adsm08
Senior Master Grease Monkey
Supporting Member
Article Contributor
Ford Technician
TRS 20th Anniversary
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
- Messages
- 34,623
- Reaction score
- 3,613
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Dillsburg PA
- Vehicle Year
- 1987
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- 4.0 V6
- Engine Size
- 4.0
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
- Tire Size
- 31X10.50X15
Does anyone know anything about these transmissions, or why they blow up?
If I understand it correctly this is GM's version of the joint project with Ford that turned into the 6F35, but I don't recall seeing the same types of failures in those transmissions. And I was the guy who pulled the transmissions out for our tranny specialist for about 4 years, so if a Ford trans had an endemic issue, I usually knew about it. I know we did a bunch of 6F30s, very early in their run, but I don't remember what for. I know a software update fixed most of them.
A friend of a friend has an 11 Malibu that just stopped going. I have not been allowed to examine the car personally, but she has it in her head that it needs a transmission, and that she wants to put her seriously limited funds into fixing this car. When I initially went searching for the list of symptoms she gave me I found page after page of reports of catastrophic failure between 50K and 100K miles with this transmission but nobody knew what actually broke, just that the dealership put a new trans in, usually under warranty. They were never told what failed.
I am trying to convince her to just buy a different car, rather than sink money into this one, when I can't find anyone who knows the cause of the low-mileage failures. In my mind it makes any OEM junk yard trans suspect, and any reman susceptible to the same failures.
I have figured the cost of replacing the trans, flushing the cooler, etc, between $3200 and $3500, if no programming is needed, and depending on where the reman trans comes from. Closes used unit to us with less than 100K is almost 100 miles away and still has about 90K on it.
I have found several Focuses, a few Hondas, and Prius in our area with mileage similar to her car, within a few years of the same age, between $2900 and $3500. I kind of feel that all of those are better options than sinking the same money into what will be, in my mind, a suspect repair at best.
If I understand it correctly this is GM's version of the joint project with Ford that turned into the 6F35, but I don't recall seeing the same types of failures in those transmissions. And I was the guy who pulled the transmissions out for our tranny specialist for about 4 years, so if a Ford trans had an endemic issue, I usually knew about it. I know we did a bunch of 6F30s, very early in their run, but I don't remember what for. I know a software update fixed most of them.
A friend of a friend has an 11 Malibu that just stopped going. I have not been allowed to examine the car personally, but she has it in her head that it needs a transmission, and that she wants to put her seriously limited funds into fixing this car. When I initially went searching for the list of symptoms she gave me I found page after page of reports of catastrophic failure between 50K and 100K miles with this transmission but nobody knew what actually broke, just that the dealership put a new trans in, usually under warranty. They were never told what failed.
I am trying to convince her to just buy a different car, rather than sink money into this one, when I can't find anyone who knows the cause of the low-mileage failures. In my mind it makes any OEM junk yard trans suspect, and any reman susceptible to the same failures.
I have figured the cost of replacing the trans, flushing the cooler, etc, between $3200 and $3500, if no programming is needed, and depending on where the reman trans comes from. Closes used unit to us with less than 100K is almost 100 miles away and still has about 90K on it.
I have found several Focuses, a few Hondas, and Prius in our area with mileage similar to her car, within a few years of the same age, between $2900 and $3500. I kind of feel that all of those are better options than sinking the same money into what will be, in my mind, a suspect repair at best.