Need tranny advice a.s.a.p please!

[BlackIce]

Here's the quick and dirty,

Bought my 'Rauder two months/4k miles ago from Lamoreaux Ford in E. Brookfield, MA. It was represented as having a tranny with 12k miles swapped in about 22k miles ago. It has had a bit of a "slam" shift to accompany a small bit of flare when shifting from 4-3 or 4-2, but I passed this off as normal knowing how temperamental the 4R70W's are.

Well, this week the flare started getting worse and worse until the engine would redline before it downshifted. I also noticed that it would take 5-10 seconds for O/D to disengage using the button on the shifter. Finally yesterday the tranny started slipping when starting in D from rest, so it was off to the dealership for the MM.

They called me a little while ago with two options:

1) Low-mile junkyard replacement, complete R&R and no cost to me

2) Ford Re-man tranny, complete R&R with me paying the difference of $600

The first option has a one-year warranty, and the Ford re-man has a three year warranty, both handled by the dealership if anything goes wrong.

What do you guys think?

It seems the Ford re-man would be the better choice, just looking for some second opinions...

Thanks everyone!

-Dom

[larryo340]

Did you buy an extended warranty for the car when you bought it? If you didn't buy the extended then take the Ford Reman unit and pay the $600 and run. Sounds like they are slipping the repair thru with the Ford AWA (after warranty adjustment) which the replacement of a transmission on a used car would not be allowed.

By the terms stated in the below MA Lemon Law you would be beyond any of the time/mileage shown. I found this website describing MA used car Lemon Law:

http://www.robisonservice.com/custfind/lemonlaw.asp

Taken from that page:


Warranty Length
The coverage depends on the mileage of the vehicle at the time of purchase as outlined below:



Mileage Warranty Period

Less than 40,000 miles: 90 days or 3,750 miles,




whichever comes first

40,000 to 79,999 miles: 60 days or 2,500 miles,

whichever comes first

80,000 to 124,999 miles: 30 days or 1,250 miles,

whichever comes first

125,000 miles or over: No express warranty

If the true mileage of the vehicle is unknown at the time of the sale, the warranty period is calculated according to the age of the vehicle as outlined below:




Age of Vehicle Warranty Period





3 years old or less: 90 days/3,750 miles, whichever comes first




More than 3 and less than 6 years old: 60 days/2,500 miles, whichever comes first

More than 6 years old: 30 days/1,250 miles. whichever comes first

[Blackmobile]

If you didn't buy the extended then take the Ford Reman unit and pay the $600 and run.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^What he said.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I had my tranny rebiult and it ran me ~ $3100 for a pretty much bullet proof unit. If I wanted a stock rebuild, it would have cost me ~ $2200. So if I had to option to replace it and pay $600 :eek: , I would have been all over that.


Ed

[grampaws]

Reman unit and warranty!

[Bradley G]

Sounds like a gift on the reman.

[red]

I agree that the remanufactured transmission is probably your best bet.

[BlackIce]

Thanks for the info and tips guys. The reman unit is on its way from Oklahoma and should be in the car by early next week.

Since a tranny is one of the few things I haven't replaced before, I have to ask: is there a "break-in" or "take-it-easy" period with new/reman trannies or are they generally good to go out of the crate? Can I re-install my Lidio tune right away or should I wait to make sure the new tranny behaves well without it?

[Black_Noise]

I would go a while without the tune to make sure the trans is ready to go and broke in.

Thats just my opinion

[larryo340]

There isn't a break in for transmissions, but I would put some miles on it to make sure it's ok before installing new tune.

[Blackmobile]

Letta Ripp!!

[BlackIce]

Sounds good, thanks for the input again guys.

Funny thing about the tune is that it was basically keeping the car drivable, and I didn't realize how bad the tranny really was until I removed it while troubleshooting. It went from barely slipping in D with the tune installed to barely engaging without it...had to reinstall the tune to get it out to the dealership then remove it again when I got there. I'm thinking the previous owner must have used a non-Marauder trans when he supposedly replaced it 22k miles ago.

BTW larryo thanks for checking out the lemon law material. Unfortunately none of it really applies considering I've owned it for 2 months and ~4k miles, with a total of ~86k on it to date.

[larryo340]

BTW larryo thanks for checking out the lemon law material. Unfortunately none of it really applies considering I've owned it for 2 months and ~4k miles, with a total of ~86k on it to date.

No problem, just trying to help. Good luck with the car from here out. :beer: