Transmission Rebuild Question

[BSB97]

Hello,

I have a 1998 4 cylinder Camry that is in need of a new transmission or a rebuilt or remanufactured one.

The local trans shop is asking $2200 to remove, rebuild and replace the current transmission. This seems in line with others for this job. I asked about just rebuilding the tranny if I brought it to them and they quoted around $1400.

Both of these are out of my price range right now so I am considering taking a stab at rebuilding it myself with a rebuild kit. The issue I have is I'm not sure where to get a quality rebuild kit for the transmission so if any of you tranny experts have recommendations for rebuild kits you have used before I would appreciate it.

Also, any advice on this process would be helpful. I don't have a problem with removing the tranny, I just have never had to actually do anything with one before. This is a third car for the family so I can take my time with this to make sure it is right.

Thanks for any help.

[carsrus]

Rebuilding a transmission is not that easy. At a minimum you would need a very good guide and i do not know if one exists for this transmission.

Did the differential blow up? If so its replaceable without taking apart the rest of the transmission. There's a thread on here with someone that did this successfully.

If you can pull it yourself, I would buy a used trans for 300$ or so and go with that route. These transmissions are pretty reliable so as long as there's no weird stuff in the pan and the fluid looks ok its a good gamble to take.

Replace the rear main seal while your at it, and you can get the car running for under 400$. Rebuilds are in general a crap shoot, with most conking out within 15-30k miles. For the $1400 maybe they will replace everything that's worn, but in general they just split open the case, replace whats bad and leave everything else alone.

Putting 2200$ into the car isnt worth it IMO.

[sam333]

Most manuals wimp out and dont give detailed info on rebuilding the trans. If you can find the Toyota factory service manual( online or ebay) for your car/ year it probably has good info. You can rebuild them, but you must make sure you can get parts. It also depends on how it was treated by the previous owner, if they were really rough on it, the whole thing ( all the parts that wear/break) may need replacing. May cost you more than its worth. You will also have to improvise with tools ( the manual will call for SST's( special service tools) ) you will have to find substitutes. If you have the time and want to learn something then I would rebuild it your self. The first transaxel I ever rebuilt was from a bug( I was told by mechanics and parts shop that I could not do it), i took my time, used a manual and it worked out fine.

[slavie]

I had my transmission replaced with a rebuilt one last November, and it cost me $1300 total, I believe. However, the rebuilt tranny has caused me quite a bit of headache: it is shifting hard into reverse, esp. when the car is cold. That, in turn, tore my old engine mounts, and the Air Intake hose (thought it was old and the rubber had hardened, so the excessive engine movement probably did it in).

I got 12-mo unlimited miles warranty with the transmission though.

I saw a page somewhere on the net from this guy rebuilding his A140E himself and his experience (search for "A140E rebuild" and you should find in). In a nutshell, his conclusion was: it is doable, but you have to buy a few hundred $ worth of tools (unless you already have all the necessary jacks and whatnot to take out the engine/tranny), and there are some parts of the transmission that you just cannot remove yourself and have to go to a tranny specialist with the right tools. But, it is doable, though a major headache. It ended up costing his around $900-1000 with the money spent on tools and such.

If I were in that boat again, I would just look around for a used but good transmission and have it for $400-500. I just don't trust any questionable NYC mechanic to rebuild a transmission properly. Though doable, I would not recommend doing in yourself on a transmission of this complexity, unless you really love a challenge and have a good deal of spare time. This isn't a beatle...

I do have the Toyota Service manual for the auto transaxle (though it just shows you how to remove/service/adjust it, not rebuild) and another document of the A140E diagram of components, PM me if you'd like those.

Hope this helps.

[sam333]

[QUOTE=slavie;3575683]I had my transmission replaced with a rebuilt one last November, and it cost me $1300 total, I believe. However, the rebuilt tranny has caused me quite a bit of headache: it is shifting hard into reverse, esp. when the car is cold. That, in turn, tore my old engine mounts, and the Air Intake hose (thought it was old and the rubber had hardened, so the excessive engine movement probably did it in).

I got 12-mo unlimited miles warranty with the transmission though.

I saw a page somewhere on the net from this guy rebuilding his A140E himself and his experience (search for "A140E rebuild" and you should find in). In a nutshell, his conclusion was: it is doable, but you have to buy a few hundred $ worth of tools (unless you already have all the necessary jacks and whatnot to take out the engine/tranny), and there are some parts of the transmission that you just cannot remove yourself and have to go to a tranny specialist with the right tools. But, it is doable, though a major headache. It ended up costing his around $900-1000 with the money spent on tools and such.

If I were in that boat again, I would just look around for a used but good transmission and have it for $400-500. I just don't trust any questionable NYC mechanic to rebuild a transmission properly. Though doable, I would not recommend doing in yourself on a transmission of this complexity, unless you really love a challenge and have a good deal of spare time. This isn't a beatle...

I do have the Toyota Service manual for the auto transaxle (though it just shows you how to remove/service/adjust it, not rebuild) and another document of the A140E diagram of components, PM me if you'd like those.

Hope this helps.[/QU




BSB97 dont let anyone deter you , people base what others can do by their skills. If YOU think you can do it, do it. I have rebuilt many manual transmissions and transaxels since my first bug, and Slave is right its not a bug trans, a bug transaxel is more difficult to rebuild than most.

[BSB97]

Thanks for the responses. I have decided to swap out the transmission from another Camry that I know is good. I have already removed the good one from the car and am currently working on removing the bad one.

I do have one concern that I would like input with. I had removed the SL solenoid E from the good tranny when I was originally trying to fix the bad one. In doing this I think there may be some engine debris that fell into the hole where this solenoid sits. Is there something I can do to clean this out before installing the tranny or should I just do a flush of the system once I have it all back together? Also is there anything I should do to the tranny before I install it in the car? This is my first attempt at this repair.

Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks