i got my rebuild kit for a 92gxe and when i looked in the box there was a sticker on the clutch plates and it said RL4F02A stanza 85-89. will that clutch or transmission kit work on my car?

 

it's possible, as it's often been said that the VG 3rd gens got a "stanza auto tranny". But ours is an RE series, not an RL series. I don't know what the E or L stand for tho. It is possible that the E and L differ only in the positino of their mount bolt holes or something like that. the F02A part is the same on both trannies.

 

I believe the RL version of the transmissions aren't controlled electronically (no solenoids so it has a governor) so most likely the gaskets for the valve body may not match. I will check tomorrow when I get the catalog where my dad orders the rebuild kits.

But to be safe, you should return it and get the right one. Somewhat similar situation happened to me when my dad odered the rebuild kit for my trans but he said it was for an 88 (my max is 11/88 and he's used to saying 88 when ordering parts for it). So when we got the rebuild kit, the rebuild was going good until we reached to the valve body gasket and the brake band piston o-rings not matching. When he told about the year he told the company, instead of spending a lot of money for another rebuild kit we went to a junkyard to get the piston from the trans of a 2nd gen, cleaned it, put the o-rings and slapped it on my trans. So far so good. You can tell the piston is from a second gen because it is longer than the one used for the 3rd gen. Luckily I found the right valve body gasket from someone.

 

How hard is it to rebuild a REFO2A Automatic transmission? I saw a rebuild kit for like $180 on an ebay store.

 

Less hard than overhauling the VG30E and cheaper, but you'll need to buy the standard text book used in the community college for transmission rebuilding. I wouldn't attempt it alone with the service manual if I were you. The capital cost for tools will be far less for doing the tranny.

I'll take a photo for you to give you an idea of the insane amount of parts to do the VG30E to 'reset' to factory specifications.

 

Worst case scenanio on rebuilding it is the pump because half of it is on the bell housing itself. If that part is worn out (there will be circular grooves on the pump surface), then you will need to resurface the pump on the bell housing or look for a bell housing that has been resurfaced. A place that sells nothing but automatic transmission parts should have one or know someone that can resurface yours or can get you one. You will need to surrender yours if you want to get a resurfaced one.

Mine was damaged but I was able to buy a resurfaced one and you can see how smooth it is (right side of the pic). I thought I had a picture of the worn out one but I guess not.





Rebuilding the trans overall, if you have the time and patience it shouldn't be that hard, but my dad helped and he knows how to rebuild transmissions. Just make sure you have everything to rebuild it.

 

Can any standard machine shop do that resurfacing? How much did it cost?

 

I don't know if a machine shop can do that but ask around. I just bought from a transmission part shop. Don't remember how much was it I will try to look for the receipt.

 

Yah I was thinking about taking out my old tranny and putting in a good used one from a junk yard or something. Mine just died on me like 3 days ago all of a sudden, the fluid was burned really bad. Being that I dont know too much about transmissions, I dont want to get ripped off. I am doing a little studying. I can start the car, and I hear this loud noise from the tranny pump. I have to hold the gas to keep it running or the pump will make it shut off, it goes into gear and everything. I was wondering if I changed the fluid if that would make any difference to at least make it move a little bit. But where can I buy a rebuild kit for the RE4FO2A tranny, and would it contain all the parts needed. Also Are valve bodies the gears or something? One more thing I am thinking about tackleing the job of tranny removal and installation myself and with the help of some friends. I have a haynes manual. Hope its not too hard, as this would be a great learning experience for me.

 

First thing is you should start looking at the service manual. Break it down into main sections, write down on paper the main sections. Also there may be trouble shooting section in the manual for your symptom. Rebuild kits are available all over the net do a google search. Won't contain ALL the parts needed. Valve Body is one of the main sections of the tranny, it's the part that looks like a brain, with a maze. If you need specific advice feel free to PM me. Good news is for the GXE, you likely don't need to buy an engine crane to support it like the manual says. I found that if you wedge something between the AC Compressor Idler Pullley bracket and the chassis, it will prevent the engine from falling to that side (the point of the hoist). Unless for some reason yours starts to sag to the other side then you have to strap it to the chassis. You will need to buy a Trans Jack, so start looking.

 

i got my rebuild kit through oreillys. the only problem with that is the guy who ordered it for me is a dumb**** and is probly the reason i got the wrong one. but i dont really trust the internet either, i like talking face to face with someone. so ill be returning it and re-ordering a correct one....hopefully

also, for a tranny manual my teacher suggested the ATSG line of manuals. hes been a mechanic for 20+ years so i trust his opinion. anyway, the website is http://www.txchange.com/atsg.htm. its order by phone only, but if you tell them that youre on the website the price drops from 40 to $25.