Auto gearbox issues

My auto gearbox has been slipping a bit lately, and has progressively been getting worse. I took it to Mike Dale (at Holden Hill, SA) for a fluid flush and a general checkup. I was hoping the flush would have solved the slipping but it didnt.

Mike found a piece of metal, stuck to the magnetic sump. It was about 4cm long, and maybe 5mm wide - it looked like the of the engine oil dipstick. Not too sure what it was, any ideas?

He also noticed transmission fluid leaking from the torque converter seal. The fluid had also made its way the whole way to rear diff. Apparantly it would got blown back there.

So my options are:

1. Replace the auto gearbox with another one in good condition. Im thinking this might cost $500 for the box, and Mike thinks the changeover would cost about $800. So I would be looking at around $1300 (very rough pricing, I have no idea how much a good cond auto gearbox would be worth).

2. Rebuild the existing gearbox. No idea on how much this option would cost but I assume somewhere around $3000 including all parts and labour?

3. Manual conversion. I would be pretty keen on this option as I dont like the auto much and would help with resale value. So I am guessing around $1500 for the conversion kit and maybe about that again for labour. So $3000 all up.

Anyone in SA that could do all this work for mates rates!! haha.

I should also point out that Mike noticed the water pump was leaking. Does this mean the water pump is almost dead, or does a seal just need to be fixed? If this needs to be replaced, should the whole engine come out when I get the gearbox fixed? I would probably get the timing belt and a few other things done while it out.

So I guess I am looking at some advice of what way to head, and let me know if my price estimates are way off. I was thinking about selling the legnum and getting something more economical (getting married soon!), but if I convert it to manual I might be swayed to hold onto it.

Thanks guys.

gilly said:

Mike found a piece of metal, stuck to the magnetic sump. It was about 4cm long, and maybe 5mm wide - it looked like the of the engine oil dipstick. Not too sure what it was, any ideas?


I should also point out that Mike noticed the water pump was leaking. Does this mean the water pump is almost dead, or does a seal just need to be fixed? If this needs to be replaced, should the whole engine come out when I get the gearbox fixed? I would probably get the timing belt and a few other things done while it out.

Thanks guys.

Click to expand...

Simon,

The piece of metal found in the gearbox, sounds like your wave spring has broken up and working its way through your transmission. Heres a link to the discussion on this topic !! HERE, but if your transmission is slipping it may be past saving, I'll leave that prognosis for our transmission guru's.

The water pump could be as simple as a gasket, could also be a fubared water pump, really depends on where it is leaking.

There is an Auto box on ebay for under $500. Other than that i don't like your chances of getting one that cheap, nor would i trust it at that price.

I am doing the conversion now. It is a bit of a pain but sure it will be worth it. If you are looking at getting someone else to do it then it is going to cost around the same amount as rebuilding the auto.

Up to you really..

One option is that you can get a full rebuild kit from COBRA TRANSMISSIONS in the US for a good price. This is where Madhave got his kit from.

Getting it done on the cheap is rare, I just got my auto fully rebuilt and strengthened and that cost me $3500 from someone I know that looked after me.

Unless you buy a reconditioned transmission with full receipts and proof that the wave spring has been replaced with the stronger unit, then you are better off either re-conditioning yours or getting a manual conversion. There's nothing saying that a second-hand box isn't going to have the same problem, and when you are paying for the labour to have the box replaced yet again it will become a real heart break for you.

Because you have the TC seal leak, you will have to drop the box anyways so I would just get the problem points fixed.

My transmission never got rebuilt, simply because the inside of it was IMMACUALTE and apart from the wave spring, we could not identify anything else that needed to be replaced.

I had my box fixed (Same issue, wave spring busted) including TC rebuild for about $1500.

My Old gearbox was slipping like you mentioned, and yes, it does sound like the famous wave spring, so.... possible in the sometime near future, the gearbox will give way with a 'klonk'

So rebuilding the gearbox of what's left as is (before it goes) would be the best option, and as most people said, replacing the Wavespring would be the cheapest way to go

I guess I couldnt just replace the wavespring and be done with it, a whole rebuild would be in order. So if this is going to cost around the $3000 mark I may as well just do the manual conversion.

So Dawso, your transmission was slipping too, and you just got this wavespring thing fixed and the TC seal and it was all good?

If I dont do a manual conversion and just repair or replace with another auto, I will be selling the leggie. Probably end up with a camry!

Heres the link for cobra transmission

http://ozvr4.com/forums/showthread.php?p=97699&highlight=cobra+transmission#post97699

I got their rebuild kit sent to perth, and as far as I know it was fine, as good as or exceeding oem spec quality. You can get new solenoids also.

Yeah Simon, thats pretty much it. Got a seal replacement kit put in as well and the pins on the planetry and sun gears done too as they are prone to fail (Not in our cars particularly but just in general). We looked through my box when it was apart and everything looked like it had just come from factory, so the trans guy said don't worry about it, if it were his car he wouldn't do a full rebuild either.

The most expensive thing to get done was the TC rebuild! And labour obviously, bout 12 hours I think....

One thing I haven't noticed anyone pick up on - the water pump is driven off the back of the cambelt. If you have a leak there it is almost certainly going to be a cambelt job anyway. And as the water pump is not much money in the grand scheme of things, I recommend changing it anyway when doing the cambelt.

The cambelt job is MUCH easier with the engine out, except for maybe breaking the bolt on the crank pulley.

yeah will probably remove the lot when the box comes out and do both the cambelt and water pump. The car has fone 70,000, but no service records so I am not sure if its been done before. So I better be safe and get it done.

Strange thing has happenned. Got the trans fluid flushed and changed on friday, but it was still slipping from 2nd to 3rd. Driving it last night and half way through a 30 minute trip, it stopped slipping. Drove it for 40 minutes today and it didnt slip!!
Does my legnum have healing powers?

Chances are whatever it was has worked its way out of where it was and is moving towards something more detrimental..

My auto worked like a champ right up until it died.

What Scottie said

yeah I guess its just a waiting game now!

It could be that the new fluid has helped out a lot. I'd just continue to drive it how it is now.

The box is intelligent, in that it will try to smooth out dodgy gearchanges. I assume it does this by monitoring the input and output shaft speeds during gear changes. If the box is really bad, then the ECU can't solve the issue. I have seen several examples where putting in good properly specced fluid has removed dodgy gear changes, but I can only assume that this is because the previous fluid was rubbish and/or the box has an underlying issue.

Be grateful that it is okay for the time being - but budget for it to go bang at some point. I had a box that had bad gear changes for nearly two years before it finally died. Decent oil kept it going that long IMO, but ig gave me time to sort the manual conversion!

Hope it carries on healing itself for you!

thanks guys for the feedback. Yeah the box seems silky smooth now!
So at least now I can be patient in organising the manual conversion kit to make sure I get the best possible price.

My mechanic mentioned to me an idea of converting the autobox to a clutchless manual. So basically its like using the tiptronic permanently - he knows of a transmission specialist in Adelaide that can do these conversions - apparantly lots of stagea owners do it.
He reckons it would only cost about $400 as they dont have to take the box out. Not sure about this, but will give them a call and see what its all about.

gilly said:

My mechanic mentioned to me an idea of converting the autobox to a clutchless manual. So basically its like using the tiptronic permanently - he knows of a transmission specialist in Adelaide that can do these conversions - apparantly lots of stagea owners do it.
He reckons it would only cost about $400 as they dont have to take the box out. Not sure about this, but will give them a call and see what its all about.

Click to expand...

Sounds sus lol..... A Legnum is not a Stagea :lol:

So what's the difference between the conversion and just using tiptronic permanently?

Things I can think would need doing are:

- remove lockouts
- remove auto downshifting
- ability to skip gears somehow