Hostgator

Actually no, it doesn’t, honestly. Here are your facts, your S is nine years old and it has nearly 100,000 miles on the odometer. From what your answer says, you have taken good care of it. However, when you break a motor mount some nasties happen. The most immediate is that the engine shifts. It isn’t enough to stop the car, but it is enough to cause systems to start to have failures. Witness the crank pull and the drive belt. You didn’t state which side front mount failed but I would venture a guess that is is likely the right as the two assemblies you mention would tend to fail if the engine were to shift to the right. They could not maintain alignment.

Since there are only three years on the replacement transmission and you haven’t indicated that your S has had any sort of tranny-related issue since you replaced it, I think you are okay on that front.

As to the rest of the problems, they are mechanical. Between the age of your S and the fact that an engine mount broke, you have to expect the problems you have had.

Did they give you the fault code??

Okay, your tranny like as not has gone into limp-home mode. In limp-home, you usually lose most of your forward gears and reverse may or may not work. If it does work, it usually works as you describe it. From what you are describing, it is a good bet that either one or more of the clutches and bands has gone or the clutches/bands/gearing combination has gone. If this is the case, and I suspect that it is, then you are looking at a major transmission job. You are looking at a $2,500 to $3,200 tab, depending on the number of clutch packs, bands and gears that may have gone.

Before you run out to the shop and spend the money, there’s another possibility. It is possible that one or more of the shift solenoids on the valve body have gone. If a shift solenoid has gone, then it won’t go into the proper gear or if it does go into gear, it won’t leave that gear, so I would have them checked.

Finally, two more areas to check are the valve body where a check valve may be stuck, not allowing the transmission fluid to flow properly or the torque converter. If the torque converter is misaligned or is damaged it is quite possible that could be contributing to the problem.

And, while I honestly suspect the problem is in the clutch/band/gearing area, it is possible that each of the areas is contributing to the problem and the only fix for that is a rebuilt transmission. The cost of that fix is roughly $3,000.

It sounds like you have several transmission and engine-related problems. Let’s look at each one.

1. When you shift from Park to Drive you hear a winding sound. It also happens when you take off without a load attached like a trailer. It sounds, at this point, like your transmission is having either a torque converter problem (likely, but not the main reason) or a clutch/band problem (likely the main reason). If your F150 were having a torque converter problem, then it is quite likely you would continue to hear the winding (could you mean whining?) sound in every gear, slowing down and starting up. And, when you reached cruising speed, it would assume a steady winding sound. With that said, though, you would have other problems, like a lack of pickup and your step-down into a higher gear for passing would likely be notchy, as well because the torque converter couldn’t handle the requirements suddenly being forced onto it. That’s why I think this problem is related to the clutches/bands. The clutches, like the clutch in a standard transmission, are used to smooth the transition between gears as the transmission and engine speeds are synchronized. If the clutches are slipping, then you get that type of winding sound (whining?) as they are reluctantly engaging. Further, since it tends to go away when you hit highway speed and when your F-150 reaches cruising speed and fourth gear, I suspect it is in the clutches. Of course, the clutch packs partner in operation, the bands, could be the guilty parties in this as they tighten up to help the clutches engage and remain engaged. It’s possible the bands could be slipping as well. I would have those areas checked. It wouldn’t hurt to have the valve body checked as well as there could be something hanging up as a result of a check valve that is remaining open (or closed when it should open).

2. Your F-150 is rattling and vibrating as you brake in drive. The signs of this one point to transmission slippage and the primary suspects in this one point to the clutches and bands. The issue is this, why only in drive? Why isn’t this happening as the transmission slows from drive to third, second and first? Ah, it may seem like it isn’t, but it could just be happening, as well. This is because your slowing transmission isn’t synching to the engine correctly because the clutches aren’t working correctly and the bands may be slipping. Of course, it could be the torque converter again, but this isn’t likely because you would have the vibrating in gear as you drive. Now, it is possible that a solenoid is misfiring so that the gearing isn’t meshing correctly, causing the vibration. I’d have the transmission specialist look at the clutch/band pairings first. I bet you will find the problem there. Here’s a final thought on this one: check out the cruise control. A throttle position sensor that is sticking could also be causing this. The TPS, by the way, also affects the transmission, so it pays to look.

3. Your engine feels like it is shifting to a lower gear, though you are in drive. Well, my friend, I think we have just found the cause of your problem. Let’s put it together:

• The winding (whining??) sound
• The vibrations/rattling
• The revving (it operates like it is downshifting)

If your transmission is whining when you are moving along and it is also vibrating or rattling and it is revving, then what you have is transmission slippage. The likely culprits here are the clutches/bands. It might also be the clutch/bandsand gears because they may have been damaged by other issues.

Since that is the likely case, you will need a transmission rebuilt because the clutches have to be replaced for every gear as do the bands. They operate by complementing each other. As the clutches engage, the bands tighten up for each gear. It is quite likely that the gearing is also involved because of the way the transmission is built. If there is clutch/band damage, it is likely that the gearing attached to that particular pair is also not working correctly, so the technician will have to get inside the housing and take a look at that, as well.

In terms of cost, you are looking at a $3,000 to $3,200 investment which is a good idea if you plan to keep the F-150 for a longer time. At seven years old, there’s still plenty of life left.

Boy, they think they see a really naive person coming in. A $6,000 clutch repair has me shaking my head that they would even think that such a thing would fly. Why, you can replace an entire automatic transmission (there are four or more clutches in some) for $3,200 and a manual is a bit less mechanically complex. You should be able to replace the entire transmission for about $2,600 or so.

The “thing that holds the clutch” is, as you point out, a rather vague way to say something. I don’t know if the mechanic is referring to the throw-out bearing and related assembly. The throw-out bearing is the part that actually pulls the friction plate and clutch plate apart. The friction plate on on the transmission side of things while the clutch plate is on the engine side. When they are forced together, the car moves. The clutch plate, by the way, is the face of the flywheel assembly that actually controls things. You need the gearing to get your car up to speed and to keep it moving without stalling.

Now, I don’t know of any special magic that holds a Subaru transmission together, unless they have a different style of mojo or something. I haven’t heard that they have double-clutches or some other variety of mechanical complexity. The six-speed is pretty straightforward and standard.

With that said, how can they ask you for double the price of a new transmission to fix the old one? The answer simply is they cannot. The price to fix the throw-out bearing and related assembly is in the $1,200 range, depending on labor. It might be as high as $1,600, but it is certainly not $7,000.

I hate to ask you to do this but do you think you could pull out the drum again and look at your work. You are going to have to tear the drum down again because I think you may have misaligned something. Taking apart a drum and putting it back together, unless you are very experienced at it, requires some painstaking work as you remove the various planetary gears, various clutch pieces, the sun gear, disk pack halves and so on. All it takes is one misaligned gear (there are several that fit together) or one misaligned C-type holding ring, gear pack, disk pack or band and you can have all kinds of trouble.

Yes, it is easy to save money doing this work but now you are seeing the downside of doing-it-yourself for the first time. There’s the possibility that something has been missed or misaligned or forgotten and the result of that is performance as you described.

You can do the work yourself again — you have already done it before — but this time slow down and do each step carefully so that when everything is back together — as you know it goes together like an old box trick, one think fits inside the next and so on until you have finished — everything works correctly.

Failing that, you are looking at probably another $1,500 in labor and parts charges to have the drum repaired again.

I was looking through a couple of Civic forums to see if there might be a common thread with your problem and I believe I have found it. Believe it or not, the problem isn’t in the transmission. More than likely, you will find that one of your engine mounts is cracked. I suspect that you will find the right front engine mount may be cracked. It should cost you anywhere between $300 and $500 to replace. Let me know if this fixes the problem.

Before I can help you with a diagnosis, can you tell me if there have been any fault codes generated? If here have been fault codes, what were they? Once I have them, I can give you a better idea of what’s going on. I could give you a diagnosis, but, I need the codes for the best outcome.

Although there is a known shift problem, I don’t think your transmission has been affected by it. The reason is that you can get to drive, but you can’t get the car into reverse. Instead, your transmission has gone into limp-home mode.

Limp-home is a fail-safe mode that keeps your Mustang rolling until you can get it to a shop. I would suggest that your next stop is a visit to your mechanic where he can put an OBD-II scanner into the diagnostic connector. The chances are very good that he will find a major transmission error code, possibly in the 0700 range. This range, P0703-P0784, is all the major transmission-related codes. There is one other general code that also pertains: 70765 which indicates a major transmission fault, but doesn’t point to any specific area. The others all point to specific parts.

Given the number of potential areas that can throw and error code and put your Mustang into limp-home, I strongly recommend that you have yours looked at right away. It is quite possible that the code may refer to a more minor system or even to an engine system (there are several systems that are shared between the engine and transmission) and may be just be a hiccup that can be cured by a system reset.

However, because you have already had a couple of episodes, I believe it is more serious than just a simple device error code. I suspect that your transmission may have had some damage done internally. The only way to find out is to start with the OBD-II scanner and move on from there.

Here’s the thing about transmissions and error codes. It’s a hit-and-miss thing. If the error is strictly in the transmission and doesn’t impact the engine even indirectly then it is quite likely that no code was ever generated. And, the car’s computer control module (CCM) listens to only one or two of the transmission’s sensors so even if there is a problem, the CCM won’t log it. It thinks things are just fine, when they are not.

In my suggestions earlier, I mentioned two solenoids, the TCC and TCS. Over time, solenoids, since they are electronic, can become heat-sensitive. As the become more and more sensitive they tend to fail. Allowing them to cool down causes them to reset and work again. The result is that your transmission works as it should.

Note, that neither of these solenoids will likely generate an error code that is capturable by the CCM because they impact only the transmission and nowhere else. Since there is no error code generated, there is no error code to look up with and OBD-II scanning tool. That’s why the shop said there was no code.

You can have them fix the two solenoids but if you do remember it’s like the story of the 89-cent car part that only took $4,000 labor to install. The solenoids themselves aren’t that expensive. It is getting to them that requires lots of effort and time. The effort and time means you will be spending a lot on labor just to replace two solenoids. In reality, the shop is quite justified in suggesting that you should just replace your transmission for the reasons I just listed. You’ll likely spend the better part of $2,500 to replace either or both of the solenoids. Since that’s the case, it is better to just invest another $500 and drop in a rebuilt tranny.

The reason I suggest the rebuilt is the best way to go is this, as your mechanic goes through the various stages of the teardown and rebuilt, it is possible that various pieces can become distorted or damaged due to their manipulation. If parts are damaged, the transmission likely won’t work correctly when things are all closed up again. Given this possibility, it makes more sense to just swap out the transmission due to the location of the parts and their potential impact on performance.

Would I be wrong in assuming that along with your moderate driving habits you have good maintenance habits? In other words, do you have the engine oil and filters changed out at say 5,000 miles (it’s a diesel and all kinds of nasties build up if you go much further), including the diesel filter itself (you don’t have to, it’s just a nice precaution)? If you have maintained your car well, then it is likely that you had the automatic transmission fluid checked and changed. VW says your transmission fluid is meant for a “lifetime fill.” What is a lifetime fill? Some people say it is 100,000 miles; others say it’s 125,000, and others say it’s 40,000 to 60,000. The answer is this (it’s my preference): 40,000 to 60,000 miles. As I said, it’s my preference, but I think 60,000 is the maximum mileage for transmission fluid. Granted, it is an older idea but it is still sound, IMHO.

So, with the foregoing good habits established and with your VW at 280,000 kms, it’s not unreasonable to expect things to start breaking down, for no apparent reason. Age does have a lot to do with things. At nearly 300,000 kms, thing happen. For example, your transmission likely has had a build up of various deposits over time. It is not unusual for this to happen as dirt and other debris will settle out of transmission flow and begin to buildup at various points. Over time, those deposits, if they are on turbine vanes or the impeller, the clutch pack faces or bands or on the gears. The deposits may be really tiny, but they do have their effect at causing transmission imbalances and other damage. Over time, too, items like the valve body and the associated check valves may become clogged or damaged and even internal galleries can be plugged, each of which can lead to more damage. All of this is just plainly associated with breakdown over time.

With all of this said, the figures you were quoted are pretty good. Indeed, I would like to have a fully rebuilt unit installed for $2,800, if I could get one. The $3,400 price is also fair, though it is tending toward the high side.

As for your comment about remanufactured versus rebuilt units being the same, here’s a hint: they are.

Where should I begin? Your transmission is not answer the call of its nature, at all, from the sound of your question so I would think you’d know that the unit is likely shot. I think that since your car is 19 years old (car years are something like dog years only the wear is worse and use about the same factor of 7). Since your car is 19 car years old (actually 20 now), it is around 135 years old in human terms (it could even be older as no one really has a good solid age/use conversion table). At that point in anyone’s life — if you get to stay around that long — everything just starts to shut down. Your transmission is at that point, too.

It is quite likely that all of the major systems are shot. If you want specifics, see if an OBD-II diagnostic will reveal any hard error codes for an indication of where a technician should start the hunt. If your vehicle were mine, I’d just replace the transmission — if you like the car, it’s the only choice. If you do, you are looking at a $3,200 charge.

Your Silverado is in limp-home mode. Something has happened to cause your transmission control module to send a signal to the car’s central control computer telling the central unit that a major error has occurred. If you have access to an OBD-II scanner, insert the control head into the diagnostic outlet on the left-hand, lower side of the dash, above the kick-panel, and read the results. That will give you an indication of where the failure has occurred.

There are many things that can cause your Silverado to go into limp-home mode. It might be a faulty solenoid (hopefully this is the problem as it is the easiest and least expensive to fix) or it could be a problem with the valve body, possibly a stuck check valve. It might also be a problem with the torque converter or it might be on the output shaft side. It could also be in the gearing or the clutch packs. It is a wide range of possibilities and without seeing the code I have no idea of the location or the real problem.

Suffice it to say, once you get the code you can have the problem fixed and your transmission should be okay. If the transmission is gone totally — I don’t think it is — you are looking at about a $3,200 investment in a rebuilt replacement.