Any of you hard corps gear heads ever rebuild an auto trans? My 97 leaks fluid like a burn victim and with 123+K on the clock I may as well rebuild it instead of just putting in new seals. Tips? Tricks? Recommendations? Any info is appreciated.

 

Rebuilds are kinda tricky business nowadays, because as the year models pass, manufacturers incorporate upgrades into transmissions to address problems from previous model years...obviously, these are upgrades you'll want too. Generally you won't know what you need until you tear it down and get in there. Is it doing anything other than leaking?

 

Slips a bit. Here's the whole story on the truck as I know it.

1997 reg cab/long bed 4.6 2WD. Bought used in Aplril of 2000 when I got back from overseas, 51,132 miles on her. Started shifting hard from 1st into 2nd. Finally noticed it ???? hoever much later. Check trans fluid...low. Added some fluid and things were better. At 85k I had the trans flushed at Pep Boys (Don't say a word I have learned thy lesson). Started shifting hard again with rpms going way up before the shift (the first time it was ~2000rpms is you drove slowly away say through a parking lot or on base). Checked the fluid and it was low. Added more fluid. By this time I was out of the Army and working as a contractor on base, 10-12 hours days. I was winter hence dark when I left for work, dark when I got home, and cold a a witched mammary. I wasn't going ot get under the truck to look for a problem, just checked the fluid regularly and added when needed. When I bought my house in April of 2004 I tightened EVERY FAWKIN BOLT ON THE PAN at least 1/2-3/4 of a turn. Seemed to stop leaking....but not really. Last summer I bought my Screw and gave the 97 to my mom, dunno how good they were about checking the fluid levels or not. AFAIK they were on top of it. Now, the night i drove it home from her place (180 miles) I parked it in the driveway and the next morning there was an outline of the pan in my driveway. Fluid covered the entire bottom of the trans. I cleaned it off with brake cleaner and WAS going to drive it a short while to try to identify the source of said leak but I had to turn the tags in first.

I want to sell the truck now and my old boss is demandign first shot at it and I'd really rather not sell it to him all leaking like a sieve (He's a chevy guy anyway). Plus I like to turn wrenches. A bro from my Lodge says he has a line on a reputable guy who can do it for $900-$1,000.