how much more life in my 04?
10-06-2016, 10:24 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 17
how much more life in my 04?
Hey all -
I've been browsing for awhile, and have had some great help thanks to these threads. I'm curious for anyone's input here.
My 2004 has 162k miles. Over 2 years ago I put the rostra solenoids in for my transmission. It completely fixed all the issues when the tranny warms up. It's buttery smooth most of the time once it warms up. When cold, it doesn't like to downshift very smoothly only under heavy load from 3-2 especially. Merging on the highway is when you really notice this. When I accelerate from a stop, even under fairly heavy load, the shifts are usually smooth - it doesn't worry me the way the downshift under load does. I baby the tranny until it warms up to avoid putting too much stress on it. When its warm, its beautifully smooth. I drained and filled the transmission oil at 161k and there wasn't any burning smell or any flecks of metal other than tiny, fine black iron filings stuck to the drain plug. A really small amount, it seemed normal.
The car has the dreaded timing chain tensioner problem. With a normal amount of oil its not too bad after it warms up for a minute or two, but still there. In my opinion, the car is too old with too many miles to be worth fixing. The labor is too complex and if I paid someone to do it, its too costly.
Let's say I don't fix the tensioner, and just keep babying the tranny and making sure the oil is good. How much life do I realistically have left? I know its a hard question to answer.
I've been browsing for awhile, and have had some great help thanks to these threads. I'm curious for anyone's input here.
My 2004 has 162k miles. Over 2 years ago I put the rostra solenoids in for my transmission. It completely fixed all the issues when the tranny warms up. It's buttery smooth most of the time once it warms up. When cold, it doesn't like to downshift very smoothly only under heavy load from 3-2 especially. Merging on the highway is when you really notice this. When I accelerate from a stop, even under fairly heavy load, the shifts are usually smooth - it doesn't worry me the way the downshift under load does. I baby the tranny until it warms up to avoid putting too much stress on it. When its warm, its beautifully smooth. I drained and filled the transmission oil at 161k and there wasn't any burning smell or any flecks of metal other than tiny, fine black iron filings stuck to the drain plug. A really small amount, it seemed normal.
The car has the dreaded timing chain tensioner problem. With a normal amount of oil its not too bad after it warms up for a minute or two, but still there. In my opinion, the car is too old with too many miles to be worth fixing. The labor is too complex and if I paid someone to do it, its too costly.
Let's say I don't fix the tensioner, and just keep babying the tranny and making sure the oil is good. How much life do I realistically have left? I know its a hard question to answer.
10-06-2016, 12:02 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 2,132
I always base it on the blue book, if you owe money, how much the repair is...will there be any trade in value...it's pretty cut an dry when you consider the math. If you can maintain the car yourself, without dealership prices, then that may work for a while, but if you've got $1500 and $2000 repair bills on a car that's only worth $2500 due to age and mileage...you are far better off with a car payment on a car that has a warrantee.
Vehicles are disposable once they get above age/mileage. The way I see it, you have this one figured out, drive it for as long as it will let you, and start looking for a replacement now, so at least you know what you want when the time comes.
Vehicles are disposable once they get above age/mileage. The way I see it, you have this one figured out, drive it for as long as it will let you, and start looking for a replacement now, so at least you know what you want when the time comes.
10-06-2016, 03:08 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 17
Thats actually exactly what i've been thinking. It isn't worth repairing at this point, and I've been looking at replacements to get an idea when the time comes. Just trying to figure out how long that'll be - but its not a clear timeframe. Could be 6 months, could be 2 years probably. I'm just curious if anyone has experience with the tranny crapping out even with the rostra solenoids with similar symptoms, or anyone who had timing chain issues who never repaired it.
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