believe the fluid exchange I did then was the first the car saw, so I can definitely do better this time. I'm happy with how long it lasted knowing I was the first owner to care for it. And I'll absolutely be doing what Molakule said, I was so excited when I saw he replied to my thread.
laugh.gif
Thanks a bunch all for your advice!

Originally Posted by Kira
I had the same thought.
They tried their basic fix.
Then, when that didn't work out, doing a deeper fix on a 171K trannie made an OK junkyarder seem like a better option?

This was exactly the case. To be honest I prefer the swap over just a new valve body, now I won't be worrying about how little friction material is left on my clutches
lol.gif
 
Originally Posted by Ponchinizo
My question for BITOG is


The question should be, why are you putting a transmission into a $500 scrap value car with 175K miles on it?
 
Originally Posted by bubbatime
Originally Posted by Ponchinizo
My question for BITOG is


The question should be, why are you putting a transmission into a $500 scrap value car with 175K miles on it?

https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/JTDBL40EX99019490

It's still worth quite a bit more than $500....

And frankly I prefer keeping a vehicle I already know the maintenance and issues it has had. Engine is doing great, body has no rust on it. Don't ask me how that happened, it's seen 10 Illinois winters. I don't question it. I couldn't buy a nicer car than this one for the price of the transmission swap.
 
Originally Posted by Ponchinizo
Originally Posted by bubbatime
Originally Posted by Ponchinizo
My question for BITOG is


The question should be, why are you putting a transmission into a $500 scrap value car with 175K miles on it?

https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/JTDBL40EX99019490

It's still worth quite a bit more than $500....

And frankly I prefer keeping a vehicle I already know the maintenance and issues it has had. Engine is doing great, body has no rust on it. Don't ask me how that happened, it's seen 10 Illinois winters. I don't question it. I couldn't buy a nicer car than this one for the price of the transmission swap.


Yup. Another used car is always a crapshoot. It's better to fix what you have.
 
When to scrap a car is an interesting question. I have three vehicles. One I will junk if the tranny goes. Two I'm planning on running to 250,000 miles each, and yes, I'd get a rebuilt or used tranny. Meanwhile I put two kids through college and a third will be done soon. Each has no debt but I drive older vehicles because of it.
lol.gif
 
Originally Posted by bubbatime
Originally Posted by Ponchinizo
My question for BITOG is


The question should be, why are you putting a transmission into a $500 scrap value car with 175K miles on it?

How do you figure it's worth $500? 175k doesn't sound like a lot of miles to me.
 
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by bubbatime
Originally Posted by Ponchinizo
My question for BITOG is


The question should be, why are you putting a transmission into a $500 scrap value car with 175K miles on it?

How do you figure it's worth $500? 175k doesn't sound like a lot of miles to me.


An 12 year old car with 175k miles is worth $1500. Minus the broken transmission, it's a non working car. It's worth scrap value, $500.

I have a fully optioned 2010 Acura TSX and would sell it for $2500 if I didn't use it.
 
The issue is this car can become a money any day now. Been there and when you start to lose work days your priorities change. I wish you the best.
 
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