My truck is officially dead.

centerline · Feb 2, 2013

although this is a boat forum and not about trucks, if its the tow vehicle for your boat, you might be able to squeeze in a question or two

im not too sure what fluid level you are meaning, but i assume its your transmission fluid..... and if your engine is not running, it will definitely show over full, because when your torque converter is not spinning and full of oil, it runs back into the transmission....
get a code reader, or borrow one from the autoparts store, (most of them usually have a tool rental/loaner program) and read the code to see what the problem might be....

check for water in the fuel filter... it will cause running issues like you describe.

Merlin Clark · Feb 2, 2013

I tried a Bubbba shop close by and found they were scammers (had a leak when I went in and they made it worse, then wanted over $900 to fix it), took it to AAMCO and they fixed it, right, for less than 1/3 of what Bubba wanted.
And AAMCO gives a warrentee backed by the national chain.

TortugasRoyal · Feb 2, 2013

doehunter said:
I checked the fluid and no matter what I did, it showed over full.

The engine has to be running and the transmission warmed up to get a correct reading. It will read high if not running.

Phil Herring · Feb 2, 2013

Serial Ford owner here. The transmissions seem to be the weak link in their larger vehicles. I've replaced a couple of them between 110k - 140k miles and from what I hear, this is particularly true of that vintage. There are new transmissions made for vehicles of that age, although I'm not sure if that's true for 4WD. Given the failure rate of Ford transmissions though, I'll bet AAMCO can hook you up with one.

centerline · Feb 2, 2013

doehunter said:
Yea it's my tow vehicle. and my everything vehicle!
I checked it right after getting home from work and cleaning the maf sensor.
It was running and in park.
I just assumed that it looked over full because the torque converter wasn't pumping anymore?
It goes into the gears but slips real bad. I makes some aweful noises, clunking, grinding, whining, ugly!
I wasn't sure how to pick a shop that doesn't fit into the "bubba" group!
I've worked in Hydraulic shops all my life and I wouldn't want the guys I worked with working on my hydraulics, so I have a hard time with figuring out who I can trust.
I almost wish I could get one to put a new tranny in.
Can they do that? Are there new transmissions for 2000 year trucks?

there is a lot more info here than in your first post....

with all the racket you seem to be experiencing, it may be a broken flex plate.... the part that bolts to your crank, and then bolts to your torque converter to connect the two together..... auto trannys dont usually make much noise, and if the torque converter is spinning, it will usually fill with oil....

if the flex plate is broken, it could be dragging the torque converter along with it until you put it in gear, causing slipping like symptoms with a lot of noise.

finding41 · Feb 2, 2013

Centerline has a great point. There should be a tin inspection plate at the bottom or the side of the bell housing that comes off with 2 or 3 bolts. Take that off and have a look up there. I hope you find some loose bolts. It may be that simple...
I have a 01 F150 Screw with 240 miles. No noises.
I've been through 4 Dodge Caravan transmissions on 2 different vans and they never made a noise when they died!
On a 00 I'd be going to the junk yard and getting a replacement. 13 years old and it's not usually worth a rebuilt price. (When I'm done with them anyway.)

Merlin Clark · Feb 3, 2013

Aamco might be able to set you up with a rebuilt tranny. Way cheaper than dealers and new.....

Merlin Clark · Feb 3, 2013

I don't know but rebuilt engines do well and if all the wear parts are replaced....?
I see autozone has one with a 3yr/75k mile warrenty. $1,600.

Sumner · Feb 3, 2013

I'd try and check with some hot rodders if you know any in the area. They usually know who some of the 'good guys' are. I have transmission work done by a guy over in Colorado that works out of the shop by his house, usually 10-15 cars there waiting since he is so good.

He will rebuild a chevy overdrive 4 speed auto for about $900 (out of the vehicle) and that includes a new converter, which you will want for sure if it is the trans that is bad. He works on any transmission though. He has done 3 for me for different vehicles and a couple for friends and never a problem out of any of them (one over 140,000 miles in the street rod). I'll bet there is someone like that within an hour or so of you.

Sum

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centerline · Feb 3, 2013

doehunter said:
are they dependable? The waranties don't seem very impressive.
Like now ones you can expect 110K miles easy,
not with the rebuuilds?

Aamco transmissions offer a lifetime warranty transmission.... all you gotta do is pay for it.
you can, and should, expect better mileage from a quality, heavy duty rebuild than a new transmission.... usually when you buy a heavy duty rebuild, the warranty will be about the same as a new transmission....

MrBill_FLL · Feb 4, 2013

1+ on the speed shops.... if you have a 1/4 mile track around, see if any of racers recommend a trans shop.
also check the price for a brand new 'crate' trans from ford. -often not that much more that a rebuild cost.

Justin_NSA · Feb 4, 2013

Try here

I'd post the questions with the Ford truck experts if I were you. The chances are better that you'll run into someone with similar issues and advice. Good luck!
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php

Merlin Clark · Feb 4, 2013

Sometimes I just wonder if I can find the answer to a fairly obscure question "cost of Explorer transmission" and usually get some kind of answer on this system of tubes and pipes:
How much will it cost to replace transmission of Ford Explorer 2002 from a junk yard?

Dealer gave me $4600 estimate for transmission. (KBB trade in value is $4500) This is too much for me to pay. Also i have $7000 loan to pay on this car. What is the best way to do?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080807103402AAfhOKT

I'd be car shopping if this was my only option.

Justin_NSA · Feb 4, 2013

merlinuxo said:
Sometimes I just wonder if I can find the answer to a fairly obscure question "cost of Explorer transmission" and usually get some kind of answer on this system of tubes and pipes:
How much will it cost to replace transmission of Ford Explorer 2002 from a junk yard?

Dealer gave me $4600 estimate for transmission. (KBB trade in value is $4500) This is too much for me to pay. Also i have $7000 loan to pay on this car. What is the best way to do?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080807103402AAfhOKT

I'd be car shopping if this was my only option.

Have you done much searching for transmissions? The dealer is the worst place to ask.

http://www.lowmileageparts.com/2002-Ford-Explorer-Transmission--59928.aspx

Sumner · Feb 4, 2013

merlinuxo said:
Sometimes I just wonder if I can find the answer to a fairly obscure question "cost of Explorer transmission" and usually get some kind of answer on this system of tubes and pipes:
How much will it cost to replace transmission of Ford Explorer 2002 from a junk yard?

Dealer gave me $4600 estimate for transmission. (KBB trade in value is $4500) This is too much for me to pay. Also i have $7000 loan to pay on this car. What is the best way to do?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080807103402AAfhOKT

I'd be car shopping if this was my only option.

I guess this depends on the situation. We went through something like the above this last year. We paid $3800 for our '99 Suburban with about 145,000 miles on it a couple years back. It ran great, no problems and it tows the boat great and is really nice to be in on the road. Coming home from Florida via Calif. and Arizona the plastic radiator broke in 108 deg. AZ temps. I pulled right over to the side of the road, but it lost the water so fast that the motor was hurt bad. I borrowed a friends truck and took our trailer and hauled it back home from Flagstaff.

So what to do now. The vehicle is in great shape and now has about 175,000 miles on it. It isn't going to sell for much with a bad engine and what are we going to go buy to replace it? One nice thing about Chevy stuff is that you can buy new stuff cheap. We bought a new GM complete long block delivered for $1900. Since we had the transmission out we decided to have Jeff rebuild it even though it was working fine. So that was $900 and got us a new torque converter in the deal. I also replaced some other items like the water pump and put on what looked like new cats that were on a wrecked van I had bought for the motor/transmission.

All together for the above and new gaskets and such it came to about $3500. So now we have a new engine and rebuilt transmission and hopefully those will now be fine until we finally sell the vehicle.

We could of given up and junked the vehicle and bought another used one that had tons of miles on the engine and transmission and would of probably had to spend more than the $3500.

The moral of the story if you want to have an older vehicle I'd suggest Chevy as parts are way cheaper and if you have a chevy truck/suburban or other tow vehicle with over 150,000 miles on it I'd replace the radiator. I've found out that 3 of my friends have also had radiators go bad over 150,000 miles, but they didn't hurt the motor. If you do that these vehicles will go over 250,000 miles on the original motor/trans,

Sum

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Merlin Clark · Feb 4, 2013

Yeah I would go the rebuilt route rather than soak more than the vehicle is worth into a new, dealer install. I avoid dealerships as much as I can.

edit: this is about a tranny in a 12 year old vehicle. When I get to that point it becomes an "is it worth it" decision but I don't get attached to cars. Some people do.

My truck is officially dead.

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