Transmission Education

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004, Kirk Matheson wrote:

> I am somewhat surprised to see a transmission fail on a Neon that is
> only two years old. How many miles were on the original transmission? I
> got 110,000 miles on the 3 speed transmission in my 1990 Spirit beforre
> it failed due worn out thrust washer.

The Neon 3-speed auto was "cost-reduced" in a number of key areas compared
to the earlier version used in your Spirit.

The Neon had 56,000 on it when it "FAILED"

We had a 1990 Shadow that went 75,000 before any trans problems.


"Kirk Matheson" > wrote in message
om...
> (Carey) wrote in message
. com>...
> > > If I hadn't just recently experienced this myself I wouldn't believe
> > > it!
> > > Last Tues. evening my son called on his way home, a 20 min. drive, &
> > > said his 2002 Neon SXT automatic was making a whining noise & seemed
> > > to be slipping. He wasn't sure he'd make it home. Ten min. later he
> > > called back & said he was stalled on the side of the road & come
> > > rescue him. So I grabbed some transmission fluid & a rag then headed
> > > out. He'd made it about 8-10 miles from work when the car would no
> > > longer go any further. I checked the fluid & the level was fine & also
> > > looked & smelled good. I managed to drive it a 1/4-mile or so off the
> > > paved road when it gave out again. Whirring & winning ever so slightly
> > > but wouldn't move. We had it towed to the dealer. The first diagnosis
> > > was the torque converter, second was the pump after calling other
> > > dealers & looking online for failure analysis. The dealer then
> > > suggested a TRANSMISSION FLUSH saying that about 85% of the time this
> > > works. Well it did.
> > >
> > > Nowhere in any Internet groups, web pages or talking to a bunch
> > > of people did anyone suggest something so simple & inexpensive.
> > >
> > > Please share this with everyone who might be in a similar situation
> > > thinking that they need a major trans. repair.
> >
> >
> > Well we got a used transmission with 4000 miles for $600.00 & had the
> > dealer, Claxton Chrysler, install it. They had the car for 2 weeks!
> > $135.00 labor @ $24.55/hr. & $60.00 for what they say was 3 gallons of
> > fluid at their cost. The dealer was "WORKING" with us on the parts &
> > labor due to the fact that it was out of warranty, 2nd owner, non
> > transferable warranty because of build date. They still have the
> > original & are going to disassemble & diagnose it to find out what
> > failed.
>
> I am somewhat surprised to see a transmission fail on a Neon that is
> only two years old. How many miles were on the original transmission?
> I got 110,000 miles on the 3 speed transmission in my 1990 Spirit
> beforre it failed due worn out thrust washer.
>
> -Kirk Matheson

The Neon had 56,000 on it when it "FAILED"

We had a 1990 Shadow that went 75,000 before any trans problems.


"Kirk Matheson" > wrote in message
om...
> (Carey) wrote in message
. com>...
> > > If I hadn't just recently experienced this myself I wouldn't believe
> > > it!
> > > Last Tues. evening my son called on his way home, a 20 min. drive, &
> > > said his 2002 Neon SXT automatic was making a whining noise & seemed
> > > to be slipping. He wasn't sure he'd make it home. Ten min. later he
> > > called back & said he was stalled on the side of the road & come
> > > rescue him. So I grabbed some transmission fluid & a rag then headed
> > > out. He'd made it about 8-10 miles from work when the car would no
> > > longer go any further. I checked the fluid & the level was fine & also
> > > looked & smelled good. I managed to drive it a 1/4-mile or so off the
> > > paved road when it gave out again. Whirring & winning ever so slightly
> > > but wouldn't move. We had it towed to the dealer. The first diagnosis
> > > was the torque converter, second was the pump after calling other
> > > dealers & looking online for failure analysis. The dealer then
> > > suggested a TRANSMISSION FLUSH saying that about 85% of the time this
> > > works. Well it did.
> > >
> > > Nowhere in any Internet groups, web pages or talking to a bunch
> > > of people did anyone suggest something so simple & inexpensive.
> > >
> > > Please share this with everyone who might be in a similar situation
> > > thinking that they need a major trans. repair.
> >
> >
> > Well we got a used transmission with 4000 miles for $600.00 & had the
> > dealer, Claxton Chrysler, install it. They had the car for 2 weeks!
> > $135.00 labor @ $24.55/hr. & $60.00 for what they say was 3 gallons of
> > fluid at their cost. The dealer was "WORKING" with us on the parts &
> > labor due to the fact that it was out of warranty, 2nd owner, non
> > transferable warranty because of build date. They still have the
> > original & are going to disassemble & diagnose it to find out what
> > failed.
>
> I am somewhat surprised to see a transmission fail on a Neon that is
> only two years old. How many miles were on the original transmission?
> I got 110,000 miles on the 3 speed transmission in my 1990 Spirit
> beforre it failed due worn out thrust washer.
>
> -Kirk Matheson