Tranny gone at 33,000 miles!!!!

[ultravorx]

Well, i guess it happened to me now. I lost my tranny on the way home from work. I was on the highway doing about 70mph, so i gave it gas to pass out a car, i hit about 85 then the rpm's shot up, and i felt no more pulling. So i let the rpm's drop, gave it gas again, and nothing. So i slowly pull over to the side of the road and go thru all my gears:
1st gear, intact
2nd gear intact
3rd gear gone
4th gear gone.

And the first 2 gears dont even feel right. So the car is at the dealer, i wonder how long they'll have it for? This really sux, but i did unprogram the sct before i got to the dealer, (i always keep the sct in my car for emergencies like this!)
You really do get dirty looks from people driving 40 mph on the side of the road on the highway!! LOL

I'll keep you all posted on what happens with my car!!!
Frank

[Logan]

Yikes. Tranny failures scare me for some reason, I guess that's why I opted to pre-emptively strike and do a full-blown rebuild with Stage 2 Reinhart Tranny kit.

When we took my tranny apart, all the friction material was scorched and cracked...And that was at 4k miles...

[JerseyVics]

Yikes. Tranny failures scare me for some reason, I guess that's why I opted to pre-emptively strike and do a full-blown rebuild with Stage 2 Reinhart Tranny kit.

When we took my tranny apart, all the friction material was scorched and cracked...And that was at 4k miles...

hopefully my third tranny will be the charm!

--Russ

[Tallboy]

yet another reason i'm buying a fomoco service contract...:o

[Haggis]

...that's why I opted to pre-emptively strike and do a full-blown rebuild with Stage 2 Reinhart Tranny kit.

When we took my tranny apart, all the friction material was scorched and cracked...And that was at 4k miles...


I did the same as Logan and had Dennis rebuild my tranny with the Level II Tranny kit. Dennis told me the only problem with the tranny at the time was that the OD plate was burnt out and that was also at 4k miles.

[jspradii]

Yikes. Tranny failures scare me for some reason, I guess that's why I opted to pre-emptively strike and do a full-blown rebuild with Stage 2 Reinhart Tranny kit.

When we took my tranny apart, all the friction material was scorched and cracked...And that was at 4k miles...
When I took mine apart for the engine rebuild at 40k, there was some scoring on the first/second shaft, and the overdrive belt was fried. Other than that, there was nothing other than normal wear. My tranny guy told me that the overdrive would have gone out in another 10k, but the rest of the tranny was good for 80-100k. I rebuilt it to handle 750+ hp, and I have had no problem with it since, except at low rpm it shifts like a race car (hard shifts, even at low rpm).:banana:

[chrish]

Yikes. Tranny failures scare me for some reason, I guess that's why I opted to pre-emptively strike and do a full-blown rebuild with Stage 2 Reinhart Tranny kit.

When we took my tranny apart, all the friction material was scorched and cracked...And that was at 4k miles...
WAS THE BLOWER INSTALED YET?

[CRUZTAKER]

I just tore down mine at 19k and my OD clutch plate was the only one burnt. An easy and cheap replacement...however this can be avoided by not hammering the car in overdrive. Just turn the OD off while hot dogging on the road, ar the freeway. Everything else was fine...and I am really hard on this car.

[Svashtar]

19K? 4K? 33K? I'm sorry, I know I'm not an expert, but somethings wrong with this picture. Could any of the extensive performance mods you guys are doing be a factor? But with the tranny coolers I would guess the transmissions should last longer, not shorter? Is this what I can expect from mine?

Thanks,

Norm

[Patrick]

I did the same as Logan and had Dennis rebuild my tranny with the Level II Tranny kit. Dennis told me the only problem with the tranny at the time was that the OD plate was burnt out and that was also at 4k miles.

Add another Mod to the list!

[TripleTransAm]

Lidio mentioned something about 4R70Ws potentially binding in some cases where quicker shifts were programmed for the 3-4 upshift. I've often wondered if the 'improved' shift parameters provided with some of the aftermarket reprograms were responsible for the damage to the overdrive components (c-clips, bands, etc) if this binding wasn't taken into consideration?

[Fourth Horseman]

I'm back to wondering if I shouldn't ask Dennis to load me a program with more relaxed tranny shifts.

[TripleTransAm]

More relaxed than stock? ;)
Any more relaxed than the stock parameters and you'd swear it was shifting to neutral at anything under 2/3 throttle. :lol:

[Fourth Horseman]

More relaxed than stock? ;)
Any more relaxed than the stock parameters and you'd swear it was shifting to neutral at anything under 2/3 throttle. :lol:

See my sig? I'm not stock. :) I've got a program loaded from Dennis via my SCT 9100 tuner. Sometimes the shifts are rather harsh. I like a firmer shift than stock, but these are a bit too much for my taste.

Today I ordered the cable and software from Dennis so that he can send me a program via email and I can put it on the tuner and then flash it to the car. I'll see if he can work me up program for the tranny so the shifts are just a bit less harsh.

BTW, Dennis confirmed that the firmer shifts won't wear on the tranny, so this is just to satisfy my own preferences for shifting.

[427435]

I wonder what the differences are between the 2003 and late 2004 transmissions? My MM (built in April, 2004) seems to have a looser torque converter than any other "stock" automatic I've driven. You have to bring the revs up a couple of hundred to get the car to move from an idle. The shifts are also firmer than any other "stock" automatic I've driven---certainly much firmer than a standard Marquis

One thing they didn't change was getting the shift cable adjustment worked out. Mine just barely catches reverse and goes into drive about half way between neutral and drive. You would think that all the issues that occured with the 2003's, they would have gotten the adjustment correct by the end of the production run a year or more later.

[BillyGman]

Let me also interject w/something else here. I know that the recommendation from Ford is to have your transmission fluid changed every 24,000 miles. However, I believe that it's wise to have it changed more often than that if you drive the car hard. And I think it's safe to say that almost everyone here (if not everyone) who spends their money to modify their Marauder must drive the car hard. Perhaps some more than others.


Therefore I think that while a more frequent transmission fluid change interval might not be the cure-all for transmission problems, I do think that there's a possibility that it's a good preventative maintainence practice. I plan on having the transmission fluid changed twice per year by the dealer. Some people might think that's overkill, but at a complete charge of about $145, that's a practice that's quite affordable, and I'm hopefull that this practice would go a long way in getting my dealer to work w/me if there ever is a transmission problem w/my car. Just some food for thought boys. :)