How long to REBUILD a TRANSMISSON?

I drive an ice cream truck part-time and the other day my transmission went. The mechanic said that they would either find a used one, which they haven't or he would have to REBUILD one.

In general, how many days does it take to REBUILD a transmission on a small truck? And... when you use the word REBUILD, what exactly does that mean? Replacing all the parts? Just certain parts?

Thanks in advance : - )

LEESA (I)

Reply to
Leesa_Tay
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What sort of truck, Leesa?? Could make a difference if it is a Skoda or if it is a Ford. And is it automatic or standard? What engine, year and type?

Now, in general, professional tranny rebuilders can work pretty fast if they can get the parts they need. If they are not stacked up, they can have it out, rebuilt, and back in and function in 1-2 days (or really even less.)

Often garages do not rebuild at all. They order in a tranny from a commercial rebuilder and simply swap in the units.

Your question on rebuilds is very important. Some simply replace some of the parts like clutches, seals, etc. Others may do a remanufacturing job, which should leave you with a tranny that is about a good as new.

Be VERY wary of certain franchise tranny shops. A goodly number of them have BAD reputations.

Reply to
<HLS

Is it a manual or an automatic?

Rebuilding could mean all kinds of things. Hopefully it involves taking everything apart, checking all the tolerances on everything, and replacing anything out of tolerance. More likely it involves replacing a set of items that are known to wear down, and checking tolerances on a few parts and replacing them if they are worn.

Some rebuilders are more careful than others and do a better job.

How long does it take? Well, it took me six months to rebuild a manual transmission once... but I really didn't have a clue what I was doing when I started.... and then the weather turned bad and I didn't want to work outside much... A competent shop should have been able to do it in less than a week.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

My brother in law once rebuilt a Pontiac T400 on my parent's kitchen table in 2 hours. Complete tear down, replaced the bands & seals + some misc other small parts and had it back in the car driving that same afternoon. That car went another 120k towing regularly before the rest of the car fell apart (with the tranny still going strong).

He used to own a tranny shop and can do this stuff in his sleep, so most people can't do it that fast. He's one of these guys who can do this without jigs and can tell you when everything 'feels right'. There aren't many guys like him around anymore.

Most shops don't just work on your car straight through until it's done. They're doing several other big & little jobs at the same time and if they need a part for your vehicle they usually don't stop everything & run right out & get it. They move your car out of the way and work on something else until the parts are deliverd. Then they finish the job they're doing and *then* they get back to finishing yours. That's why only a few billable hours can sometimes take a couple days to get your car back to you.

Are you talking about an Alisson auto overdrive tranny or something more along the lines of a delivery Jeep w/ a 3 speed manual AMC tranny? Big difference as others have said. Most ice cream trucks I've seen aren't semi-tractors, more like little bread & mail delivery trucks. Most of those have pretty standard off the shelf parts in them.

There are some very good videos out these days that will allow almost anyone with some decent tools and wrenching skills to do this job at home with a little preperation & patience. The videos run about $30 ~ $40 IIRC. Trannies aren't magic, just heavy as all get out and a real mess to open up sometimes. Deal with that stuff and you might be surprised how few parts are actually in some of these things.

Rent, buy or borrow a *real* transmission jack if you're going to do it yourself, don't use an adapter that sits on your little floor jack - you'll thank me when it's all done. Trust me. ;)

Cheers, - JJ

Reply to
Keep YerSpam

if they have all the parts and if ur dealing with a skilled technician he can have it in out of the truck in under a day. i remember back in school my lab group and i used to rebuild two 350 trany's in under 6 hours all that matters is if they tech has the parts on hand and how experienced he is

Reply to
greasemonkey19

if they have all the parts and if ur dealing with a skilled technician he can have it in out of the truck in under a day. i remember back in school my lab group and i used to rebuild two 350 trany's in under 6 hours all that matters is if they tech has the parts on hand and how experienced he is

Reply to
greasemonkey19

From Keep

Rent, buy or borrow a *real* transmission jack if you're going to do it yourself, don't use an adapter that sits on your little floor jack - you'll thank me when it's all done. Trust me. :wink:

Fully agreed, a trans. drop is not a nickel-dime thing to do, those things can smash a bone to amputation. Don't be afraid, just get a "real" trans. jack to drop it out.

Reply to
Knifeblade_03

Four hours to replace bands, clutches, and seals.

Reply to
« Paul »
3 days, determine the parts needed, get the parts and install them.

you are not sure why it swarmed, it might be minor.

rebuild would be to replace all sub-standard parts. in the x-mission.

since labor is costly, you might be better off going to a pick-a-part place and get a used one from a wrecked unit.

and with the modern day facilities the junk yards can "locate" parts very quickly via inter-com apparatuses.

mho vfe

Reply to
fiveiron

Don't take it to AAMCO.

Reply to
scott21230

The thing about AAMCO is that each individual shop is different. Some are very good, some are very bad. The name doesn't tell you whether the place you are going is good or bad.

In theory, the good thing about going to one of these chains is that work done at one shop carries a guarantee which can be redeemed at any one of the other shops. So if you are in a foreign city and get a rebuild, your local shop in the chain will honor the warranty. Unfortunately AAMCO is not so good about doing this in practice, though.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I didn't want to 'call names' in my previous post, but you nailed one of them that has been cited many times.

Reply to
<HLS

This AAMCO:

8825 N Black Canyon Hwy Phoenix, AZ 85020 (602) 997-6289

could not get an AMC/Renault transmission to last more than 200 - 1,000 miles between breakdowns, and in the end the transmission had to be replaced by a AMC/Renault dealer. The engine also had to be rebuilt because this AAMCO forgot to fill the radiator. This AAMCO claimed they had experience with this particular type of transmission, but I suspect they had never worked on one previously because the dealer said

2 people from AAMCO had visited several weeks earlier to get photocopies of the service manual.

On the other hand, this AAMCO:

322 W Van Buran St. Phoenix, AZ 85003 (602) 254-7154

is known to do very good work and services police cars (located very close to police HQ).

Reply to
rantonrave

If you're in the US, you can also find one in your area using the same database the wrecking yards (oops, sorry - reclaimers) use:

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Cheers, - JJ

Reply to
Keep YerSpam

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