First major w/ my '03 2wd ST :-(

[Darrell F]

My lady is a bit under the weather. I had the rear glass down last week and noticed, what I very loosely describe as a "supercharger-type" whine in 1st gear (nowhere near the sweet kenne bell sound).

I took it to a mechanic this week and he said to go ahead and plan for a tranny. Does anyone here have a suggestion on what to do in regards to re-build vs. re-man r&r? Should I try and upgrade to anything w/in reason? I have had her since 2004 and plan to keep this lady for a long time.

Thanks in advance,

-Darrell

 

[Igor Smetaniuk]

I just had Ford put a remanufactured tranny in mine for the 2nd time. I've got high mileage on my 2001 (285,000) but I keep the vehicle in excellent condition so it's worth it to me as I'm going to keep it 'til death - mine or the Trac's - whichever comes first.



The tranny is pricey so you have to drink a Preparation H Martini - $3,850 with tax. The good thing is there are no used or cheap parts inside so they are like having a new tranny with new Ford OE parts. It comes with 3 yr/unlimited mileage warranty. My last tranny had a 1st gear band worn out at 73,000 miles and it was fixed for free including a free rental car for 9 days since the dealer was backed up after diagnosing my sick tranny.



I'm hard on my trannies because I live in the mountains of NY and constantly pull hills and pass slow drivers. That and the fact that these tranny's SUCK



I went through a few trannies in my previous Ranger but was having them repaired or replaced at tranny shops. I got screwed each time as the trannies had problems shortly afterwards and the shops blamed it on other stuff. The Dealer even told me that if their shop rebuilds my tranny and something goes bad, they will only cover the warranty on the part failure but I will still have to pay the labor which is always the majority of the cost on repairs. The Ford remanufactured tranny is a simple 2 day event and you're back on the road. Make sure to have them get one in so they can work on it right away.



I learned my lessons and will only go to the dealer from now on.

 

[Darrell F]

Thanks for the reply.

"Preparation H Martini" :bwahaha: That was great!

So was that $3,850 installed? If so that sounds like what I'll do. One transmission shop quoted $2,000 plus hard-parts to rebuild or $2,800 plus labor to r&r w/ a Jasper re-man.

 

[Igor Smetaniuk]

That was installed. I also had to have them install a new oil filter housing because the old one leaked and you can't even tighten the single bolt that holds it becasue it's a 1/2 inch from the intake manifold flange for the catalytic pipe system. That rung the total to $4,200.00 because they had to remove the intake manifold and of course the mechanic had one stud that gave him a problem which added an extra day to complete. Glad it wasn't me doing THAT job. :throwup: I was constantly leaking out oil onto the exhaust system and figured since he had to disconnect the exhaust to do the tranny it was part way there laborwise to take care of that bugger too! Well worth the money!





Let the Service Rep give you a quote and then bend over in front of him. He'll probably do a little better than his first quote or tell him in the beginning that your shopping the best price between him and another Ford Dealer but you'd like to do business with him. Times are tight now and Dealers are more apt to negotiate than to loose your business on a large money job like this. It's a simple new out - new in for them.



With my first Ford Reman about 4 years ago, the Service Rep showed me that their cost for that tranny delivered was $2400.00 so I imagine it's a little more now. That gives you an idea of wiggle room they have.



I did a Jasper in my Ranger and wouldn't do it again. Unknown parts and didn't last long after warranty was up. Mine was on mileage which came first.



Also, what I like about the Ford Dealer Mechanics is they know where every nut & bolt goes because they work on these vehicles every day. The shop that did my Jasper must have had spare parts left over because I had a squeak below the floor and when I brought it back to him he stated he put back everything the way it was and could look to rectify my squeaking at $55.00/hr with no guarantees and credit card on authorization. Yeah right! It's a shame because I worked on many cars when I was younger but don't have the time now and can't lay up my Trac for repairs that are more than typical maintenance items which I can still tackle.



More complex stuff goes to the Dealer that will back their work due to customer loyalty.

 

[Darrell F]

Good advice. Hey thanks again man; I appreciate your time.

 

[Scott Tanner]

A whine in 1st gear is normal for a 1 gen sport trac.. Mine has veen doing it fo 187,000 mles... second gear has a whine, but not as loud... Is this whine louder than usual?

 

[Phil Frady]

Mine only whines when I turn the pressure up via the XCal tuner, otherwise its quiet.

 

[Darrell F]

STanner and Funmobile,

Thank you for the replies. The whine is not excessively loud at all. i just noticed it when I had the rear window down a few days ago. I have 145k on her and have never noticed a slip, flair, or bump. The whine is the only thing that caught my attention when I had the window down. I cannot hear it w/ the window up at all.

-Darrell