Transmission DIED!!

Rolling down the freeway sunday coming back from Milwaukee to Madison (70miles) Check engine light comes on, check trans light starts flashing and the A/T Fluid Temp light come on as well, all simultaneously. I look in the rear view to check who's behind me so I can pull over and I see a cloud of smoke trailing me like I am a missile running down the freeway.

I look under the hood and all looks good and normal, I look under the passenger side and see the whole undercarriage from the beginning of the transmission all the way to the rear tire and shocks, everything covered in trans fluid and it is smoking off of the hot transmission casing.

Had the VX towed to the Isuzu service center in Madison, WI and they called me monday afternoon stating that my transmission has died with much noticeable internal damage due to age and if i should want to get it running again soon I should look at replacing with a used for $2,200 installed or a new OEM for $4,600 with 12mo 12,000mi warranty. Needless to say that is a lot of money to come up with without a notice. He also mentioned that rebuilt versions of our transmission are rarely successful and they have not had success ever when trying this in any VX or Trooper.

I'm going to tow her back to Ohio where my other Astral is located and put the two together, taking the best from each to make the ultimate machine.

155,900 miles on the tranny on its last go round and given the shortness of the drive in comparison to the 600 mile trips to Ohio every year I'm glad it did it before I decided to go back home for the holidays! I could have been stranded in Indiana or something… lol

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for a 5sp swap.

Best of luck on the repairs.

Almost sounds like one of your cooler lines blew. Did the shop tear the tranny down? If not I don't know how they could diagnose internal damage...at a minimum they need to drop the pan.
The rubber hoses that connect the hard lines to the radiator are notorious for becoming brittle with age and breaking/leaking. I would check the lines, replace if needed, fill her with fluid and see if that does the trick. Way cheapee than their "options". Good luck.

I picked up a used tranny and had it installed 4 years ago. It had about 80K on the tranny, 1200 or 1300 bucks installed IIRC. I vowed to never change the tranny fluid again! Haven't had a problem since.

Haven't we read a few threads recently about successful rebuilds using upgraded internal components?

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Originally Posted by Triathlete

Almost sounds like one of your cooler lines blew. Did the shop tear the tranny down? If not I don't know how they could diagnose internal damage...at a minimum they need to drop the pan.
The rubber hoses that connect the hard lines to the radiator are notorious for becoming brittle with age and breaking/leaking. I would check the lines, replace if needed, fill her with fluid and see if that does the trick. Way cheapee than their "options". Good luck.

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For sure not a hose, I had those replaced last year when one blew on me. But they dropped the pan and inspected the fluid which contained a lot of debris from the transmission itself which had new fluid installed last year with the new hoses as well. They dropped it after looking at the fluid and verified the problems free of charge since it was unfixable.

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Originally Posted by Marlin

I picked up a used tranny and had it installed 4 years ago. It had about 80K on the tranny, 1200 or 1300 bucks installed IIRC. I vowed to never change the tranny fluid again! Haven't had a problem since.

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Changed my fluid last year and look where I am today!! I been checking out all viable options but for now she will have to hangout in garage with her sister.

damn this sux, will post back tommorrow

your where I was last year, it's chronic, the GM tranny's in our VX's were never meant to pull the weights and demands of 4WD all the time, it's a 4L30E which began it's service as an automatic tranny in Chevy Chevets. To make matters worse, the radiator intercooler is a joke, I have a cross section picture of it somewhere, by design and location there is no way it can be effective, may as well just be running an external loop of hose and run it back to the tranny. Buying a tranny from a salvage yard isn't the best idea because there may be problems there; re-build is the best option. Installing a master rebuild kit and any other parts, in my VX, even my case, was damaged, only someone with decades of experiance knows what to look for and see. I didn't believe my "case" was un-useable until it was demonstrated to me as being defective. A good tranny shop as lots and lots of table top space. Tranny's are the biggest jig-saw puzzles I've ever seen had I not seen it with my own eyes. 50X more complcated than an engine. Easily the most complicated piece of equipment in any vehicle. Be easy on them after rebuild cause there is a breakin period.

The fact that we have Isuzu's is meaningless. You want to call around to transmission repair shops and say you have a GM 4L30E that you want to rebuild, get a FLAT RATE rebuild price and a 1 year warranty. I forgot my millage on the warranty, I think it was 12K. I also installed a true intercooler and bypass the lines in the radiator all together and had the intercooler mounted to the front of the radiator where it will get plenty of air first. IF THE OWNER OF THE SHOP DOES NOT KNOW WHAT A 4L30E IS, MOVE ON. You should not have to mention any more questions.

The reasons for getting a flat rate qoute are simple, I didn't get burned when it was shown to me that even my case was fried. I had worn groves in the input shafts. They got me a used case that didn't have these worn groves.

Second, at this age, the bolts that hold up the crossmember that runs under the tranny and drive shafts has to come off, and nearly all the bolt heads broke off even after I had been treating them with penetrating oils for weeks. I took my time selecting a tranny shop. And took time located a used tranny. Shop talked me outta just installing another tranny with unknown condition inside. It was a good call.

since all those bolts broke off, you have to cut into the sides of the member, welding, to knock out old bolts and drop in new ones. I had my exhaust totally removed up to the header pipes and I took the opportunity to strip and paint them for preservation. all of it was rusty, some rotted. I bought a new OEM muffler at great cost but I'm a believer in preservation of cars in stock condition not modifying. I like OEM rims not aftermarket.

after you get some numbers from tranny shops, go see them, a good owner will show you around, introduce you to his rebuild guys and they should have jig-saw puzzles in front of them and you can see the operation at work. Check the BBB, online reviews, for me that was enough, but you can also maybe ask for a reference. Mom and pop shops are cheaper; Danco will rape you. All in, I was at or under 2K. 3K with new tail pipe that cracked off from muffler, and a new OEM mufflers, hangers and other OEM hardware I bought. The only think I wish I would have done was have all the O2 sensors removed and replaced; I'm looking at taking my exhaust down again to do that this winter but it will all come down easier cause I used stainless steel hardware and it's new so it won't seize and breakup off on me again.

My VX never felt so good the day I test drove it then paid. It was awesome!

Time for a 5MT swap.

As has been stated before the ONLY time transmission problems have occured has been shortly (under 1 year) from fluid replacement. It is highly recommended from the EXPERIENCED people here to never replace transmission fluid.

My transmission went out 3 months after Isuzu did a fluid change on my tranny. Under1 year after original tranny rebuild Aamco had to do a second rebuild on my transmission. I struggled for months trying to get the tranny level to not fluctuate, and finally felt like I was close, and stopped. That was 4 years ago and have not touched the tranny since and never will again!

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Originally Posted by CowboyErik

The only think I wish I would have done was have all the O2 sensors removed and replaced; I'm looking at taking my exhaust down again to do that this winter but it will all come down easier cause I used stainless steel hardware and it's new so it won't seize and breakup off on me again.

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I replaced all 4 O2 sensors in a matter of 1 to 2 hours with no removal of any exhaust components just a few months ago. Why would you drop the exhaust to do this?

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Originally Posted by LittleBeast

As has been stated before the ONLY time transmission problems have occured has been shortly (under 1 year) from fluid replacement. It is highly recommended from the EXPERIENCED people here to never replace transmission fluid.

My transmission went out 3 months after Isuzu did a fluid change on my tranny. Under1 year after original tranny rebuild Aamco had to do a second rebuild on my transmission. I struggled for months trying to get the tranny level to not fluctuate, and finally felt like I was close, and stopped. That was 4 years ago and have not touched the tranny since and never will again!

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I agree with this completely! I had my fluid changed 9months ago and its been problems ever since with lights and fluid level. Needless to say you're correct!

i was wanting to change my trans filter and DRAIN, not flush, what fluid comes out and replace with new - should i not worry about the filter after 115k miles? i feel like it might be doomed either way...

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Originally Posted by evillecutter

i was wanting to change my trans filter and DRAIN, not flush, what fluid comes out and replace with new - should i not worry about the filter after 115k miles? i feel like it might be doomed either way...

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I never flushed mine, simply drained it.

Mine was changed at 60K and 90K. First one was by PO and the second by me. Drain, new filter, and fill...no flush! Using full synthetic fluids.

About a week after changing I got the Auto Temp light and one shift issue...never been repeated and all has been good since.

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Originally Posted by tom4bren

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for a 5sp swap.

Best of luck on the repairs.

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Examining options this week I'm curious if I were to go 5spd swap, what would I be looking for cause that does sound appealing?

I agree with the dealer about rebuilding a blown tranny. Those difficult to do right because you have to clean it out COMPLETELY! The trick is to rebuild the tranny JUST BEFORE it blows…. Good luck with that ;).

I would ether buy a low mileage used tranny to use as is, or buy high mileage used tranny and have it rebuild.

I read through the 5sp swap procedure and it is not for everyone.

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Originally Posted by UWVX89

Examining options this week I'm curious if I were to go 5spd swap, what would I be looking for cause that does sound appealing?

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PM vt_maverik about the 5sp swap (IRT how he likes the results) or Buffy (IRT how it was done).

I've attached all the info from Buffy's build thread. To date, he hasn't provided the cleaned up version of his How2.

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Originally Posted by LittleBeast

I replaced all 4 O2 sensors in a matter of 1 to 2 hours with no removal of any exhaust components just a few months ago. Why would you drop the exhaust to do this?

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My 2 rear's are fused in place; used acetalene torch, had them glowing and still could not get them to turn; gonna have to cut out the mounts and weld in new ones, then install new sensors; likely got the same problem with the fronts; carbon filth the engine builds up bit time on sensors; codes went away for a while after heating them up I guess because I burned off all build-up. they just get fouled badly

like changing engine oil, we should not have to be afraid of changing tranny fluid. dropping both pains, letting it drip for several days, pushing out fluid radiator intercooler with compressed air, install new filter and fill. Fluid is fluid, get walmart dextron fluid, cheap and clean. if u want to preserve your tranny, do it often and install a real intercooler and bypass the radiator intercooler altogether. NO reason changing fluid will damage a tranny but it may expose a problem. gonna ask my tranny guy why this is

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Originally Posted by CowboyErik

like changing engine oil, we should not have to be afraid of changing tranny fluid. dropping both pains, letting it drip for several days, pushing out fluid radiator intercooler with compressed air, install new filter and fill. Fluid is fluid, get walmart dextron fluid, cheap and clean. if u want to preserve your tranny, do it often and install a real intercooler and bypass the radiator intercooler altogether. NO reason changing fluid will damage a tranny but it may expose a problem. gonna ask my tranny guy why this is

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IMHO, it's the procedure that most have used to push out all fluid by running through the gears with no fluid. Just a really bad idea in my book. I like your method much better with using compressed air & letting it drip for a few days.