I think I ruined my transmission :(

Quoting this for emphasis..let it cool down, change the fluid, confirm it's actually bad and not just it giving you a little warning slap.

Was going to give an anecdote but I am also superstitious and still own/drive the vehicle in question, so I will just say BTDT as far as thinking the sky is falling after an 'event' but all was/is fine after just a quick reset so to speak.

 

dude fix the line urself and put a inline filter aswell and put some lucas atf oil and after all that it still doesnt work then yeah rebuild. Btw get a scangauge to monitor the trans temp also.

 

well, pretty much everything has been said, except this..

the guy that thinks 85 is fast, thats the guy you wanna buy a truck from =D

 

$3200 to install a used transmission with 116,000 miles? Time to look around, maybe another shop. Get quote to rebuild your transmission, find reman, or brand new.
My coworker, his was manual transmission, and different brand of truck. He put wrong gear oil in transmission, ended buying brand new transmission, and R/R himself. The reason, because the price to rebuild his transmission, cost close to brand new.

 

Slap a new line on it, fill er up and drive it

Then decide what you need to do IF you need to do anything

 

Drain what fluid you can out and put new fluid in. Drive it and see how it acts. Maybe do it once more to dilute the over heated fluid even more. If it drives different than normal but acceptable, why not run it until it actually dies. Get as much use as you can out of the current one before replacing it.

Did you by chance keep it in 4H where you should have used 4L? That would have over heated it if done for an extended period of time.

 

I did have it in 4 hi because I didn’t think the terrain warranted 4 lo, but I could have been wrong…. I think most of my tranny fluid was already gone anyways from the broken line. I’ve got it in a shop right now and I’ve got the mechanic fixing up the lines and refilling it to see what it does. Maybe it’ll be somewhat drivable still and I’ll just run it until it actually dies.

 

Lines/filter/oil needs to be done regardless which way you choose.

Call a few shops for quotes on transmission replacement. Then you'll know if $3200 is competitive for your area.

 

UPDATE: Tried the $800 fix for the lines and fluid, the truck is somewhat drivable but 3rd and 4th gears are shot. It takes me about 30 seconds to get up to 60 mph looks like I’m out a couple hundred bucks and will need to just replace the transmission or get it rebuilt. Thanks everyone for the input!

 

Also here’s some pictures of where the line got worn through and I lost all my fluid. Check your lines everyone!

 

Ohhh man that sucks. Well good luck with the repairs..was going to say I will go check mine with this as inspiration but realized I was having a senior moment..

 

Hopefully they also figure out why it was rubbing in the first place. That also needs to be addressed

 

When's the last time you bought a used transmission? The trans alone is going to cost $2300, or more. With the labor to pick up and R&R, you're not far off the $3200 quote. Local price of a reman is $2900, the extra $600 gets you a 3 year warranty, though. My Dakota ate it's trans in '05 and even then it cost $2k. At today's rates, I wouldn't think $3200 is that far out of line.

OP, if you're lucky, the guy that fixed the lines will give you a bit of a break on the price since he's already been involved.

 

car-part.com shows between 800-$1,200 for a trans.

Nobody really rebuild them anymore, they all get swapped for used.

 

Those were the prices I got off the local salvage yard. I agree, most don't get remans, there are 2 places locally that do rebuilds, but I would suspect the labor cost would be prohibitive.

 

No need to get all bent out of shape! I never need to buy used, or new transmission, for any reason for my personal use, or anybody else. I just telling OP to look around, if get other options. If no more, no more!

 

The $3200 actually included the lines, now he said if I want him to replace the transmission it’ll be $2700, which definitely seems reasonable to me.

 

Wife was coming back from NorCal about 5 years ago in her ‘03 4Runner…said she saw a bunch of smoke behind her coming up the grapevine and pulled over…said under the truck was wet. Small puddle was red, so trans fluid.

I walked her through checking the dipstick…it was a bit low, but within range. She was about 80 miles from home at this point, and I figured I’d be pulling the trans anyway if it puked, so I told her to drive it till it didn’t move anymore. She made it home an hour or so later, I degreased and hosed off the underside the next day, added a 1/2 quart or so, then she drove it until we sold it 3 months ago with zero issues.
No idea what happened, don’t care. There was never any shifting or performance issues though…it just decided to puke some fluid I guess.

what “transmission oil light” came on? Trans temp? Low fluid level?