Testing transmition!?!
07-14-2003, 02:06 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Cincinnati
Posts: 106
Testing transmition!?!
How would you guys do a transmition test?? My buddy is buying a car with 140k miles. Everything else seems to be fine, but we were just wondering if the transmition is going out.
Would having the car on a hill, being in drive without the brake applied, be a good test of the transmition ability? If it starts rolling back, even though it is in drive, does it mean that the transmition is slipping??? The car is an auto.
Thanks in advance!
Would having the car on a hill, being in drive without the brake applied, be a good test of the transmition ability? If it starts rolling back, even though it is in drive, does it mean that the transmition is slipping??? The car is an auto.
Thanks in advance!
07-14-2003, 02:17 PM
#2
U wanna try me young boy?
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 1,024
If it rolls back while the car is in back then either it's slipping, mor more likely you are on a very steep hill. 
A good test of tranny health is have a mechanic put a line pressure tester on it (that will take 5 mins) and compare the pressures. That will tell you if there are any internal leaks or the pump is bad (low pressure) or regulator is bad (high pressure). As far as slipping - there's no real way to tell without tearing it down... you can pull the dipstick and see what the tranny fluid looks like, but if it's for sale it's likely to have had new fluid put in it which will (intentionally or accidentally) 'wash away' any evidence if impending failure.
The best thing to do would be to drop the pan. Maybe you could do a deal with the seller and take the car to the dealer and pay them to do a tranny filter swap, and have them let you look inside the pan. If the results are good (clean fluid with dark charcoal 'dust' in the fluid from normal clutch wear, but no large amount of silvery metal filings), then you'll buy the car AND pay for the filter swap. If the results show the tranny is bad (lots of metal filings, like metallic paint) then you will not buy the car and the seller must pay for the filter swap.
At 140k, I would expect to replace the tranny before it hits 200k. Not saying it will definitely fail, just saying that it's probably better if you figure your budget with tranny failure in mind sop that you are able to cope with a $2000 tranny job in the future if it happens. If you spend all your money on the car/mods then you'll be stumped if the tranny does take a dump on you.
A good test of tranny health is have a mechanic put a line pressure tester on it (that will take 5 mins) and compare the pressures. That will tell you if there are any internal leaks or the pump is bad (low pressure) or regulator is bad (high pressure). As far as slipping - there's no real way to tell without tearing it down... you can pull the dipstick and see what the tranny fluid looks like, but if it's for sale it's likely to have had new fluid put in it which will (intentionally or accidentally) 'wash away' any evidence if impending failure.
The best thing to do would be to drop the pan. Maybe you could do a deal with the seller and take the car to the dealer and pay them to do a tranny filter swap, and have them let you look inside the pan. If the results are good (clean fluid with dark charcoal 'dust' in the fluid from normal clutch wear, but no large amount of silvery metal filings), then you'll buy the car AND pay for the filter swap. If the results show the tranny is bad (lots of metal filings, like metallic paint) then you will not buy the car and the seller must pay for the filter swap.
At 140k, I would expect to replace the tranny before it hits 200k. Not saying it will definitely fail, just saying that it's probably better if you figure your budget with tranny failure in mind sop that you are able to cope with a $2000 tranny job in the future if it happens. If you spend all your money on the car/mods then you'll be stumped if the tranny does take a dump on you.
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