The tranny on my series 3 (it's the minivan version of the Max, a 96 Villager) had done 160,000 and was still running, but getting pretty ropey: sometimes it would start vibrating really badly, as if something was coming loose. It would often drop out of first gear on tickover, really annoying because then I'd have to rev the engine to re-engage, risking it jumping into the car in front.
The rebuild cost about $600 including labor but this is in Mexico, labor costs a lot cheaper. All the friction parts were replaced and the valvebody too, plus the torque convertor was reconditioned. I checked the old friction parts and in places the material had worn down to bare metal, and the material on the bands was extensively cracked and worn.
Still, I consider this tranny exceptionally reliable to do that kind of mileage prior to recon. And now, after the work, the tranny changes up and down like silk - it's possible to miss the changes, they're so smooth.
My opinion, I think it was a better decision to recon it rather than buy a used one that would probably have been nearly worn out anyway.

 

That sounds like a great deal - I wish I were near mexico to take advantage of that.

Would you consider what you had done the FULL rebuild...are there different levels of rebuild?

 

Thats cheap I paid $2000 to get mine done.

 

Yeah, I was really happy with the price. The guy who rebuilt it isn't even a tranny specialist, he's a general purpose mechanic who rebuilds stuff in his yard. He commented to me that the parts were really expensive so the price was higher than normal (!)
Makes me wonder if I could set up some kind of system to rebuild trannys here and ship them as exchange units ... probably get shut down by 'Homeland Security' though!
As for the level of rebuild, yeah, I'd say it was complete, except for reconditioning the TC rather than fitting a new one. New was too expensive.

 

I helped a guy rebuild a 3 speed GM autoslush box once. It wasn't all that hard but you needed some specialized tools (nothing real expensive, maybe $100-150 for both). The parts (bearings, bushings, Bands, clutches, seals and fluids) cost less the $300. It took an afternoon to do once all the parts were in hand and the tranny was on the bench. I know that rebuild lasted 3-4 years until he sold the car.

I think the hardest part of rebuilding trannies id getting over the fear of cracking open the case (or the great unknown!).

 

I notice there are 2 sections in the manual - one called OVERHAUL and the other DISSASSEMBLY.

To do the full rebuild, you complete the full dissassembly too? Just curious.

 

I don't have my FSM here (and it didn't apply to the GM slushbox anyways) but we disassembled the entire transmission. We carefully laid everything out IN ORDER and took LOTS of digital pictures of the process. Taking pictures is CRITICAL when going into unknown territory!!!! We cleaned everything completely and inspected all the parts for cracks. BTW, in the case of the GM slushbox, Vasoline is your friend. It makes keeping the ***** and springs in the right place MUCH easier.

Laying out the parts in order and taking pictures made it a much less intimidating process for someone whose never done it before.

There is still a lot of "OH SH*T!!!!" factor to go through even with all the preparation.

I'm sure that with the electronically controlled 4 spd Nissan slushbox it's even more complex but still basically similar.

 

this: much better than vaseline