GMC work truck
- Thread starter Shorty
- Start date
"One is good 2 is better" does not always apply. With to much in there at -10° F you may not be moving.
Lily's Dad, that was back when the automatics were referred to as "Slush Boxes" or "Sluish-O-Matics".
And the life of a car back then was under 100,000 miles.
Lucas trans conditioner is not thick.
Well usually no more than 120-130 miles.
But still transmissions were "tougher" back then.
It wasn't common to go thru a couple on your way to 100,000.
I did tear up my share of them though.
Living in the country and playing race driver as a kid.
It was usually the landings that were the hardest on them lol.
My '04 Chevy has close to 220K on the original tranny and engine. Tranny is in good shape, just check over when I have the new fuel pump put in. Engine uses about a qt to 3k mile on Hi Mileage oil. Don't know if the Hi mile stuff is any better but that is what has been used for the last 50K miles.
Before the auto tyranny came out there was a lot more clutches replaced. Worked for DNR back then and they gave us light pickups, fleet vehicles at best, or cars. Pulling boats in and out of ramps 3 or 4 times a day would take a clutch a year out.
Any one that goes through a couple trannys on the way to 100K needs to re-evaluate their driving habits.
Before the auto tyranny came out there was a lot more clutches replaced. Worked for DNR back then and they gave us light pickups, fleet vehicles at best, or cars. Pulling boats in and out of ramps 3 or 4 times a day would take a clutch a year out.
Any one that goes through a couple trannys on the way to 100K needs to re-evaluate their driving habits.
I had a 57 Chevy clunker back in the younger days and it had a 3 speed auto on the column, Hi - Lo - Reverse. Was letting my buddy (now BIL) drive it on a back road, we came around a corner and I told him to yank it into LO and punch-it. Yep, he went down to Reverse and the little 283 screamed and died. We did a Chinese fire drill switching places as BIG dogs were coming down the hill from the house. Car started, but the shackles were shoved up into the trunk and the drive shaft was rubbing the floor boards. My feet were buzzing after we finally got home.
Auto transmissions in a lot of cars and trucks from the 80s on up were trash!
A friend of the family owns a transmission shop. He said he does a good business. He said dodge caravans from the 90s put his 2 kids through college.
A friend of the family owns a transmission shop. He said he does a good business. He said dodge caravans from the 90s put his 2 kids through college.
Just look at craigslist,Facebook Market place,Let Go,Offer up,etc.
Or look around locally.
You can nice cars and trucks all over cheap with bad transmissions.
The quality is not what it once was and partly on purpose to control supply and demand.
Companys need consumers to buy new ever few years and that is what a vast majority also want today.
And to add to the point. The era of self repair.
Working on them and maintaining your stuff at home is gone.
Self made mechanics is a gone era.
That time is gone.
Most don't understand anything about the workings or parts of a vehicle today let alone how to diagnose,repair or even maintain them.
Nor do most people want to today.
And that's what the companies and the government wants.
Combine that with throw away parts and you have a combination for lots of vehicle issues.
It is half way a created situation that works to the companies profits and the majority's wants.
Sad but true.
And no I didn't touch on it but yes you need computer skills and computers to even begin to diagnose and repair most major and minor issues today.
But some things can still be repaired and maintained with experience,knowledge, hand tools and,a multimeter.
I hear that Aaron! My wife's old '97 Caravan is sitting in the back yard. It still runs and drives but 3rd and 4th gears are gone. 225,000 miles. Still did ok I guess for that many miles, but the cost of repairing the tranny would have totaled out the van. It has donated a lot of parts to projects though, and makes a moveable storage shed!
DAC
DAC
You guys can have your auto trannys, I will stick to my manuals. I learned to drive in a 53 Chevy with powerglide and my mother had to get it rebuilt. I have had to get every auto rebuilt that I have owned and not necessary my fault. The last one is an 05 Yukon XL Denali that the line in the radiator broke and put anti freeze in it and only 53,000 on it but only have 65,000 on it now. I did buy it used.
Technology has changed a bit since 1953. The cooler line breaking wasn't a transmission problem. It created a transmission problem, but the trans wasn't the root of the problem. The Chrysler minivan transmission problems that people complain about are more often a sensor issue that prevents the transmission from upshifting. People keep driving them at highway speeds in a low gear and eventually the transmission gives up.
I know it wasn't a sensor in my wife's '97 Caravan. It would shift up fine but when it would shift to third, it was like neutral. Trannny shop said something like "high speed hub broken"? I don't remember exactly. Wife said when she slowed down to turn onto the street we live on as she accelerated there was a bang and it started coasting. She pulled the shift lever down to first and it took off good enough to get her home. I actually drove it to work for awhile as I don't get over 45 mph anyway. Tranny shop owners are good friends and were and are in business since the mid 1980's. I've got nothing against automatics and that is the only one that ever failed ever since I've been driving. The TH 350 in my '72 GMC is still shifting strong and is original. It is a leaker though. Just have to check fluid now and then.
DAC
Only had to rebuild one auto, in a 1980 Chevy full size Blazer. Not mine nor the trans fault, but due to someone at the factory installing the shaft coupler backwards at the transfer case input. It was 13 years old when the coupler, being backwards it finally slid past the seal lip and flooded the transfer case with oil and left the trans extremely low on oil. I bought all the trans oil at stores along the way to limp home, as it ultimately overpowered the output seal at the driveshaft and started leaving a trail of ATF. I took the transfer case out and saw the issue and reversed the coupler. About a year later it lost forward, so I took the trans out & took it to a local rebuilder. He fully rebuilt it for just $150. But that was in
94.
94.
I picked up soooo many Caravans for scrap. All of them with a trailer hitch on the back and a blown tranny. They were not meant to tow much.
Have you towed with it?
My head prefers a manual, my back does not.
I am saving m oney to rebuild teh 4l60e in #7. It will go out since I tow with it. Everyone I have had failed. Fortunately I know a guy with trans shop.
Yah I know just what you mean. I think?