DIY 4EAT rebuild?

[James614]

Okay, so my Touring Wagon's trans decided yesterday that it was going to start bogging the car down severely whenever it tries to shift. After it warms up it acts fine, but went to try it today and same thing. If I punch it she'll fly and shift fine, but I suspect my Auto-Xing and drag racing with the poor stock trans on a TD04 swap are what caused this in the first place. So I'm hesitant to just push it harder to make it go. Not to mention that I may or may not have set a Humvee transmission on fire that way...

My question is, on a scale of 1 - 10, how hard is a DIY rebuild? I've been looking at the performance rebuild kit from IPT, and getting my valve body worked by them seperately, which together is nearly $1200, but if I don't screw up should yield me a trans capable of taking the abuse I dish out.

You might ask "I thought you were looking for a VTD swap? Just get an old WRX trans!" Well, thing is, any V1/V2 WRX trans will be well-used, with unverifiable miles (I call BS on the 45K-55K that every importer throws out there.), so I wouldn't feel really safe throwing it into my DD unless it was serviced anyways, especially considering that I drag and auto-X regularly and am already running a bigger turbo with WAY more boost and an even bigger turbo still to come. So weather I fix my trans or get a VTD WRX trans, I'd want to do a rebuild regardless.

I figure $1200 for a DIY rebuild using IPT components should be far better than a $2K+ rebuild from a shop and no garuntee that they actually did it right (which happens with less frequency than I'm sure they'd want to admit).

[Legacy777]

Have you teared into an automatic transmission before or have any experience working on an auto trans?

If not, rebuilding one is probably a 10+. When I had my valve body rebuilt I watched and there are all kinds of little balls and springs that have to go in the correct spot, and if they don't, things won't work.

Not saying you couldn't do it, but I'm sure it would be quite a learning experience with a few stumbles along the way. I wouldn't even consider trying to tackle this without a factory trans manual.

[James614]

Well, I plan on sending the valve body off to IPT to be serviced by them seperately. I've seen one apart before and admittedly that's something that I think is worth paying a pro to tackle. But the main trans doesn't seem quite so intricate from the diagrams I've seen.

I haven't done this before, but I have access to a lift, garage, and any tool I could think of on base. I also plan to get an ATSG 4eat rebuild manual (not the factory one, I've never even seen one) so I'm not just poking around bliundly.

[Legacy777]

Well if you've got a good manual and good mechanicing skills, I'm sure it's doable. The valve body is probably the most complicated part.

[James614]

I wouldn't exactly brag about my "mechanicing" skills; I'm able to take stuff apart and put it back together, lol. The hardest things I've ever encountered have been less than accessible bolts (like some of the lower flange bolts for the turbo), and simple components that need tons of other components removed to be accessed (like the spark plugs/coil packs on a V6 Charger, which require removal of the intake manifold and it's accessories, which required removal of the factory strut bar, which required removal of the plastic vent guard under the windshield, which required removal of the wipers... but I digress, at least that's not a common trend throughout the car). But with patience and careful observation of how everything is put together (and less than sensible ways they can be manuevered), I've never run into something that I simply couldn't do.

But then again even most mechanics won't rebuild an automatic transmission, and 99% of all people choose to go the mystery junkyard trans route if they don't want to pay labor for a rebuild. So I'm not sure if I'm jumping into the middle of the ocean without a life vest here.

[Legacy777]

Well auto trans's just have a lot of components in there that have to work to specific tolerances. Have you ever taken apart an engine or rebuilt one? I'm not trying to discourage you, but want to make sure what you're getting yourself into.

Check out the auto transmission section from the overseas liberty manual. It should be the same or relatively the same as our cars. You can see all the inards and diagrams, which may give you a better idea of the work required.

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... tion_3.zip

[Dominator]

If Josh is ok with it, I have a pdf version of the ATSG 4eat rebuild manual I could post for you.
Or I could send it to Josh and he can archive it on his server.


I'm planning on going through my transmission soon too. I've got a spare, so if I screw it up I'm not down without a working car. I just bought the TransGo shift kit for the valve body, and I plan to buy new frictions and steels as well as checking out all the solenoids. The reason I want to go through it in the first place is because I've had torque bind issues since I've started driving this car. Also, last winter it seemed to spin just the front tires on the ice (no better than my old honda), and from what I've read 1st and 2nd gear should be 50-50 AWD. So I'd like to resolve those issues and bump the performance as much as I can without spending a ton of money.

[James614]

The ATSG manual would be very helpful, that way I can see how it's done and see if it's something I think I could handle before I start getting invested in the process. Also would give me a better idea of what all I need besides the rebuild kit and new solenoids, such as special tools or whatnot.

I've never done an engine before, but I'm 100% certain I could pull one and rebuild it myself (seen it done a couple of times).

[jefferson]

I did a turbo 350 with the help of a manual which it sounds like you will have access to. It should be doable with that. I got my parts from some parts places that more or less specialized in auto tranny rebuilds. I even took some parts into them to give me their thoughts and help. I don't know if they would have parts for a 4eat but I would think they would. A turbo 350 is or was very commonplace where as the 4eat not so much. I was able to add a plate in one of the clutch packs as they sold them individually. Good luck. I think you can do it.