Advice Please: Remanufactured Auto Trans

I have a 93 Ford Aerostar that has 170,000 miles. When I bought it, it already had 90K on it. I've changed the Overdrive trans fluid & filter every 25K and so far it's working fine, although it's always clunked/jerked harder than normal when it's first shifted into Drive or Reverse.

I plan on keeping the van for several more years. From what I've heard from other Aerostar owners, I'll probably need transmission work at some point. My questions are:

  1. Since I have access to a lift bay and have the time to swap it out myself (even though I've never dropped a tranny in my life), would I be better off buying a remanufactured unit when/if mine fails and installing it myself rather than having a transmission shop rebuild it locally?

  1. Is there any consensus as to who sells the best rebuilt units? My short Google search turned up some horror stories about Phoenix rebuilds. How about the rebuilt units that Autozone or Pep Boys sell?

Reply to
joshhemming
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i'd order it threw nappa or carquest and since you can use a lift i'd go ahead and do it myself just bolts..good luck...

Reply to
Scrapper

Since I've put about a million miles on 3 Aerostars, I'm going to comment on this. First, the A4LD is a very reliable transmission, IF it has been maintained and has not been towed with. However, you need to change the tranny fluid about every 25K miles or less, as you have been. I'm curious about the service before you got it, but you can't change that now. The clunk you hear....have you checked the U-joints? My wife almost ruined the drive shaft on one by not reporting the "funny noise" to me sooner. Keep giving it good service and it will last a long time. I would check into the warranty on a "chain store" type of business. Some of them aren't too good. Find a reliable tranny shop by asking friends or co-workers. Or, if you have any amount of mechanical skill you can probably overhaul this one yourself.

Reply to
Kruse

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