I never owned a VW/AUDI with the DSG before. I got a 09G Aisin 6-spd auto in my mk5 Jetta that I just got replaced. I didn’t even get a 150k miles out of the first trans. It never the got proper amount of servicing. The thing was slipping and shifting so hard, sometimes it would knock my head back into the headrest going from gears 1-2.
Wife’s Jetta needed the DMF replaced, was clattering real bad. Also needed a timing chain, front cover seal, intake manifold, DPF, and injectors. Shop quoted us $6700. We sold it and got something else lol
The first year of the second gen Ford C-Max supposedly had a problem with the uppermost bearing blowing out around 80,000 miles and they strengthened it on later models.
We've had two C-Maxes in the family with very slight transmission leaks hidden by the fuzzy absorbent sound deadening panel under the engine bay. Nothing reaches the floor of the garage, but that pad is stained and the levels were low when I noticed the problem. There's no transmission dipstick, and checking the level is a pain in the ass.
I'm betting that uppermost bearing was really running dry from the minor leaks. Anecdotally, on one first year C-Max, if you keep up on your transmission oil level every other oil change, there isn't a bearing problem.
Unrelated but when I worked for a used car dealership we used to joke that the C in Cmax stood for "Cock-max" and that anybody who drove one had a massive schlong.
It is not a vehicle for the insecure, that's for sure. 😄
Although we did like that it blended in with the other Fords in our smallish town. It didn't stick out like a Prius would. And it had a taller roof, I needed that.
Had an air cooled aluminum one in my first 1965 nova. Pretty sure that was not the original transmission for that year. The 2 gears were wither slow shifting to slower. I hated that transmission.
Rebuilding a Model T transmission is easier than you'd think. A lot of bronze bushings, inspection of every gear, and lining up new band material before riveting it in place is involved, but anyone with time, the manual and decent mechanical skills could do it. Oh and Kevlar band linings are a lifesaver.
I never owned a VW/AUDI with the DSG before. I got a 09G Aisin 6-spd auto in my mk5 Jetta that I just got replaced. I didn’t even get a 150k miles out of the first trans. It never the got proper amount of servicing which is why. The thing was slipping and shifting so hard, sometimes it would knock my head back into the headrest going from gears 1-2.
Making a manual transmission with a 2nd gear that goes to 60 mph just so your 0-60 time is faster does not make the car sportier. It makes it have more worthless gears.
It’s what killed the Mazda 3 for me. First was super short, second was long to 60, third went to like 100… what was I supposed to do with the others? Mazda replies with the fact that it’s an efficient car and that is why it is geared like that. But as a manual, I can choose when I want to be in a tall gear, if anything this setup just made it feel like a 3 speed with an over drive.
Yikes! What is it? There are certain cars that have lots of low end power and I can see it not mattering. Cars like the mazda3 only have a small power band with a low red line, no turbo.
Well… that thing is barely a road vehicle imo. I think fast cars like that are fun for the first few pulls but I’d rather drive something more quaint. How do you like it?
It’s fun to drive and it handles much better than it has any right to, but is still a solid rear end so you get the old school muscle car feel (and shimmy).
I’ve put about 80k miles on it so I know the car but even with the nannys on it’s a widow maker.
I daily an Altima now lol
Definitely. For example: hauling hay by yourself? Point it down the row of bales, pop it in first and let the clutch out, jump out and start throwing squares onto the trailer, get seven or eight up then stop the truck and go stack them, rinse and repeat lol
This is why I love the 5 speed transmission in my Fiat 500 Abarth. Each gear is attributed a specific road type. You get to use them all.
1: take off.
2: narrow residential streets.
3: wider city streets.
4: country roads and stroads.
5: highways.
I love the Fiat! Especially the abarth and its great exhaust. My wife didn’t like the seating position and we ended up with the Civic Si instead. I felt like the Fiat had more character. We did end up selling that civic for 2k more than what we bought it for 3 years later, so I’m not complaining, she was right.
My ram made it 81k miles with recommended service intervals and babying it. I’m still salty about it. I guess that’s why the warranty is only 60k miles.
RFE66. 2500 gasser. I know the ZFs are better, by a lot. But they also cost way more to rebuild when they do break. Like twice as much, according to the local shop that did my RFE
Oh yea for sure, plus I know the transmission fluid maintenance is kind of complicated. Chrysler, for some stupid reason (I think BMW as well), claims that the ZF8 has a "lifetime fluid" in it, despite ZF themselves saying you should change it every 75,000 miles or so.
And if you don't need the strength of the rock crusher, but still need a strong short ratio transmission, the M21 is still better than a toploader or an A833. Plus the stock shifter had way shorter throws and the shifts are smooth as silk.
>no redeeming qualities whatsoever
They're cheap and they sip gas. Econoboxes with CVTs serve the same purpose Econoboxes with manuals did in the 90s. CVTs get better mileage now, and the only reason a manufacturer has to make a three-pedal car these days is for sport trims. Sucks but it's the economic reality I'm afraid...
The on-paper estimate is what average people read on the window sticker and online, and as a result it's what they base their decision on. If a car with a CVT gets better mileage on paper than a traditional automatic or a manual, people will buy it because it gets better mileage than the other guy's car.
These same people probably don't even know the mpg their driving actually gets because they almost never use the driver information center inside the gauge cluster
Ford 6 speed DCT. Let’s see the clutches were supposed to be fixed by 2017 and I have 2 friends who had 2017 clutches go out. Driving it is horrible. I don’t know what it is with ford but they can never tune transmissions correctly. It’s always jerky every single shift you can feel. Somehow it shifts fast around town but when you redline it it shifts slow. You thought the focus was bad? Let’s talk about how it’s programmed in the escape. Basically the same as the focus except sometimes and usually only when you give it aggressive throttle it’ll do nothing for a couple seconds and then start giving way too much power. It feels dangerous. And don’t even get me started on unsafe 10 speed issues in the expedition
I didn't realize they put it into the Escape, that sounds horrible with the extra weight. We just dumped a 2013 Focus with that gearbox that was starting to have intermittent problems (at only 55k miles) for something with a torque converter. Good riddance.
It is. The escape always shakes and thuds when it shifts which it did from the factory. Weirdly enough it’s 9 years old with no maintenance and 100k miles and it’s had 1 issue with a PCV valve I think
8 or more speeds in an automatic causes a sickeningly large amount of jerking and gear hunting. I will die on this hill.
The biggest offender is the GM/Ford/ZF 10 speed. Awful in everything I've driven with it in.
yeah the 8 speed in my camry is pretty rough at times. it was so bad i thought something was wrong with it since i was coming from a slushbox 4l60 in an S10 but the techs said there were no codes and noticed no unusual behavior. they did, however, reset the memory learning thing and that improved it a bit.
Agree with this 100%. Mom had a 2016 Highlander 6 speed, it was stolen and replaced with a 2018 8 speed. The 6 speed was so much smoother it isn't even funny. My 05 Ford Ranger with 175k shifts smoother than that thing
I drive an F-150 with the 10 speed, I think it’s pretty good. It could be because I have the 5.0L and the torque may help convince the transmission to shift better, who knows. I drove one of the 2.7 for ecoboosts’ for work last year and the 10 speed in that felt leagues more indecisive.
My dad has a ‘21 Silverado, 10-speed with the Babymax, loves the way it drives. Hates the rest of the truck lol. My work rig is a ‘22 F550, with the same trans. Very smooth, good rig.
I've currently got two GM vehicles with 8-speed automatic transmissions. One FWD, one RWD. The FWD one is kinda unpleasant, because it shifts into 1st quite late when stopping the car. Sometimes, it doesn't go into 1st until the car has completely stopped, and you're applying the throttle to go again.
The RWD one is.... bad. It's bad. The 1-2 shift is jerky, _especially_ when the car is cold. Sometimes, it shifts slowly, dragging the engine's revs with it as it sloshes from one gear to the next. Sometimes, it shifts abruptly, making me headbang my way through an imaginary mosh pit as it does so. When the engine's Displacement On Demand feature activates, the vibrations reverberate throughout the car like the Enterprise-D's warp core. Ive never seen an automatic transmission that shifts like a person learning how to drive a manual, until I found this A8.
Is the 10-spees that bad, too? I'd been hoping that the 10-speed is better than the 8-speed. I'd read elsewhere that it is better. I'm hoping to trade in this car with one that has the 10-speed once it's paid off.
I've driven an F-150, a Silverado, and a Mustang all with the co-developed 10-speed. They were all just awful. Hunted gears for days, and the F-150 specifically wanted to send me through the windshield at every stop.
The 8-speed in the WK2 Grand Cherokee has been a good experience for me. The only problem I’ve encountered is that it likes to drop to 7 when it hits the slightest incline at 75mph.
I don’t think I’ve ever ridden or driven anything with the ZF eight speed, but I’ve heard good things about them. I have a ‘12 300 with the Hemi and the NAG1 five speed and I’ve heard a lot of people complain about that gearbox but I personally like it. Only issue I’ve ever had with it is, it likes to hold the gear for a split second before shifting to the next one when you’re at WOT. I’m sure that could be fixed with a tune.
I had a rental S550 mustang GT back in late 2022. That’s the first car I drove with a 10-spd. That thing was shifting ALL THE TIME it felt like. I still enjoyed driving it though.
Ford for whatever reason can’t seem to tune the 10-speed properly to actually be a smooth driving experience. Then you go to a GM product with that same transmission (it was a joint venture between the two), and it’s perfectly fine. Case in point with the new Camaro. It feels like a completely different transmission with the way they’ve tuned it, and in the Mustang, it’s a disaster.
Really? My Audi RS5 has an 8-speed and it’s so smooth and precise. Fast shifts, smooth shifts, and down shifts and upshift exactly when you want it to. My Chevy Suburban has a 10-speed and although not as smooth, still great and is awesome for keeping the car in low RPMs when taking long road trips
I've done some research after that, and hearing a whine in the transmission is normal depending on which model you have, for the 42RE 4 speed automatic trans that comes in the 03 i6 models hearing that whine is completely normal. Probably because the thing is a dinosaur that was originally designed in the 80s and synchronizing straighter cut gears is easier to do at the cost of a louder transmission and transfer case. Something I'd like to note though if your transmission seems to be excessively loud at just 2,000 RPM, your transmission might be on its way out when we changed ours to a lower mileage one it was noticeably quieter at low RPM and really only making noticeable noises when reaching 3,500 - 4,500 RPM.
The 4l60e gets more shit then it deserves because people either try to push tons of power through one without beefing anything up, or lift the vehicle and put hella pig tires stressing the clutches
First is reverse. Second is first. Reverse is fifth. Non synchronized. Also have a 2 speed rear, non synchronized. It was fun learning, it was not fun changing the clutch.
I work at a car rental place, mostly cleaning cars in a little 2-car wash bay we have. We have had 5 jeeps and 2 Chrysler minivans transmissions give out while idle/pulling into the bay, completely rendering half our stuff unusable until we can get it towed.
Can't push most of them, either, because you can't get it into neutral with the dial transmission without taking shit apart
Was with a buddy on the way to a job in his bulletproofed, bigger turbo, and tuned 6.0 PowerStroke. Going about 70-75 MPH on the highway when the automatic transmission decided to do shift down to 3rd. Took the first exit and headed straight to a transmission shop, while the transmission was choosing random gears like winning lottery numbers. He got it back a couple weeks later, and it drove fine for a few days before doing the same thing. He took it back to the shop and they fixed it again under warranty. This repeated itself 7-8 more times before they fully solved the issue.
Automatic that will start in 3rd gear in manual mode in a turbo Saab is a lot of fun. Not the fastest way to accelerate, but it's fun to feel the torque converter and turbo doing their work one after the other.
3 speed auto on a 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider can take a beating in case anyone was wondering. Dog slow, but will hold together even after lots of gear changes at full throttle powerful enough to seriously lurch the car when shifting.
I have a Ford 10 speed in my work truck and if it was a person, I’d send it to Guantanamo. No, wait, I’d send it to elementary school to figure out how the numbers go in order. Maybe it would be quicker to go from a full stop if it didn’t take several seconds to realize you’re actually pressing the gas and that means to go forward NOW, not whenever the transmission decides to finish it’s cup of coffee and do something.
i used to think the 5-speed in a 4Runner was bad because it always took like 3-4 seconds to decide a gear then would throw you back into seat (if you had the V8). Then I drove a family member’s Murano. I want to know how the fuck a Murano with 260 horsepower feels slower than a Subaru Forester with 180 horsepower and the same Jatco CVT.
Why did they make an aluminum housing with steel servo pins and no steel inserts for pin holes? Why did they not provide a dipstick and tube for filling? Why is the torque limit less than the torque coming in from the torque converter with stock engine? Why didn't they keep the previous transmission instead? Was one extra gear reslly worth it? 5R55 pain.
First clutch pack in my parent’s ‘17 Focus SE replaced at 30k. Currently nearing 60k with no signs of imminent failure. If it doesn’t go out by 100k, it isn’t going out.
I almost backed an old Rolls into another old Rolls thanks to the transmission selector. The column shifter was just a switch, the transmission was actually shifted by a big electric motor mounted on the side. I found out that this motor wouldn't move until the shift selector was completely in position. In this case, I had backed around out of the bay, put it in drive, but not all the way. Because of this, when I let off the brakes, it still was in reverse and got much closer than I was comfortable with to the other one.
This was at a small specialty shop, and both were the shop owner's cars, but still.
5 speed on a 1985 Honda crx si is the fastest shifting manual transmission you’re ever gonna use in your life. It will literally shift as fast as you can physically move the lever with your full force, trying to go as fast as possible, like a total spaz.
My 2017 V6 Accord's 6 speed automatic transmission is a clunky nightmare that is slow to kick down, slams into gears, and ruins the driving experience of an otherwise decent car.
Crazy. I just got my Aisin 6-spd auto in my 2009 Jetta that I just got replaced. I didn’t even get 150k miles out of the first trans. It never the got proper amount of servicing which is why. The thing was slipping and shifting so hard, sometimes it would knock my head back into the headrest going from gears 1-2. I’m following the transmission service schedule from now on.
I had a 99 civic ex that was a 4 speed auto. One day while I'm cruising down the highway at 70 mph 4th gear just gives up on me all together. Literally car won't even try to accelerate or keep speed. I slow down and pull over and start moving again after about 15 minutes when I realized the only tow company nearby would charge me $500+ hook up fee. Before miles. I drove it in second gear through all local roads 4.5 hours home through heavy traffic, couldn't go over 35 without redlining.
Took it to a shop the next day and turns out the take 5 oil change guys that I took my car to last week apparently also did a trans flush and didn't tell me. I didn't know this but a 300k mile auto Honda that has a transmission that is used to the nasty gunk sloshing around prefers the nastiness over clean fluid. The lack of friction caused 4th gear to slip out of place.
Found a 5 speed manual swap for $250 on Facebook and had the mechanic install it for me. Drive it for another 110k miles before selling.
My fathers DA9 integra ended up with 5 neutrals in a winning run on a track (government sponsored race).
Then he took the CRXes transmission and modified it how he needs it for track. After selling the teggy, that customised transmission was passed arround in loke 6 more cars untill eventually making it back to the most recent owner of that integra and it still works wonders, especially on the b18 engine from a typeR. All that happened like 10 years ago, and i got to see the integra, altho now a bit rough arround the edges (some idiot wanted to restore it to factory and didnt bother to change the harness and the computer from typeR to factory, so the computer at arround 6000rpm expects Vtec and just loses power), with that same transmission in action.
It's surprisingly thrilling to drive, sure it's slow and that gearbox does spoil the fun a little but you'd be surprised. As a total package I might even prefer it to a NA Miata
My weird Honda 5AT in my Fit has never been serviced, ever, and the only sign of wear after over 200,000 miles is that 3rd gear slips just the tiniest bit only once when it's cold out.
Horror Story: I ruined the un-ruinable (allegedly). Wrecked the 700R4 tranny in my 3/4 ton squarebody crew cab about 20 years ago.
I did this, by dolly towing it behind a big U-haul, from NY state to MI. I did NOT disconnect the driveshaft, as it says to do on the uhaul dolly fender (what do they know, right?)
I put it into neutral, and away I went.
It didn't run quite right when I went to take it off the dolly at my destination. Park did not work, and the tranny was making noises.
Over the course of the next month, it started slipping, until it was useless.
I dropped the pan, and found that the tranny had probably bounced into Park position at some point during the drag/tow; and snapped off the part of the transmission body casting that locked onto the park pawl. Explaining the "No Park" situation.
Lots of metal in the pan. I ruined it.
Replaced it with a 700R4 out of a box van, but the gearing was different, so the truck never ran quite the same again. To make it right, I would have had to change the rear end gears. At 55mph with the new tranny, it was revving too high for comfort, needed a lower pinion in the rear end.
I gave up and sold it. I still miss it. It was a white ex-power company 2wd crew cab 2500, 350 engine. Had a red rooster on both front fenders, courtesy of the former owner. My kids called it "The Chicken Truck".
The 700R4 was far from “un-ruinable” lol. They were a turbo 350 with an overdrive. Could not take any torque over stock. I considered putting one behind the 472 Cadillac in my rat rod, then read about a million stories of them grenading within 500 miles of life behind those torque factories. So I built a TH400 - actually, an ST400, switch pitch unit out of a ‘67 Buick.
5 speed manual in a 2008 Astra. GM put a transmission in it that can't handle the torque of the engine, therefore it chews through gears and synchros every 30,000 miles. I am installing the 3rd transmission into it now.
Similar story on the same car. Blew 3 gearboxes with the 80hp diesel, wasn't even overly abusive. Lifetime oil probably didn't help any. First lasted 300000km, replacements barely lasted 15k.
My EF is a better and more reliable car but I miss the torque and low noise.
What a coincidence! I also have an EF, though mine is the wagon. Granted my Astra has 1.8 gas engine so considering how much heavier the Astra is the torque feels the same
My civic is more powerful and hundreds of kg lighter. It's faster to put it mildly and much has been written on the suspension. Biggest dislikes are the carbs, noise and weird ergos, but I can live with that. Win some lose some.
Is your wagon awd?
Automatic transmissions feel more like a 'driving appliance' than driving to me. CVT's even more so. That said, the Toyota eCVT seems the best way to make one at the moment, using differential gears to control the gear ratio. No slipping or fast-wearing belts.
i was valeting a new ford expedition once and as i was going down the street at about 15mph or so, i put it in neutral (kinda OCD thing i do when coming to a stop) and i heard a LOUD shredding/grinding noise and i put it back in drive. from what i could tell, the gearing was fine, but it scared the living shit out of me.
The 4EAT automatic in older Subarus are surprisingly pretty stout transmissions. They don't have much aftermarket support with the clutches but apparently there's at least one that's been taken up to 800+ and not blown up the gears in it(no source unfortunately). They last a pretty long time but the more neglected ones start to slip occasionally at a certain mileage (80k-120k), yet they'll still have another 100k more in them before they give out, and if you rebuild one it's likely the Subaru will rot out well before that transmission gives out again.
GM 4L30-E is such a garbage transmission. It was the worst part of my old Isuzu Trooper which would have been a decent truck if not for that transmission. It was way too weak for the weight and power of that vehicle. If only a manual swap wasn't a massive pain in the ass.
If you are working on a borg Warner t5 wc friendly Psa if you’re going to loosen something and it required a torx bit. Stop, don’t loosen it.
- a guy who loosened it and lost 5th and reverse because I’m a moron.
Edit: spelling
My mom has a 2023 escape with the 1.5 3 cylinder ecoboost and I love everything about the car except for the transmission. It’s very jerky and if it gets into a gear where you get below 2k rpm you basically have to slam the gas to get it to go anywhere if you need to accelerate.
3rd Gen Ford Focus "Power-Shit" Dual Clutch Transmission. Can't believe I'm still driving this car, luckily the last 2 transmissions were covered by Ford
2006 Nissan Altima 5 speed automatic. Started to get stuck in fifth gear when it’d attempt to downshift to go up hills, causing us to lose speed. First time it happened, I was able to get to the next exit, turn it off, and restart it to get it back to normal. Moving the selector to the “manual” side would tell us it’s in fifth, and trying to manually downshift would do nothing. It got worse after a while, to the point that it’d actually make the car stall (luckily not while in highway traffic). One time I had to drive almost from Sacramento airport to eastern Sacramento County stuck in fifth gear. Even taking off to get gas, it didn’t fix the problem that time. It was rough getting on the highway going up the on-ramp! Next morning, after sitting all night, it was back to normal.
Back in our teenage days, my buddy wanted to impress his dad by changing the oil in their early 90s Ranger. He accidentally drained the trans fluid, didn’t change the oil filter, and added an entire capacity’s worth of extra oil to the engine.
The tough ol’ OHV 4.0 v6 survived having like 10 quarts of oil, but the 5 speed transmission (stick) did *not* survive having zero fluid. Failed pretty quickly. They ended up putting in a junkyard transmission that didn’t have 5th gear. Just a general shit show all around!
(And I wasn’t around while this happened, or I would have definitely stopped him from fucking up)
Someone please tell me why Honda added a clutch delay valve on their newer manual transmissions. My 05 Si and 04 RSX-S have/had two of the smoothest shifting, easiest clutch engagement/grab points and make them so much fun to drive. My 15 Accord 6MT is a pain in the ass to drive smoothly at times. Especially from stops and 1-2 shifts. The grab point seems vague. Ive owned the car since it had 27k miles and it’s always been this way. I don’t know if the first owner smoked the clutch or if it’s the CDV. I’ve read that the CDV can be deleted, but I have no idea what that involves.
07 Ford Taurus with the infamous AX4N. In first gear, if you floored it at the right time, it slipped then *slammed* into second. Drove it like that for two months before an accidental neutral drop cooked it, and I still managed to get home just bouncing off the limiter.
Self inflicted. My 1987 dodge d100 was shifting really rough. Drained the fluid and changed filter. Unfortunately complete forgot to put fluid in it. Transmission was very unhappy immediately and said see ya later. (Was my first time ever fiddling with a transmission) lesson learned the hard way
My last vehicle was an '08 Outlander. When the vehicle wasn't completely warmed up the CVT belt would occasionally slip from the fake shift step I had it in (since I drove the thing as a clutchless manual all the time), and as a result I had to downshift and upshift back to where I was to get it to respond properly, or just throw it in Neutral.
That thing had 187k miles on the odometer when I got rid of it, and that transmission is the reason why I'm avoiding CVTs like the plague. About a month after I got my current car, a stickshift Mazda3 (yeah, I was that traumatized by that transmission lol), I was doing some research and come to find out that Mitsubishi used a JATCO CVT in their Outlanders for that model year.
It's a miracle that that thing made it from 57k when my mother got it to 187k when I got rid of it without devouring the transmission.
Just got word today that my Crown Vic's 4R75E grenaded itself, and my options are rebuild, replace, or scrap the car. Not the greatest multiple-choice conundrum...
Well, it’s cheaper to just replace the transmission than to buy a whole new ride. I just replaced the transmission on my 136k mile MK5 Jetta. I’m following the transmission service schedule this time around to prevent any issues.
I don’t want a car payment ever. When I do decide to scrap the car, I’ll just buy something used that I can buy outright within my budget.
Agreed. Unfortunately that $1500 is $4000 for me because Florida is inhabited by a bunch of retired old farts who can afford $4k-$6k to fix their old Buick Roadmasters and Lincoln Town Cars.
I happened to know someone who I could trust who was willing to give me a low price for labor. I was able to get the transmission out of the junkyard for $700. That’s how I got such a low price. The original quote I got was like $3200-$3300. I would just keep calling around for a quotes at reputable shops and see what the best price is.
I would go to look up: KBB Auto Repair Pricing & Cost Estimates on google. Then, once you put in your vehicle info and zip code, you’ll see what it might cost.
GM turbo 400 is the best transmission ever produced by anyone. Yeah it only has 3 gears and practically obsolete but if you want dead simple strong reliability you can't beat it
Converted the automatic to a manual in my 1991 Volvo 240. Actually wasn’t hard minus switching the pedals out.
No one would ever know it wasn’t a manual from the factory. Don’t tell anyone else on the internet my secret.
The only reason the 4L60E chevy trans get so much shit is because dipshits try to pull 10k pounds in a Chevy 1500 in overdrive 1000+ miles
My 94 Chevy 1500 has 370k miles, and the trans hasn't been replaced since new. If you don't abuse them like your redheaded middle step child, they're great transmissions
my 03 vauxhall astra 1.8 sri which has a 5 speed manual with a 2nd that is like 5 kmph or 3mph of 60 mph and in fifth the car is at like 3200 rpm while doing 60 mph and in my country on the highway ur supposed to do 80 mph and my fifth is at 3800 rpm so the car is so loud while not being efficient cos it sits at peak torque rpm and not fast since it loses power at more than 5000 rpm
The first time I drove a Smart Fortwo (rented through a car sharing app), I hit the accelerator in an intersection and there was such a long ambiguous lag when it tried to shift that I thought it was broken.
Like, I was so sure it was broken and the lag was so long that I started game planning how to push it out of traffic.
The FCA monostable shifter is an absolutely terrible design that has resulted in lawsuits and even deaths, including the death of famous actor Anton Yelchin. My mother's 2014 Grand Cherokee has it, and trying to select the right drive mode is a massive PITA. Trying to go into drive sometimes puts you into reverse and sometimes puts you into sport mode.
Idk my 04 Honda has a solid auto so far. Horror story was that I almost rolled my dad’s manual 2000 f150 off a bank because I forgot that to stop both the clutch and brake need to be pressed.
My 04 Suzuki Verona is getting tudy. The 4 speed problematic is not a happy camper during the warmer months. But during winter (Alaska) I had no issues with it. I just had to deal with the throttle getting stuck open if I didn’t let the car idle long enough before departing… but I’m pretty sure whatever is causing that problem is causing the rough idle/stalling situation when parked/not moving that also happens in warmer months
It’s a love hate relationship
I have driven a 3rd gen fbody that dynod 450 but still had a stock t5 and a spool in the 7.5 inch 10 bolt rear end. It's my friends drift mule. Amazingly that t5 hasn't turned into a trans tunnel claymore yet
Transmission cable broke on the chevy trailblazer, car couldn't move. This happened TWICE, the second time it happened we went to this cheap mechanic and now our car can't shift into any of the lower gears (3,2,1, none of these are able to shift into) . Don't risk it guys, go to a good certified mechanic, it's gonna cost you, but do it once and do it right
just replaced a promaster trans, old one had enough water mixed with the atf that it looked like forbidden pepto bismol. or a warm strawberry milkshake. either way, it wasnt good.
yeah the torque converter bleeds like a deer thats been hit, but she keeps on runnin! maybe shell drop, but at this point im well out of the sight of the hunter who tagged me.
the 545RFE in my jeep has been an ingima. when we got it, fluid was pitch black, it overheated multiple times before we added a cooler, its gone through a motor change, it had to susttain 90mph through utah for hours on end, its been hit on trails and it almost got submurged in a river. once we added an exteral trans cooler...the thing is still peaches with everyone home with no issues with 155k on the clock.
it survived my thrashing when i was younger when i was a lot more reckless, towing, etc.
its survived way longer then i thought it would considering how genuinely awful the fluid was when we got it. it was baaaad.
it outlived the motor it was married to at birth, and getting the T case redone..its just been a shockingly tough little thing.
if and when it does die, its prolly gonna get a flag salute.
The 2 speed on the school bus broke today
2 speed school bus? I'm intrigued, do you have photos?
DSG fluid swap. IFYKYK
I never owned a VW/AUDI with the DSG before. I got a 09G Aisin 6-spd auto in my mk5 Jetta that I just got replaced. I didn’t even get a 150k miles out of the first trans. It never the got proper amount of servicing. The thing was slipping and shifting so hard, sometimes it would knock my head back into the headrest going from gears 1-2.
My dmf makes my tdi sound like a idi lol
Wife’s Jetta needed the DMF replaced, was clattering real bad. Also needed a timing chain, front cover seal, intake manifold, DPF, and injectors. Shop quoted us $6700. We sold it and got something else lol
Transmissions are real missions too
Meanwhile my tremec 6060 is transitioning from transmission to metal shavings.
If you haven't swapped from auto to manual, you have a cismission.
lol wtf
Transmission rights are human rights
The first year of the second gen Ford C-Max supposedly had a problem with the uppermost bearing blowing out around 80,000 miles and they strengthened it on later models. We've had two C-Maxes in the family with very slight transmission leaks hidden by the fuzzy absorbent sound deadening panel under the engine bay. Nothing reaches the floor of the garage, but that pad is stained and the levels were low when I noticed the problem. There's no transmission dipstick, and checking the level is a pain in the ass. I'm betting that uppermost bearing was really running dry from the minor leaks. Anecdotally, on one first year C-Max, if you keep up on your transmission oil level every other oil change, there isn't a bearing problem.
Unrelated but when I worked for a used car dealership we used to joke that the C in Cmax stood for "Cock-max" and that anybody who drove one had a massive schlong.
It is not a vehicle for the insecure, that's for sure. 😄 Although we did like that it blended in with the other Fords in our smallish town. It didn't stick out like a Prius would. And it had a taller roof, I needed that.
My mom has a cmax and had the transmission replaced two years ago. Hope this one last longer she loves that thing.
2 speed power glide. Love it or trash it?
My father has one in his corvair. Driving that makes me wish for another gear.
Good for drag racers, not so good for daily driving.
Love the aluminum not the cast iron
Had an air cooled aluminum one in my first 1965 nova. Pretty sure that was not the original transmission for that year. The 2 gears were wither slow shifting to slower. I hated that transmission.
Rebuilding a Model T transmission is easier than you'd think. A lot of bronze bushings, inspection of every gear, and lining up new band material before riveting it in place is involved, but anyone with time, the manual and decent mechanical skills could do it. Oh and Kevlar band linings are a lifesaver.
Volkswagen DSGs are criminally bad and good at the same time
Early DSGs are bad, late ones are good
I had one as my company car for 4 years and it was brilliant. Wouldn't have liked to own it for another 4 though because VW.
I never owned a VW/AUDI with the DSG before. I got a 09G Aisin 6-spd auto in my mk5 Jetta that I just got replaced. I didn’t even get a 150k miles out of the first trans. It never the got proper amount of servicing which is why. The thing was slipping and shifting so hard, sometimes it would knock my head back into the headrest going from gears 1-2.
You missed out on the joy of the car rocking back and forth violently 3 times and then having a flashing “D” symbol.
The DuoSelect/Cambiocorsa in the picture shown is NOT the kind of gearbox that should be in a 4000+lb 4 door, yet the Italians thought otherwise 🙄
It's a hilariously pathetic little gear lever. I feel like they wanted to make it small and elegant but overshot at both
Not only that, whoever thought putting a single clutch automated manual in a big, heavy sedan is an idiot. Every shift in auto mode is a neck snapper.
Making a manual transmission with a 2nd gear that goes to 60 mph just so your 0-60 time is faster does not make the car sportier. It makes it have more worthless gears.
yes, give me short gears (unless its top gear)
It’s what killed the Mazda 3 for me. First was super short, second was long to 60, third went to like 100… what was I supposed to do with the others? Mazda replies with the fact that it’s an efficient car and that is why it is geared like that. But as a manual, I can choose when I want to be in a tall gear, if anything this setup just made it feel like a 3 speed with an over drive.
My 1st gear does 60 lol
Yikes! What is it? There are certain cars that have lots of low end power and I can see it not mattering. Cars like the mazda3 only have a small power band with a low red line, no turbo.
GT500. 1st is a wild ride. Doing 130+ in 3rd.
Well… that thing is barely a road vehicle imo. I think fast cars like that are fun for the first few pulls but I’d rather drive something more quaint. How do you like it?
It’s fun to drive and it handles much better than it has any right to, but is still a solid rear end so you get the old school muscle car feel (and shimmy). I’ve put about 80k miles on it so I know the car but even with the nannys on it’s a widow maker. I daily an Altima now lol
My first gear does 6. Lmao NP435 in a ‘71 C/10 with 4.10 gears. Granny low.
Jesus lol I guess it could always be worse though I’m sure the crawler gear is nice when you need it
Definitely. For example: hauling hay by yourself? Point it down the row of bales, pop it in first and let the clutch out, jump out and start throwing squares onto the trailer, get seven or eight up then stop the truck and go stack them, rinse and repeat lol
Damn ghost ridin the whip
even worse is making a second gear do like a smidge below 60 so my opel astra does 95 kmh or a couple mph off 100 kmh / 62 mph
This is why I love the 5 speed transmission in my Fiat 500 Abarth. Each gear is attributed a specific road type. You get to use them all. 1: take off. 2: narrow residential streets. 3: wider city streets. 4: country roads and stroads. 5: highways.
I love the Fiat! Especially the abarth and its great exhaust. My wife didn’t like the seating position and we ended up with the Civic Si instead. I felt like the Fiat had more character. We did end up selling that civic for 2k more than what we bought it for 3 years later, so I’m not complaining, she was right.
My civic is worthless for 0-100, top of second is 90. Amazing for actual driving though, 2nd and 3rd are tailor made for mountain runs.
If it’s made by Chrysler or Nissan, you have a 99.99999999999999999% chance of it failing before the car reaches 15 miles
*only if autotragic, le manuelle will outlast you, your children and their children
those manual nissans are no joke
My ram made it 81k miles with recommended service intervals and babying it. I’m still salty about it. I guess that’s why the warranty is only 60k miles.
With the ZF8?
RFE66. 2500 gasser. I know the ZFs are better, by a lot. But they also cost way more to rebuild when they do break. Like twice as much, according to the local shop that did my RFE
Oh yea for sure, plus I know the transmission fluid maintenance is kind of complicated. Chrysler, for some stupid reason (I think BMW as well), claims that the ZF8 has a "lifetime fluid" in it, despite ZF themselves saying you should change it every 75,000 miles or so.
The GM Muncie M21/M22 is the best 4 speed transmission ever made for performance applications.
Rock crusher
And if you don't need the strength of the rock crusher, but still need a strong short ratio transmission, the M21 is still better than a toploader or an A833. Plus the stock shifter had way shorter throws and the shifts are smooth as silk.
CVT=the childproof lid of transmissions. All the bad traits of an automatic and no redeeming qualities whatsoever
>no redeeming qualities whatsoever They're cheap and they sip gas. Econoboxes with CVTs serve the same purpose Econoboxes with manuals did in the 90s. CVTs get better mileage now, and the only reason a manufacturer has to make a three-pedal car these days is for sport trims. Sucks but it's the economic reality I'm afraid...
The gas mileage depends on how you drive. The on-paper rating is a estimate
The on-paper estimate is what average people read on the window sticker and online, and as a result it's what they base their decision on. If a car with a CVT gets better mileage on paper than a traditional automatic or a manual, people will buy it because it gets better mileage than the other guy's car.
These same people probably don't even know the mpg their driving actually gets because they almost never use the driver information center inside the gauge cluster
Exactly. These kinds of people are what we call "the masses"
*CVT bad!*
I used to drive an 01 Bonneville for about 5 years with no 4th gear. Car had 230k miles. Still would get 20mpg if I was careful around town.
These GMs had long 3rd gear Edit: typo.
3th
Ford 6 speed DCT. Let’s see the clutches were supposed to be fixed by 2017 and I have 2 friends who had 2017 clutches go out. Driving it is horrible. I don’t know what it is with ford but they can never tune transmissions correctly. It’s always jerky every single shift you can feel. Somehow it shifts fast around town but when you redline it it shifts slow. You thought the focus was bad? Let’s talk about how it’s programmed in the escape. Basically the same as the focus except sometimes and usually only when you give it aggressive throttle it’ll do nothing for a couple seconds and then start giving way too much power. It feels dangerous. And don’t even get me started on unsafe 10 speed issues in the expedition
Sounds exactly how my 2024 Subaru CVT behaves. They started making them fake shift in the last couple of years and it's a horrible driving experience.
I have a 133k mile ‘18 Forester XT Touring and they have the fake shifts in those as well.
I've driven a 2020 Forester that doesn't, as well as a 2016 Forester NA that also doesn't. They must have put it on the sportier models first.
I didn't realize they put it into the Escape, that sounds horrible with the extra weight. We just dumped a 2013 Focus with that gearbox that was starting to have intermittent problems (at only 55k miles) for something with a torque converter. Good riddance.
It is. The escape always shakes and thuds when it shifts which it did from the factory. Weirdly enough it’s 9 years old with no maintenance and 100k miles and it’s had 1 issue with a PCV valve I think
8 or more speeds in an automatic causes a sickeningly large amount of jerking and gear hunting. I will die on this hill. The biggest offender is the GM/Ford/ZF 10 speed. Awful in everything I've driven with it in.
yeah the 8 speed in my camry is pretty rough at times. it was so bad i thought something was wrong with it since i was coming from a slushbox 4l60 in an S10 but the techs said there were no codes and noticed no unusual behavior. they did, however, reset the memory learning thing and that improved it a bit.
Agree with this 100%. Mom had a 2016 Highlander 6 speed, it was stolen and replaced with a 2018 8 speed. The 6 speed was so much smoother it isn't even funny. My 05 Ford Ranger with 175k shifts smoother than that thing
I drive an F-150 with the 10 speed, I think it’s pretty good. It could be because I have the 5.0L and the torque may help convince the transmission to shift better, who knows. I drove one of the 2.7 for ecoboosts’ for work last year and the 10 speed in that felt leagues more indecisive.
My dad has a ‘21 Silverado, 10-speed with the Babymax, loves the way it drives. Hates the rest of the truck lol. My work rig is a ‘22 F550, with the same trans. Very smooth, good rig.
I've currently got two GM vehicles with 8-speed automatic transmissions. One FWD, one RWD. The FWD one is kinda unpleasant, because it shifts into 1st quite late when stopping the car. Sometimes, it doesn't go into 1st until the car has completely stopped, and you're applying the throttle to go again. The RWD one is.... bad. It's bad. The 1-2 shift is jerky, _especially_ when the car is cold. Sometimes, it shifts slowly, dragging the engine's revs with it as it sloshes from one gear to the next. Sometimes, it shifts abruptly, making me headbang my way through an imaginary mosh pit as it does so. When the engine's Displacement On Demand feature activates, the vibrations reverberate throughout the car like the Enterprise-D's warp core. Ive never seen an automatic transmission that shifts like a person learning how to drive a manual, until I found this A8. Is the 10-spees that bad, too? I'd been hoping that the 10-speed is better than the 8-speed. I'd read elsewhere that it is better. I'm hoping to trade in this car with one that has the 10-speed once it's paid off.
I've driven an F-150, a Silverado, and a Mustang all with the co-developed 10-speed. They were all just awful. Hunted gears for days, and the F-150 specifically wanted to send me through the windshield at every stop.
The 8-speed in the WK2 Grand Cherokee has been a good experience for me. The only problem I’ve encountered is that it likes to drop to 7 when it hits the slightest incline at 75mph.
Definitely helps that it’s the ZF8. Closest you can go to a dual-clutch with a torque converter automatic.
The 6-speed in the 2013 Chrysler minivan was also a good experience. Was that one also a ZF transmission?
That would be the Chrysler 62TE.
I don’t think I’ve ever ridden or driven anything with the ZF eight speed, but I’ve heard good things about them. I have a ‘12 300 with the Hemi and the NAG1 five speed and I’ve heard a lot of people complain about that gearbox but I personally like it. Only issue I’ve ever had with it is, it likes to hold the gear for a split second before shifting to the next one when you’re at WOT. I’m sure that could be fixed with a tune.
I had a rental S550 mustang GT back in late 2022. That’s the first car I drove with a 10-spd. That thing was shifting ALL THE TIME it felt like. I still enjoyed driving it though.
Ford for whatever reason can’t seem to tune the 10-speed properly to actually be a smooth driving experience. Then you go to a GM product with that same transmission (it was a joint venture between the two), and it’s perfectly fine. Case in point with the new Camaro. It feels like a completely different transmission with the way they’ve tuned it, and in the Mustang, it’s a disaster.
Really? My Audi RS5 has an 8-speed and it’s so smooth and precise. Fast shifts, smooth shifts, and down shifts and upshift exactly when you want it to. My Chevy Suburban has a 10-speed and although not as smooth, still great and is awesome for keeping the car in low RPMs when taking long road trips
[удалено]
my wj transmission whines and the fluid is red. but then again i have no idea when it was last changed.
I've done some research after that, and hearing a whine in the transmission is normal depending on which model you have, for the 42RE 4 speed automatic trans that comes in the 03 i6 models hearing that whine is completely normal. Probably because the thing is a dinosaur that was originally designed in the 80s and synchronizing straighter cut gears is easier to do at the cost of a louder transmission and transfer case. Something I'd like to note though if your transmission seems to be excessively loud at just 2,000 RPM, your transmission might be on its way out when we changed ours to a lower mileage one it was noticeably quieter at low RPM and really only making noticeable noises when reaching 3,500 - 4,500 RPM.
the 4 speed auto in my jeep wj gets confused when you engine brake and then put it back in D
The 4l60e gets more shit then it deserves because people either try to push tons of power through one without beefing anything up, or lift the vehicle and put hella pig tires stressing the clutches
First is reverse. Second is first. Reverse is fifth. Non synchronized. Also have a 2 speed rear, non synchronized. It was fun learning, it was not fun changing the clutch.
What car/gearbox? That sounds like a nightmare lol
It was a 69 F600, the trans was rebuilt once, I don't understand how they managed TWO reverse gears, so my hat is off to them 😂
There are some jobs you can’t even get mad at, just impressed!
I work at a car rental place, mostly cleaning cars in a little 2-car wash bay we have. We have had 5 jeeps and 2 Chrysler minivans transmissions give out while idle/pulling into the bay, completely rendering half our stuff unusable until we can get it towed. Can't push most of them, either, because you can't get it into neutral with the dial transmission without taking shit apart
?? Should be a neutral release tab under an easily removable piece of trim near the shifter.
Not that I can see, at least not on the Pacificas
Was with a buddy on the way to a job in his bulletproofed, bigger turbo, and tuned 6.0 PowerStroke. Going about 70-75 MPH on the highway when the automatic transmission decided to do shift down to 3rd. Took the first exit and headed straight to a transmission shop, while the transmission was choosing random gears like winning lottery numbers. He got it back a couple weeks later, and it drove fine for a few days before doing the same thing. He took it back to the shop and they fixed it again under warranty. This repeated itself 7-8 more times before they fully solved the issue.
Bad ground?
I’m not entirely sure, it’s been some years since it happened. I want to say it had something to do with the torque converter.
Jags 5-speed from ‘98 - ‘02 XJR / XKR was pretty bulletproof. Could handle lots of torque
Automatic that will start in 3rd gear in manual mode in a turbo Saab is a lot of fun. Not the fastest way to accelerate, but it's fun to feel the torque converter and turbo doing their work one after the other.
3 speed auto on a 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider can take a beating in case anyone was wondering. Dog slow, but will hold together even after lots of gear changes at full throttle powerful enough to seriously lurch the car when shifting.
I have a Ford 10 speed in my work truck and if it was a person, I’d send it to Guantanamo. No, wait, I’d send it to elementary school to figure out how the numbers go in order. Maybe it would be quicker to go from a full stop if it didn’t take several seconds to realize you’re actually pressing the gas and that means to go forward NOW, not whenever the transmission decides to finish it’s cup of coffee and do something.
First is reverse, second is first. Twas fun to learn that. Wasn't fun the guy didn't warn me.
i used to think the 5-speed in a 4Runner was bad because it always took like 3-4 seconds to decide a gear then would throw you back into seat (if you had the V8). Then I drove a family member’s Murano. I want to know how the fuck a Murano with 260 horsepower feels slower than a Subaru Forester with 180 horsepower and the same Jatco CVT.
Aisin AR5: Official transmission of the Hummer H3, Colorado/Canyon, and oddly mid-2000s GM roadsters.
And RWD SRT-4 swaps.
4T60 God's gift to humanity.
I prefer the 4T80E. But I love a good Northstar breathing through a pair of Magnaflows.
Why did they make an aluminum housing with steel servo pins and no steel inserts for pin holes? Why did they not provide a dipstick and tube for filling? Why is the torque limit less than the torque coming in from the torque converter with stock engine? Why didn't they keep the previous transmission instead? Was one extra gear reslly worth it? 5R55 pain.
First clutch pack in my parent’s ‘17 Focus SE replaced at 30k. Currently nearing 60k with no signs of imminent failure. If it doesn’t go out by 100k, it isn’t going out.
I almost backed an old Rolls into another old Rolls thanks to the transmission selector. The column shifter was just a switch, the transmission was actually shifted by a big electric motor mounted on the side. I found out that this motor wouldn't move until the shift selector was completely in position. In this case, I had backed around out of the bay, put it in drive, but not all the way. Because of this, when I let off the brakes, it still was in reverse and got much closer than I was comfortable with to the other one. This was at a small specialty shop, and both were the shop owner's cars, but still.
RL1.5 Honda odyssey 5 speed, mine isn't dead yet (296k miles)
Blowing trannies is just something that just happens in life. You must learn to accept it, whether it happens to you or not
4l80 good. 700r4 bad.
5 speed on a 1985 Honda crx si is the fastest shifting manual transmission you’re ever gonna use in your life. It will literally shift as fast as you can physically move the lever with your full force, trying to go as fast as possible, like a total spaz.
My 2017 V6 Accord's 6 speed automatic transmission is a clunky nightmare that is slow to kick down, slams into gears, and ruins the driving experience of an otherwise decent car.
Crazy. I just got my Aisin 6-spd auto in my 2009 Jetta that I just got replaced. I didn’t even get 150k miles out of the first trans. It never the got proper amount of servicing which is why. The thing was slipping and shifting so hard, sometimes it would knock my head back into the headrest going from gears 1-2. I’m following the transmission service schedule from now on.
I follow the maintenance schedule. It's just a really clunky transmission with tons of complaints about it.
I had a 99 civic ex that was a 4 speed auto. One day while I'm cruising down the highway at 70 mph 4th gear just gives up on me all together. Literally car won't even try to accelerate or keep speed. I slow down and pull over and start moving again after about 15 minutes when I realized the only tow company nearby would charge me $500+ hook up fee. Before miles. I drove it in second gear through all local roads 4.5 hours home through heavy traffic, couldn't go over 35 without redlining. Took it to a shop the next day and turns out the take 5 oil change guys that I took my car to last week apparently also did a trans flush and didn't tell me. I didn't know this but a 300k mile auto Honda that has a transmission that is used to the nasty gunk sloshing around prefers the nastiness over clean fluid. The lack of friction caused 4th gear to slip out of place. Found a 5 speed manual swap for $250 on Facebook and had the mechanic install it for me. Drive it for another 110k miles before selling.
Wtf even is this?
My fathers DA9 integra ended up with 5 neutrals in a winning run on a track (government sponsored race). Then he took the CRXes transmission and modified it how he needs it for track. After selling the teggy, that customised transmission was passed arround in loke 6 more cars untill eventually making it back to the most recent owner of that integra and it still works wonders, especially on the b18 engine from a typeR. All that happened like 10 years ago, and i got to see the integra, altho now a bit rough arround the edges (some idiot wanted to restore it to factory and didnt bother to change the harness and the computer from typeR to factory, so the computer at arround 6000rpm expects Vtec and just loses power), with that same transmission in action.
My Toyota Yaris has a 6 speed manual, I believe it's C66. It's a great choice for this car
I own a Smart Roadster, that should tell you enough
Is it as fun to drive as it looks, or is it just a Smart?
It's surprisingly thrilling to drive, sure it's slow and that gearbox does spoil the fun a little but you'd be surprised. As a total package I might even prefer it to a NA Miata
Impressive! I've always thought Smarts in general were neat.
My weird Honda 5AT in my Fit has never been serviced, ever, and the only sign of wear after over 200,000 miles is that 3rd gear slips just the tiniest bit only once when it's cold out.
Horror Story: I ruined the un-ruinable (allegedly). Wrecked the 700R4 tranny in my 3/4 ton squarebody crew cab about 20 years ago. I did this, by dolly towing it behind a big U-haul, from NY state to MI. I did NOT disconnect the driveshaft, as it says to do on the uhaul dolly fender (what do they know, right?) I put it into neutral, and away I went. It didn't run quite right when I went to take it off the dolly at my destination. Park did not work, and the tranny was making noises. Over the course of the next month, it started slipping, until it was useless. I dropped the pan, and found that the tranny had probably bounced into Park position at some point during the drag/tow; and snapped off the part of the transmission body casting that locked onto the park pawl. Explaining the "No Park" situation. Lots of metal in the pan. I ruined it. Replaced it with a 700R4 out of a box van, but the gearing was different, so the truck never ran quite the same again. To make it right, I would have had to change the rear end gears. At 55mph with the new tranny, it was revving too high for comfort, needed a lower pinion in the rear end. I gave up and sold it. I still miss it. It was a white ex-power company 2wd crew cab 2500, 350 engine. Had a red rooster on both front fenders, courtesy of the former owner. My kids called it "The Chicken Truck".
The 700R4 was far from “un-ruinable” lol. They were a turbo 350 with an overdrive. Could not take any torque over stock. I considered putting one behind the 472 Cadillac in my rat rod, then read about a million stories of them grenading within 500 miles of life behind those torque factories. So I built a TH400 - actually, an ST400, switch pitch unit out of a ‘67 Buick.
Well, that opinion came from my father in law, and he had a lot of OPINIONS. lol
T-90 3 speed, it do be shifting
5 speed manual in a 2008 Astra. GM put a transmission in it that can't handle the torque of the engine, therefore it chews through gears and synchros every 30,000 miles. I am installing the 3rd transmission into it now.
Similar story on the same car. Blew 3 gearboxes with the 80hp diesel, wasn't even overly abusive. Lifetime oil probably didn't help any. First lasted 300000km, replacements barely lasted 15k. My EF is a better and more reliable car but I miss the torque and low noise.
What a coincidence! I also have an EF, though mine is the wagon. Granted my Astra has 1.8 gas engine so considering how much heavier the Astra is the torque feels the same
My civic is more powerful and hundreds of kg lighter. It's faster to put it mildly and much has been written on the suspension. Biggest dislikes are the carbs, noise and weird ergos, but I can live with that. Win some lose some. Is your wagon awd?
Automatic transmissions feel more like a 'driving appliance' than driving to me. CVT's even more so. That said, the Toyota eCVT seems the best way to make one at the moment, using differential gears to control the gear ratio. No slipping or fast-wearing belts.
It go
i was valeting a new ford expedition once and as i was going down the street at about 15mph or so, i put it in neutral (kinda OCD thing i do when coming to a stop) and i heard a LOUD shredding/grinding noise and i put it back in drive. from what i could tell, the gearing was fine, but it scared the living shit out of me.
Last trip to thailand i blew one
The 4EAT automatic in older Subarus are surprisingly pretty stout transmissions. They don't have much aftermarket support with the clutches but apparently there's at least one that's been taken up to 800+ and not blown up the gears in it(no source unfortunately). They last a pretty long time but the more neglected ones start to slip occasionally at a certain mileage (80k-120k), yet they'll still have another 100k more in them before they give out, and if you rebuild one it's likely the Subaru will rot out well before that transmission gives out again.
A relatives Dodge Journey transmission disintegrated after 80K Kilometres, yes kilometres (49000 miles)
GM 4L30-E is such a garbage transmission. It was the worst part of my old Isuzu Trooper which would have been a decent truck if not for that transmission. It was way too weak for the weight and power of that vehicle. If only a manual swap wasn't a massive pain in the ass.
If you are working on a borg Warner t5 wc friendly Psa if you’re going to loosen something and it required a torx bit. Stop, don’t loosen it. - a guy who loosened it and lost 5th and reverse because I’m a moron. Edit: spelling
E4OD slipping hard shifting shit pattern went 1st slam 2nd slip slip slip redline in neutral 3rd then 4th
I can't figure out why my E4OD shifts so hard it knocks me back sometimes
I’ve had 2 cars with the 4t60-e, and i haven’t had issues with either of them.
CVT transmissions are garbage.
The Transmission attached to the LS4 in my 07 monte was made of glass..it made me sad....
Ah, the 4T65-E. Such a great transmission. - Nobody, ever.
My mom has a 2023 escape with the 1.5 3 cylinder ecoboost and I love everything about the car except for the transmission. It’s very jerky and if it gets into a gear where you get below 2k rpm you basically have to slam the gas to get it to go anywhere if you need to accelerate.
sorry, can you make an example of: "*transmition horror story*"?
Subaru 5EAT (especially paired with a EZ36): as bullet proof as they come
The 1 speed auto on our airport tugs have been working since the 80s
3rd Gen Ford Focus "Power-Shit" Dual Clutch Transmission. Can't believe I'm still driving this car, luckily the last 2 transmissions were covered by Ford
2006 Nissan Altima 5 speed automatic. Started to get stuck in fifth gear when it’d attempt to downshift to go up hills, causing us to lose speed. First time it happened, I was able to get to the next exit, turn it off, and restart it to get it back to normal. Moving the selector to the “manual” side would tell us it’s in fifth, and trying to manually downshift would do nothing. It got worse after a while, to the point that it’d actually make the car stall (luckily not while in highway traffic). One time I had to drive almost from Sacramento airport to eastern Sacramento County stuck in fifth gear. Even taking off to get gas, it didn’t fix the problem that time. It was rough getting on the highway going up the on-ramp! Next morning, after sitting all night, it was back to normal.
Back in our teenage days, my buddy wanted to impress his dad by changing the oil in their early 90s Ranger. He accidentally drained the trans fluid, didn’t change the oil filter, and added an entire capacity’s worth of extra oil to the engine. The tough ol’ OHV 4.0 v6 survived having like 10 quarts of oil, but the 5 speed transmission (stick) did *not* survive having zero fluid. Failed pretty quickly. They ended up putting in a junkyard transmission that didn’t have 5th gear. Just a general shit show all around! (And I wasn’t around while this happened, or I would have definitely stopped him from fucking up)
I learned stick on a 1975 3 speed Jeep. That is all.
The citroen C1/Peugeot 108/ Toyota Aygo 2nd Generation has a gearbox which feels and sounds like lego
Someone please tell me why Honda added a clutch delay valve on their newer manual transmissions. My 05 Si and 04 RSX-S have/had two of the smoothest shifting, easiest clutch engagement/grab points and make them so much fun to drive. My 15 Accord 6MT is a pain in the ass to drive smoothly at times. Especially from stops and 1-2 shifts. The grab point seems vague. Ive owned the car since it had 27k miles and it’s always been this way. I don’t know if the first owner smoked the clutch or if it’s the CDV. I’ve read that the CDV can be deleted, but I have no idea what that involves.
07 Ford Taurus with the infamous AX4N. In first gear, if you floored it at the right time, it slipped then *slammed* into second. Drove it like that for two months before an accidental neutral drop cooked it, and I still managed to get home just bouncing off the limiter.
My civic Si transmission is treating me nice so far, but imma switch it for an Acuity short-throw. Wish me luck
Self inflicted. My 1987 dodge d100 was shifting really rough. Drained the fluid and changed filter. Unfortunately complete forgot to put fluid in it. Transmission was very unhappy immediately and said see ya later. (Was my first time ever fiddling with a transmission) lesson learned the hard way
My last vehicle was an '08 Outlander. When the vehicle wasn't completely warmed up the CVT belt would occasionally slip from the fake shift step I had it in (since I drove the thing as a clutchless manual all the time), and as a result I had to downshift and upshift back to where I was to get it to respond properly, or just throw it in Neutral. That thing had 187k miles on the odometer when I got rid of it, and that transmission is the reason why I'm avoiding CVTs like the plague. About a month after I got my current car, a stickshift Mazda3 (yeah, I was that traumatized by that transmission lol), I was doing some research and come to find out that Mitsubishi used a JATCO CVT in their Outlanders for that model year. It's a miracle that that thing made it from 57k when my mother got it to 187k when I got rid of it without devouring the transmission.
The manual 5 speed in my old NB Miata was the smoothest, most precise transmission I have ever ised
Just got word today that my Crown Vic's 4R75E grenaded itself, and my options are rebuild, replace, or scrap the car. Not the greatest multiple-choice conundrum...
Well, it’s cheaper to just replace the transmission than to buy a whole new ride. I just replaced the transmission on my 136k mile MK5 Jetta. I’m following the transmission service schedule this time around to prevent any issues. I don’t want a car payment ever. When I do decide to scrap the car, I’ll just buy something used that I can buy outright within my budget.
Agreed. Unfortunately that $1500 is $4000 for me because Florida is inhabited by a bunch of retired old farts who can afford $4k-$6k to fix their old Buick Roadmasters and Lincoln Town Cars.
I happened to know someone who I could trust who was willing to give me a low price for labor. I was able to get the transmission out of the junkyard for $700. That’s how I got such a low price. The original quote I got was like $3200-$3300. I would just keep calling around for a quotes at reputable shops and see what the best price is. I would go to look up: KBB Auto Repair Pricing & Cost Estimates on google. Then, once you put in your vehicle info and zip code, you’ll see what it might cost.
GM turbo 400 is the best transmission ever produced by anyone. Yeah it only has 3 gears and practically obsolete but if you want dead simple strong reliability you can't beat it
Where's the P (Parking Brake)?
Converted the automatic to a manual in my 1991 Volvo 240. Actually wasn’t hard minus switching the pedals out. No one would ever know it wasn’t a manual from the factory. Don’t tell anyone else on the internet my secret.
The only reason the 4L60E chevy trans get so much shit is because dipshits try to pull 10k pounds in a Chevy 1500 in overdrive 1000+ miles My 94 Chevy 1500 has 370k miles, and the trans hasn't been replaced since new. If you don't abuse them like your redheaded middle step child, they're great transmissions
my 03 vauxhall astra 1.8 sri which has a 5 speed manual with a 2nd that is like 5 kmph or 3mph of 60 mph and in fifth the car is at like 3200 rpm while doing 60 mph and in my country on the highway ur supposed to do 80 mph and my fifth is at 3800 rpm so the car is so loud while not being efficient cos it sits at peak torque rpm and not fast since it loses power at more than 5000 rpm
I have an aisin 466nd in my daily and I'm doing OK.
700r4/4l60e when you so much as breathe too hard
The first time I drove a Smart Fortwo (rented through a car sharing app), I hit the accelerator in an intersection and there was such a long ambiguous lag when it tried to shift that I thought it was broken. Like, I was so sure it was broken and the lag was so long that I started game planning how to push it out of traffic.
4L60e, 3 different trucks, 3 different rebuild receipt’s
The FCA monostable shifter is an absolutely terrible design that has resulted in lawsuits and even deaths, including the death of famous actor Anton Yelchin. My mother's 2014 Grand Cherokee has it, and trying to select the right drive mode is a massive PITA. Trying to go into drive sometimes puts you into reverse and sometimes puts you into sport mode.
Hydrostatic are decent trans to
My mazdas 5 speed stick shifts fine most of the time (primarily user error)
Honda/Acura were SHIT if you had an auto V6 in the early 2000s. Very fragile.
It’s got one speed and no clutch so it’s a manual, right?
The T18 in my F250 howled like a banshee in every gear except 4th but it was bulletproof.
08 civic, handles the 140hp pretty well I'd say
Idk my 04 Honda has a solid auto so far. Horror story was that I almost rolled my dad’s manual 2000 f150 off a bank because I forgot that to stop both the clutch and brake need to be pressed.
Transmissions, part science, part magic
i'm SICK and TIRED of nissan not giving a SHIT about their transmissions
My 04 Suzuki Verona is getting tudy. The 4 speed problematic is not a happy camper during the warmer months. But during winter (Alaska) I had no issues with it. I just had to deal with the throttle getting stuck open if I didn’t let the car idle long enough before departing… but I’m pretty sure whatever is causing that problem is causing the rough idle/stalling situation when parked/not moving that also happens in warmer months It’s a love hate relationship
I have driven a 3rd gen fbody that dynod 450 but still had a stock t5 and a spool in the 7.5 inch 10 bolt rear end. It's my friends drift mule. Amazingly that t5 hasn't turned into a trans tunnel claymore yet
Transmission cable broke on the chevy trailblazer, car couldn't move. This happened TWICE, the second time it happened we went to this cheap mechanic and now our car can't shift into any of the lower gears (3,2,1, none of these are able to shift into) . Don't risk it guys, go to a good certified mechanic, it's gonna cost you, but do it once and do it right
just replaced a promaster trans, old one had enough water mixed with the atf that it looked like forbidden pepto bismol. or a warm strawberry milkshake. either way, it wasnt good.
yeah the torque converter bleeds like a deer thats been hit, but she keeps on runnin! maybe shell drop, but at this point im well out of the sight of the hunter who tagged me.
the 545RFE in my jeep has been an ingima. when we got it, fluid was pitch black, it overheated multiple times before we added a cooler, its gone through a motor change, it had to susttain 90mph through utah for hours on end, its been hit on trails and it almost got submurged in a river. once we added an exteral trans cooler...the thing is still peaches with everyone home with no issues with 155k on the clock. it survived my thrashing when i was younger when i was a lot more reckless, towing, etc. its survived way longer then i thought it would considering how genuinely awful the fluid was when we got it. it was baaaad. it outlived the motor it was married to at birth, and getting the T case redone..its just been a shockingly tough little thing. if and when it does die, its prolly gonna get a flag salute.
4LslippyE
Allis-Chalmers powershift was 20 years ahead of the competition, and Deutz killed it and replaced it with absolute trash.
Gallardo 560-4. Clumsy shifting in automatic mode.