2.3L ('02-'11) Cost of a Manual Swap

[Arolsma]

The automatic transmission in my 2010 2.3 was rebuilt by a shop a couple hundred miles before I bought the truck. It seemed to shift fine, and the shop that inspected it said it seemed good too. But soon after I bought it started not shifting quite right. It will sometimes shift kinda late, and I can sometimes hear/feel this thump when accelerating up to like 10-15 mph. It was also shuttering when I first put it into gear last night. So I am deciding if I should get rid of the truck asap or replace the transmission when it goes. I would love a manual, but I don't know how realistic it would be to swap it. One place I found sells remanufactured transmissions with a 60 month/unlimited mile warranty. An auto is about $2,000 and a manual about $1600. I would have a shop do most if not all the work. Would it likely be more expensive to put a manual in opposed to putting another auto in? Is a manual swap much more labor intensive than putting another auto in? I already have too much money in this dumb truck and might just sell it and buy something older and less expensive. I did buy it in Texas, so I have that going for me if I were to sell it. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[bobbywalter]

Check engine light on? Codes?

There may be connector or ground issues...or sensor

That trans is pretty stout for a l engine


Doing it myself with used transmission from a u pull yard.....costs about 2 to 400 bux....but they are generally over 100k in miles. I don't know if they have the same camshaft or not auto to manual on the Mazda l. But the processors and wiring are different....

Just all in what you are willing to live with.

Since you are farming it out...3500 would likely be the cheapest with a new trans.

 

[bobbywalter]

Though your processor is tunable....

 

[Arolsma]

The engine light isn't on.

 

[bobbywalter]

And a 150k mile r1 trans does not scare me one bit if it's been maintained

 

[bobbywalter]

The engine light isn't on.

Does it have a of switch? Can't remember if the last ones did .
Od light flash?


The cel works when you cycle the key?

May just be a bad or loose TPS ..

 

[Arolsma]

An overdrive off switch? I believe it does. (It is getting ball joints done right now, so I can't look) No lights flash or anything. What exactly do you mean by does the cel work when you cycle the key? Sorry, I don't know much about this stuff.

 

[bobbywalter]

Check engine light....if it don't work...it's hard to know there is a issue.

 

[Shran]

I'm assuming the shop that rebuilt it is in Texas and you're now in Wisconsin? How long ago (months/years) did that rebuild happen and could you contact them and see if there is any way for them to make it right?

Your manual trans swap idea is totally possible. Expensive to have a shop do it. Easy for someone with good mechanical skills and a place to work, especially on a 2wd truck. But your issue might be something really minor... I would really suggest having a reputable transmission shop look at it, maybe even two places, and have them give you an answer as to whether it's actually in failure mode, or not.

 

[Arolsma]

Check engine light....if it don't work...it's hard to know there is a issue.

All the dash lights come on when I first turn the key.

I'm assuming the shop that rebuilt it is in Texas and you're now in Wisconsin? How long ago (months/years) did that rebuild happen and could you contact them and see if there is any way for them to make it right?

Yes, the shop that did it is in Texas. I believe it was done in December. I figure that it would cost just as much to bring the truck back there and have to take time off work etc etc. Maybe I could at least give them a ring though. The guy who did the pre purchase inspection said he would buy the truck just because of the recent transmission work. I dunno if he knew what the heck he was talking about. I guess I will probably have it checked out at a local transmission shop and go from there. Thanks for your help.

 

[bobbywalter]

Have at least two shops look at it a town apart...if you don't specifically know a trustworthy builder.... And tell them that ....

 

[Arolsma]

I had a transmission shop inspect it, and they say that the transmission is fine. Apparently the valve cover gasket is bad which is causing a misfire which is causing a decrease in torque which is causing the transmission to shift poorly. I am having the valve cover gasket replaced on Tuesday. Hopefully that solves my issue. $350 is an awful lot better than $2500+.

 

[Arolsma]

So I had the valve cover gasket replaced a while back, but I am still having some sort of drivetrain issues. About 50% of the time when accelerating, it either shifts late or kind of shutters (I believe when shifting from 1st to 2nd). I can usually feel it coming before it does this and can avoid it if I accelerate very slowly. It also shifts violently when I floor it. Do these trucks just not like to be floored or what? It's not like I floor it often or anything; but if its going berserk when I do floor it, it seems to me that something must be wrong. It also was running pretty rough the other day when it was idling, so it seems that it must still be having some sort of engine issues that are causing poor shifts. Any ideas of what could be wrong? Sorry if my description is incredibly vague. I will probably call the place where I had the valve cover gasket replaced and ask them to look at it again. Thanks

 

[Dirtman]

When you floor it the adaptive shift control is disabled and it defaults to full pressure shifts which are much faster. Fast shifts feel harsher to you but are much safer for the transmission. Slow smooth shifting automatic transmissions are purely for the comfort of the driver, they are absolutely brutal on the transmission so the transmission is literally going into self preservation mode when you nail the gas...