5:16pm heading westbound towards my friends house. 5:20pm, at a stop light about 200 yards away from my friends house. Light turns Green. I applied the gas. 3100 rpms, it shifts into second, right when it hit 2900 rpm all of the sudden the car slowed down QUICK. It feels like i downshift from 5th to 2nd Gear in an manual (Mines Automatic). The car drives like it stuck in freakin low gear. No reverse. In nuetral i was able to drive. D4 feels like D3 or 2. When i drive i cannot get pass 40mph w/o going pass 3500 rpms. The shop said it was a clutch and it would cost $2,400 dollars to fix. I went around asking for second opinions. No luck, because all the shop closes at 6:00pm. I went home parked the car in the garage and jumped on the internet. I found an JDM automatic transmission on ebay for $345.00 (buy it now option ). I think shipping for it is about $70 dollars, and I have no idea how much labor would run.

My Questions:

I dont have much money so please tell me wat would be the cheapest route.

A)Get the auto-tranny from ebay and put it on.

B)Go get my tranny rebuilt.

C)Buy a Standard Tranny, which is about $150 cheaper, and do a 5 speed conversion. I dont think this would work because the cluck master cylinders, cables, shift linkage, etc. would probably run over the price for the automatic tranny, and labor would probably cost an arm and a leg.

Please tell me which way is best if i dont have much money. Or if you know wat is wrong with my tranny please reply. Thank You!!

 

Doing the manual conversion will get you WELL over 1000 bucks.

i say stick with the automatic replacement.

 

So i should just completely replaced the tranny? Or rebuild my old one? Anyone ever run trough this problem b4? Did u just replace it or rebuild it? I think rebuilding an auto would mean replacing tons of warn out parts like bearings, o-rings, gaskets, and stuff..

HELP PLEASE!!

 

My friend E30dood on this site is taking the automotive transmissions section of his mechanics training right now actually... You might want to shoot him a PM for an opinion if you'd like to figure out what happened.

Unfortunately, rebuilding it is probably the most expensive route for you to take. Spec R is right too, auto to manual conversions aren't cheap either. Simply replacing it will be the cheapest route for you to take.

Call a few yards and check craigslist and partstrader. You might possibly find an auto tranny for less than the one you found on Ebay. Regardless, the tranny will need to be dropped and reinstalled whether you replace it or repair it. Labor will unfortunately be kind of pricey...but if you have any desire to do it yourself and you have tools, you might be able to save a bit. Best of luck and if you have any questions, let us know.

 

I wouldn't trust Ebay for something so large - espeically if it's labeled JDM. You can't really tell if it's JDM just by looking at it and EVERYTHING on ebay is JDM these days so they think they can sell it for more than normal.

agent is right, check out the junk yards first. You may even try getting with some of the guys out here that have done the auto/manual conversion to see if they'll hook you up with their old tranny. Also, post a WTB in the FS section of the forum - someone may be able to help you out.

Finally, PM vtecfed. He's got a junk yard hookup and he may be able to get you what you need.

hih and welcome to HAN

 

m doing an auto to 5spd conversion tonight for my buddy, its not really htat hard, as long as you have the right parts, ive seen it done numerous times

 

what year car? this guy may be able to use the tranny you're taking out of your buddy's car.. h:

 

Replacing tranny is much cheaper than rebuild. Some say with a rebuild at least it's close to new again. I've heard too many stories of people getting a tranny rebuilt, and have problems shortly after. So I say get a used tranny, maybe from www.sohfast.com. They are a reputable internet used parts site. Then I would think at most $500 to swap them out (auto to auto). Put if you have a couple friends and some knowledge you could do it yourself, and save that.

 

Yes, I forgot to mention sohfast. Good guys there!

 

I have a buddy of mine to put it on, labor 200 dollars but since the tranny will be out hes changing the rear main seal for me and the cv-joints. I thought JDM were cheaper than USDM? The usdm trannys sellin on ebay were about $800 while the jdm ones are about $350. If i put a JDM tranny in my car would the wiring be different? I'll PM E30dood and see if he can help me. If anyone can look around me too that'd be nice. School starts in one week, how long do you think it would take to swap out the tranny? About 6 hours?