Reman transmission vendors?

[Shran]

Now that it snowed, my wife wants me to fix her truck.... the '95 Ranger in my signature... 4.0, 4R55E automatic. She wants to put another automatic in it, we discussed a 5 speed swap, she did not go for it.

It has multiple issues - flashing O/D light, really hard/late shifts, low line pressure as per a local shop. Sometimes it is totally normal, a couple of times it seemed like it was stuck between gears and wouldn't move forward or backward but wasn't really slipping. I had the valve body out to check for a blown out gasket or obvious stuff and found nothing. I suspect it's a valve body problem but I'm kind of done with it at this point and a reman valve body is a $400 gamble.

Local place that has a good reputation said $4000 (installed) with a 12 month warranty
AutoZone has reman transmissions for about half that. Looks like National Powertrain and NuTech are their reputable vendors, Moveras is an option but they have a ton of complaints
O'Reilly also has reman transmissions and from what I found they come from Engine & Transmission Exchange in Milwaukee. That company seems pretty reputable.

I have no problem installing it myself and the parts stores both have a 3 year warranty. Has anyone on here bought any of those reman units and if so what did you think of it?

I know, I know, stay local, blah blah blah. Double the cost with 1/3 the warranty tells me that they know the A4LD variants have a bad rep and failure is likely/they want to take my money and not have to deal with it after 12 months unless I pay them another $4000. I am backing this up with my buddy who went there recently and was offered an 18 month warranty on an E4OD, seems suspicious don't you think?

 

[Brain75]

Only thing I can add is check the terms of the places that sell bare transmissions only, without the install ('Zone and O'Reilly) - I bet the fine print says no warranty if you do it yourself, warranty only if a certified mechanic on their list does it....

 

[Brain75]

Autozone...

https://contentinfo.autozone.com/znetcs/psb/en_US/2/0/410/national_trans.pdf

so with them the labor is not covered quite explicitly...

 

[Shran]

Only thing I can add is check the terms of the places that sell bare transmissions only, without the install ('Zone and O'Reilly) - I bet the fine print says no warranty if you do it yourself, warranty only if a certified mechanic on their list does it....

That was a concern of mine and after reading through their warranty docs, I believe it comes down to someone being reimbursed for labor or not. I think your other post confirmed that. If I buy it direct and install it myself, they will cover the parts if it fails, but won't pay me for my labor to re-do it a second time (but they would reimburse a shop for their time.) I don't care about that, my time is free.

 

[Brain75]

Oreilly has the exact same item on labor...

Be very careful reading through the warranty docs if you do actually need it, they have hoops from hell it looks like, first you have to get a warranty case started with PowerTorque, then you have to give that to Oreilly and get approval, then you have to get a return number from PowerTorque (within 30 days) then you have to get approval from Oreilly to return it, then you have to return it (within 30 days).... looks like they have gamed the system such that they just about promise they don't have to... lots of money for warranty they are designing to not have to pay.

 

[Brain75]

If you think you can rebuild in a couple months... my first thought would be to get a junkyard donor from the best one you can find in the yard, then open it up, assess for rebuild and issues, swap and probably just end up with the original as a spare (core around here is only accepted within 30 days of purchase at the yard)...

I got a T5 for my '48 with the intention of rebuild before install, opened it up (126k mi out of a wrecked S10), said no need to touch this and put a new gasket on the top, flushed out all the fluid and drove it... granted that's a manual not an auto though.... I'm not entirely sure I would even tackle rebuilding an auto - probably just get 2 or 3 from a yard first trying my luck at a good unit... and I know that doesn't go over with women, they just want it to work no matter the cost, "give me a reliable vehicle, i don't want something you gotta fix"

 

[Brain75]

Given how much of a game the warranty looks like from the "parts stores", I think I would look at a dedicated transmission shop... Unfortunately I don't have even a good 2nd hand knowledge - the one and only person I know who opted to go more expensive than junkyard donor was a semi (kenworth) and they got one from a national transmission shop (don't remember who anymore) - but that was a trucking only place.


I googled a bit and I found a couple, but these are just google results, not solid referals....
If you think the A4LD variants have a bad rep... the dodge NV-5600 is flat excluded from warranty

 

[Brain75]

I ugh, cough, am not doubting you mechanic skills, but is there any chance you didn't get the valve body aligned perfectly when you put it back together - the first result for "4R55E" on google points back here to TRS and that's the big common problems sheet - some of what you describe seems to be "easily" fixable...

Seven Common Problems With The Ford 4R55E Transmission - The Ranger Station

About This Transmission: 4R44E / 4R55E – The name 4R44E means 4 forward gears, rear-drive platform (or 4WD, with a different tailshaft housing), rated for 440 ft/lb torque (after torque converter multiplication) and electronic shifting. 4R55E is the same but … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

 

[bcschief]

I would buy the best warranty especially if you are going to change it yourself so you will only be out your labor which you didn't pay for anyway. I would also tell you don't abuse it, and it will probably last a long time. E4ODs were not a good transmission ether back when I worked in a dealership our transmission guy was doing 3 a day, I think it has more to do with the weight of the truck and the usage.

 

[Shran]

I ugh, cough, am not doubting you mechanic skills, but is there any chance you didn't get the valve body aligned perfectly when you put it back together - the first result for "4R55E" on google points back here to TRS and that's the big common problems sheet - some of what you describe seems to be "easily" fixable...

Seven Common Problems With The Ford 4R55E Transmission - The Ranger Station

About This Transmission: 4R44E / 4R55E – The name 4R44E means 4 forward gears, rear-drive platform (or 4WD, with a different tailshaft housing), rated for 440 ft/lb torque (after torque converter multiplication) and electronic shifting. 4R55E is the same but … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

4r55e converter relief valve & spring missing, keepers missing

I believe I am dealing with someone's hack work here but I need to verify. I have my wife's '95 apart right now to replace the valve body seals - it had a delayed shift into forward gear from park and I suspected that the gasket was blown out (was not.) This truck has 89k on it and the trans...

www.therangerstation.com

That is a little history on my troubleshooting. It's been sitting for over a year. I dumped a ton of time & money into it to make it look nice, swap gears, new windshield and a bunch of other maintenance so I was feeling a little tapped out mentally & financially when it is not my vehicle. I am sure I got the VB aligned right and am instead dealing with a mess that someone else created - finding parts in the pan that simply couldn't have easily ended up there was my big clue.

I may call a few other local places and see if they will rebuild it if I just bring them the trans. My big thing is that this truck will only be driven a couple thousand miles a year, if that, so I want to avoid a local shop telling me to kick rocks after 13 months and a 1000 mile failure... at the present I trust a company in some other state just as much as the local guy.

If she was down for a 5 speed swap I would have the stupid thing back on the road already.

 

[Shran]

Also. I am half tempted to buy the ATSG 4R55E book, pump alignment tool and try to fix it myself. What makes me nervous is reading through my A4LD book and seeing where you have to watch for wear in the VB and case and then have those things corrected. Their little tools for fixing that stuff are way expensive. I am not scared of the work but I don't intend on ever opening up another one of these so the investment in tools will not make much sense.

 

[Brain75]

$4k is way more than I would be willing to pay for a trans myself... for me, I would be shoppin in the 'yard... but like you, we make concessions to keep "happy wife, happy life"... my gal's civic could have had the engine pinned, jb weldeded, stitched/welded... the thing is mechanically perfect other than a piddle problem, but she wouldn't hear it don't want fixed, got to have "new" so went out and bought a $25k USED car.... not exactly "new" is it, but it feels new so I smile and say "whatever you want dear"...

 

[Brain75]

I even considered suggesting the 5r55e, but the more I dug into it the more I realized it is just an extra split gear and more parts to go wrong with the exact same 550 rating. There isn't really any other auto options that are better are there?
A couple days ago someone dream asked about a C6 - but the answer there is they only work on body lifted trucks or taking a hammer and drastically enlarging the trans tunnel...


Edit: update:
That assessment was based off this page primarily: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/ford-ranger-automatic-transmissions/#gsc.tab=0
and some cursory digging, the greater depth dig revealed the 5R55e to be vastly superior.
Jump to post #24 to pickup the revised opinion / details.

 

[Brain75]

ok I got to ask a question on my own last statement... isn't the 5R55E also rated at 550, but this page:

Put A GM 700R4 Behind Your Ford 4.0L V6 - The Ranger Station

(GM 700R4 Automatic Transmission) The Ford automatic transmissions used in the Ford Ranger haven’t been known to very strong. The Ford C5 is similar to the C4, but was only used in 1983-1984. It’s also only a 3-speed automatic. The … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

says: "And finally, the 5R55E 5-speed automatic was probably the strongest automatic used in the Ranger. "

so I would ask, would it be worth trying a 5R55E from the junkyard (there's computer stupidity involved since your 95 doesn't know how to make the 5th gear, and man is there tech talk all over the place.... that's a can of worms to open)....


OR

go through the rest of that guide and switch to a *gasp* chevy transmission?

 

[Shran]

With as old as this thing is and the bad rep the A4LD variants have, I don't think I even want to consider the junkyard route. If it was my truck...maybe... I'm not sure I could even round up a good one locally though. Our junkyard situation is terrible. Several yards have closed...most of them are all on one street and there is a big RV park coming in behind them. Rumor is that they are going to sell out because the land is far more valuable than their business.

I was going to mention the 700R4 swap but that's a little out in the weeds for the wife's truck and I don't think they make the adapter any more.