Educate me on transmissions

[hwcurtice]

Refurbished?

Re manufactured?

Rebuilt?

Yeah, so the wife's car needs transmission work now... Figures... Never rains but it pours... :booo:

 

[XSrcing]

What kind of car is it?

 

[WA-Wheeler]

Depends on the car, how much your willing to spend and where this work is being done. For cost reasons on older cars I usually recommend a used tranny swap. usually 3 out of 4 drive away no probelms....

 

[hwcurtice]

2005 Taurus.

They built millions.

The real question is, what is the difference between the three? I've heard of them all.

And like I said, it's my wife's car. Its way more important than my truck.

 

[Wheeling Willie]

Yep

Depends on the car, how much your willing to spend and where this work is being done. For cost reasons on older cars I usually recommend a used tranny swap. usually 3 out of 4 drive away no probelms....

Yep Totally depends on the Rig, Manual or Auto,? Why the Tranny failed,? Some transmissions are notorious for failure and swapping out a used may be installing something that is the one out of the 4 that aint gonna work,

What kinda Rig?

 

[Wheeling Willie]

Axod

2005 Taurus.

They built millions.

The real question is, what is the difference between the three? I've heard of them all.

And like I said, it's my wife's car. Its way more important than my truck.

Okay, AXOD or AX4N in them Taurasses, Now definitely have that one built,

For 2 main reasons, the forward clutch piston is made from thin aluminum Stock,

It cracks,

The brilliance of the aftermarket made a Steel Forward piston,

That dont crack,

The 2nd reason is the lubrication of that tranny, the stock set up deprives the planets of lube,
Have the Builder install the lube dam and steel forward piston and you have a happy tranny,

http://transmissiontechnologies.com/axod-lube-dam.aspx

And From the Car Libarary Dudes

"The high failure rate has been blamed on inadequate internal lubrication of critical parts, and a weak forward clutch piston that cracks and leaks pressure. Ford scrimped on the forward clutch piston, making it out of cast aluminum until 1995, when they switched to a steel part due to all the trouble they were having with this transmission."

Yeah Right, Ford knew that piston was a pos, even applies in park,

Whoops, sorry

 

[hwcurtice]

Well, I'll shorten the story. Took it in for servicing. They dropped the pan to see what was in there, and besides the usual metal shavings, which I'm guessing most transmissions do over time, this one has 126K, this one had some brass laying in there. They put brass in these?

Anyway, the reason this is significant is, if brass shows up, the washers that are protecting said brass are gone. So my son was told when he picked up the car.

At least this isn't an Aerostar transmission. All plastic and only good for 60k.

So options really are, and 'off the shelve' rebuild or a shop rebuild.

The only problem I have with 'off the shelve' is, how long has it been sitting there?

 

[Wheeling Willie]

Brass

Well, I'll shorten the story. Took it in for servicing. They dropped the pan to see what was in there, and besides the usual metal shavings, which I'm guessing most transmissions do over time, this one has 126K, this one had some brass laying in there. They put brass in these?

Anyway, the reason this is significant is, if brass shows up, the washers that are protecting said brass are gone. So my son was told when he picked up the car.

At least this isn't an Aerostar transmission. All plastic and only good for 60k.

So options really are, and 'off the shelve' rebuild or a shop rebuild.

The only problem I have with 'off the shelve' is, how long has it been sitting there?

sure Brass is used in all the bushings in the thing,

If the tranny is working fine, run it till it blows up, sometimes the amount of brass in the pan is directly proportional to how much money the shop wants to squeeze out of you,

I think your 2005 tranny is just fine and run it till it dont move the pile anymore ,
Also its not a bad idea to run the trans about a quart or to overfilled, from the stock fill mark,

 

[Wheeling Willie]

BS

"Anyway, the reason this is significant is, if brass shows up, the washers that are protecting said brass are gone. So my son was told when he picked up the car."


I call BS For sure,

In any transmissions the thrust washers do not ride against the brass bushings,

A brass bushing can be used as a thrust surface but rarely, and not in that AX$N or whatever the glorified AXOD is,

Also there is 1 type of GM tranny that will spit out the thrust washers in the planet and not even care,

When the trans is rebuilt the thrust washer less planet is reinstalled,

I call BS and dont worry about the pile till its slipping and turning the fluid black as your engine oil,

 

[hwcurtice]

"Anyway, the reason this is significant is, if brass shows up, the washers that are protecting said brass are gone. So my son was told when he picked up the car."


I call BS For sure,

In any transmissions the thrust washers do not ride against the brass bushings,

A brass bushing can be used as a thrust surface but rarely, and not in that AX$N or whatever the glorified AXOD is,

Also there is 1 type of GM tranny that will spit out the thrust washers in the planet and not even care,

When the trans is rebuilt the thrust washer less planet is reinstalled,

I call BS and dont worry about the pile till its slipping and turning the fluid black as your engine oil,

Sounds like maybe a 2nd opinion is due...

How does one determine which transmission this is? it's a 4 speed OD.

 

[boardbysled]

Hi Frank.:hi:

 

[Wheeling Willie]

What Tranny ?

Sounds like maybe a 2nd opinion is due...

How does one determine which transmission this is? it's a 4 speed OD.

The Nomenclature may be stamped to the bottom of the pan,

AX4N

AX4S

Or something like that,

And Howdy BoredbySled,

:hi:

 

[WA-Wheeler]

Ohhhhhhh, I thought that it was already blown. I agree, run it till it does blow. I have seen dieing transmissions go for years and years with no real problems. Unless you have an actual problem with it, don't spend the money rebuilding it. BUT now that its getting to the crucial 150K failure mark be sure to flush it more often then normal. This can sustain the life of it by a lot. Also, 2005 is not that old so don't do a used transmission, if anything have it rebuilt.

 

[Wheeling Willie]

Barely Broke in

Ohhhhhhh, I thought that it was already blown. I agree, run it till it does blow. I have seen dieing transmissions go for years and years with no real problems. Unless you have an actual problem with it, don't spend the money rebuilding it. BUT now that its getting to the crucial 150K failure mark be sure to flush it more often then normal. This can sustain the life of it by a lot. Also, 2005 is not that old so don't do a used transmission, if anything have it rebuilt.

The thing to do maybee is and this is usually around the 10 year mark, is have the radiator flushed out, and or replaced, and add a additional cooler this keeps em real happy,
And the little extra fluid in the tranny, reason being is a lot of these Frt wheel drive trannys will slip just a tad on a tight turn @ speed, fluid sloshes to one side of the pan and just for a second the thing sucks air, slipping,

Also this helps I think with the lubrication of the planet gears which @ least in the older AXOD was a major problem, all the lube dam update upgrade kit does is hold oil in the planet area for splash lube, and I think even the Kit tells you to add more juice, or @ least thats always what I have been told keeps these things going,

 

[zukkev]

Overfilling the AX series trans only applied to the early AXOD's...and some AXODE's...they had the issues with oil starvation solved by the time 2005 rolled around....
And as for Radiator replacement---depends on the style of cooler used; some types will require trans cooler replacement (radiator) for warranty validation, no matter what yr the car is....

 

[TreeClimber]

What prompted you to request the pan to be dropped?

 

[hwcurtice]

Just going for the full tranny service/inspection.

Not a flush and fill. Thing isn't a toilet, I hope.

 

[Wheeling Willie]

Still use em

Overfilling the AX series trans only applied to the early AXOD's...and some AXODE's...they had the issues with oil starvation solved by the time 2005 rolled around....
And as for Radiator replacement---depends on the style of cooler used; some types will require trans cooler replacement (radiator) for warranty validation, no matter what yr the car is....

The lubrication was improved by the time 05 rolled around but the kit is cheap and a good idea, Dont know what Ford did to improve the lube, but this is Sure Fix,

Blocks up the lube and lets the planet gear sit in a puddle of lube, and cooler and or Radiator replacement yep some Dodge trannys ( Remanufactured) the Radiator is included with the trans,