Thread: D4 - transmission rebuild - is it worth it or do I retire the car? - HELP!

My pick is repair and replace. The cost is significantly under the depreciation and taxes you get to pay on a new car.

Cars are money pits particularity when new and giving all those hard earned over to the Dealer and Government. The repairs, maintenance and replacements are variables largely based on how much you travel and maintenance schedule and quality. I have replaced everything you list and just upped you with a radiator.

What else could/will you need to consider. Front Control arms of course, Timing belt is about due? I did put a new steering rack in my first D3 at well over 300,000km I think.

Not a nice place to be for you. It might be a worse place If you let it go perhaps? We all know that money pit feeling at times. It hurts.

You have a D4 2.7 so engine wise they’re very reliable. I wouldn’t expect anything to go wrong in that respect. Have you done the timing belt service yet? Have you replaced the top coolant outlet prone to failing with age? Do these things and I think you’ll be fine for a while after the trans rebuild other than your standard maintenance items for any car.

If your able to remove and replace the transmission yourself, I would remove just the torque converter and have just the torque converter rebuilt. Did this option with the same symptoms. It was on a D3 with 300000km on it. The transmission was changing perfectly just lock up shudder. It is now perfect to drive and has been ever since doing this. It was approx $500 to have the torque converter rebuilt.

Originally Posted by woko

If your able to remove and replace the transmission yourself, I would remove just the torque converter and have just the torque converter rebuilt. Did this option with the same symptoms. It was on a D3 with 300000km on it. The transmission was changing perfectly just lock up shudder. It is now perfect to drive and has been ever since doing this. It was approx $500 to have the torque converter rebuilt.

Interesting and add DiscoJeffster recent post to put a solenoid and seal kit through the mechatronics unit and you are a lot less than $6-7k assuming it’s had an oil change along the way.

It sucks but what else would you do? You either spend the up to $8k and have it back up and running being a known quantity, or you get some low scrap value for and have to spend at least $20 - $25k to get back to the equivalent.
Though it also has to be balanced with the rest of the cars condition. Has the engine been looked after and serviced properly (being one of the last of the 2.7 engines it should be well sorted and reliable if so), interior condition, body work condition, etc.

You don't say if the transmission has been fully flushed and serviced. If not, might be worth trying. And take the tip above from Woko about just having the torque converter rebuilt.

Have you spoken to the guys at MR Auto?if not they may be able to help.

Big decision,hard for anyone to know what you should do as they don't know your full circumstances,particularly your financials.

For me,i would get it fixed,properly,then move it on in the next year or so.

As others have also said,maybe just get the TC done,i know MR do that to a lot of the 6 speeds.

Mate, I have just been through this. Shudders and some less than ideal shifts on occasion. The torque converter is definitely the source of the shudder. I had it replaced, along with replacing the pan with the metal part and a few other little bits (see the pic) for less than $3,300 in Canberra.

The guy I chose was fantastic. He wasn't the cheapest around (a fair bit off actually), but when I spoke to him he knew the transmission well. The bit that sold me though was that he was more than willing to listen to me and have a conversation about my understanding of the issues and fixes, rather than tell me he was the expert and ignore me!

As it stands now, it runs beautifully.

The advice given here previously to install a Sonnax Zip kit (seals, o-rings, valves, sleeves, etc.) is a good one. If you can stretch a little further for it then I say it's worth it. I decided not to as we were having issues sourcing it at the time and I needed the D4 on the road (it was already apart when we realised we could get the kit quickly) for the missus.

Any suggestion that you require a full rebuild to solve the VERY common torque converter shudder issue is a straight up lie and they are taking you for a ride. Get a second, more expert opinion from someone like MR Automotive or British Off Road, both reasonably close to you.

Good luck.