Advice Please: Remanufactured Auto Trans

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joshhemming@fastmail.fm - 15 Feb 2007 17:50 GMT

I have a 93 Ford Aerostar that has 170,000 miles. When I bought it,
it already had 90K on it. I've changed the Overdrive trans fluid &
filter every 25K and so far it's working fine, although it's always
clunked/jerked harder than normal when it's first shifted into Drive
or Reverse.

I plan on keeping the van for several more years. From what I've
heard from other Aerostar owners, I'll probably need transmission work
at some point. My questions are:

1. Since I have access to a lift bay and have the time to swap it out
myself (even though I've never dropped a tranny in my life), would I
be better off buying a remanufactured unit when/if mine fails and
installing it myself rather than having a transmission shop rebuild it
locally?

2. Is there any consensus as to who sells the best rebuilt units? My
short Google search turned up some horror stories about Phoenix
rebuilds. How about the rebuilt units that Autozone or Pep Boys sell?

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Scrapper - 15 Feb 2007 18:15 GMT

i'd order it threw nappa or carquest and since you can use a lift i'd go
ahead and do it myself just bolts..good luck...

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Scrapper

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Kruse - 17 Feb 2007 00:37 GMT

On Feb 15, 12:50 pm, joshhemm...@fastmail.fm wrote:

> I have a 93 Ford Aerostar that has 170,000 miles. When I bought it,
> it already had 90K on it. I've changed the Overdrive trans fluid &
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> heard from other Aerostar owners, I'll probably need transmission work
> at some point. My questions are:

Since I've put about a million miles on 3 Aerostars, I'm going to
comment on this. First, the A4LD is a very reliable transmission, IF
it has been maintained and has not been towed with. However, you need
to change the tranny fluid about every 25K miles or less, as you have
been. I'm curious about the service before you got it, but you can't
change that now. The clunk you hear....have you checked the U-joints?
My wife almost ruined the drive shaft on one by not reporting the
"funny noise" to me sooner. Keep giving it good service and it will
last a long time. I would check into the warranty on a "chain store"
type of business. Some of them aren't too good. Find a reliable tranny
shop by asking friends or co-workers. Or, if you have any amount of
mechanical skill you can probably overhaul this one yourself.

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