04 V8 transmission replacement question

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62thunderbird

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Long time listener; first time caller.

I did a search, but couldn't find an answer to my situation. I have an 04 V8 Ultimate with 190k. Everything works as designed. I purchased it 3 months ago from the original owner who kept every receipt since the car was new. No problems until trans stopped working Saturday, and local transmission shop declared the transmission dead, passed on, and bereft of life. It is an ex-transmission.

Options are, 1) Selling as is as a project for someone else, 2) put in a used unit, or 3) pay to have it rebuilt and drive it until the next crisis. Love this car, but I need advice as to when to fish and when to cut bait.
 
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62thunderbird said:
Long time listener; first time caller.

I did a search, but couldn't find an answer to my situation. I have an 04 V8 Ultimate with 190k. Everything works as designed. I purchased it 3 months ago from the original owner who kept every receipt since the car was new. No problems until trans stopped working Saturday, and local transmission shop declared the transmission dead, passed on, and bereft of life. It is an ex-transmission.

Options are, 1) Selling as is as a project for someone else, 2) put in a used unit, or 3) pay to have it rebuilt and drive it until the next crisis. Love this car, but I need advice as to when to fish and when to cut bait.
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I was reading an article just yesterday about the differences between having your transmission rebuilt or having a remanufactured transmission installed and the overwhelming majority of advice was to go with a re-man unit.
 
My question also included the option of selling it as is as a project, or installing a used trans with a 1-year warranty, and then selling it. Doing the reman or rebuilt would seem to be a committment to keep the car for the long haul. (Due to the multi-thousand dollar expense needed.)
 
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62thunderbird said:
My question also included the option of selling it as is as a project, or installing a used trans with a 1-year warranty, and then selling it. Doing the reman or rebuilt would seem to be a committment to keep the car for the long haul. (Due to the multi-thousand dollar expense needed.)
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I guess it all depends on what you expect to sell it for in its current condition. Even a well cared for LS with 190k on the clock isn't going to fetch much and when you ad in that it can't be driven, you reduce that price by at least 80%. So if selling it for $500 is what you expect, then sell it. If you replace the transmission and spend $1200 doing so, then you'll have a $3000 LS to sell.

Of course, if you part it out, you could probably get $5000 in parts for it. In a year or so anyway. The parted out remains will always be worth $200 to a recycler.
 
if you want to fix it for as little as possible, I would grab one out of a junk yard.

if you wanted to put some money into it and keep it going for a long while, buy a remaned trans.

having your rebuilt would probably cost somewhere in between, but closer to the high side
 
1LoudLS said:
if you want to fix it for as little as possible, I would grab one out of a junk yard.

if you wanted to put some money into it and keep it going for a long while, buy a remaned trans.

having your rebuilt would probably cost somewhere in between, but closer to the high side
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I think the cost of having one rebuilt is more than just installing a remanufactured. Remanufactured are done on an industrial scale, rebuilt is done one at a time. You can see how that cost would exceed the production line remanufactured easily.

This seemed to be the logic I garnered from the article I read.
 
I guess it depends on what your paying in your area.
the last trans work i needed, it was either 2800-3000 for a re manufactured trans or a little under 2k to have that one rebuilt. could have got one for under 800 if I wanted to go and pull it myself...
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I'm searching for both used and rebuilt and getting R&R costs. I'll let you all know what is decided.
 
1LoudLS said:
I guess it depends on what your paying in your area.
the last trans work i needed, it was either 2800-3000 for a re manufactured trans or a little under 2k to have that one rebuilt. could have got one for under 800 if I wanted to go and pull it myself...
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AutoZone & O'Reilley's lists remanned for $1850.
 
Found a vendor with a good reputation that will do a rebuild, including R&R, for a little over 2 large. The car is so perfect and well maintained, I'm going to make this financial commitment this one time. I will include photos when done. Thanks to all of you for all the feedback.
 
62thunderbird said:
Found a vendor with a good reputation that will do a rebuild, including R&R, for a little over 2 large. The car is so perfect and well maintained, I'm going to make this financial commitment this one time. I will include photos when done. Thanks to all of you for all the feedback.
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If you trust the vendor, then that means a lot. I just hope you don't get that call that starts 'So once we got the transmission out we discovered....'.
 
I have an old Lincoln and just sold an old Thunderbird and SAAB. Trust me, I am very familiar with that scenario. I never learn...
 
Picked up the car and it's amazing how smooth and quiet the transmission now shifts! One curious comment from the rebuilder was regarding the transmission type that was in the car. The car was originally a Ford executive car. It was purchased in 2004 when it was less than a year old by the person from whom I bought the car. The rebuilder said it appeared it was the first time the trans had been out of the car, yet it was a different one than should have been in there.

Which trans should be in there and what other trans options could there be? It's an 04 Ultimate V8 so perhaps there was a recall or warranty replacement?
 
62thunderbird said:
Picked up the car and it's amazing how smooth and quiet the transmission now shifts! One curious comment from the rebuilder was regarding the transmission type that was in the car. The car was originally a Ford executive car. It was purchased in 2004 when it was less than a year old by the person from whom I bought the car. The rebuilder said it appeared it was the first time the trans had been out of the car, yet it was a different one than should have been in there.

Which trans should be in there and what other trans options could there be? It's an 04 Ultimate V8 so perhaps there was a recall or warranty replacement?
Click to expand...

Well, my curiosity is now wanting to know as well. It's not like there are a multitude of bolt-on transmissions for these cars. As far as I know, the only transmission it could have had was and is the 5R55S Automatic.
 
I found online references to four versions of the Ford 5R55 model transmissions:
"The 5R55 is a rear wheel drive 5-speed that appeared on 1999 and later vehicles.
The 5R55W came out in the 2002 and later Ford Explorer and Ford Ranger models.
The 5R55N appeared in the Jaguar S-Type and Lincoln LS and in 2002 in the Ford Thunderbird. In 2003 the Thunderbird and Lincolns switched to the 5R55S that had the Select Shift (allows drivers to shift like a standard without the clutch).
The 5R55S without the Select Shift is used in the 2005 and later models of the ford Mustang.
Although the 5R55N is very similar to the W or S models, only a few parts are interchangeable."

So my V8 2004 has the select shift so I assume the "S" model is what I have. Therefore, I need to get some specifics from the rebuilder...
 
As I said, I will be calling the rebuilder, but it sounds like the S trans might have been replaced with an N unit as they are the only ones used with the 3.9. So it sounds like someone might not have been forthcoming with some interesting, and significant, information.

FYI, I found an interesting site loaded with info detailing the internal differences between all the 5R55 transmissions. http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/members.atra.com/resource/resmgr/webinars/5r55-product-issues.pdf
 
62thunderbird said:
As I said, I will be calling the rebuilder, but it sounds like the S trans might have been replaced with an N unit ...
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The 04 electronics (PCM) wouldn't work with the N.
Select shift is not related to S or N, it was an option for either and had nothing to do with the transmission. (It was all in the PCM programming and the shifter itself.
 
Wow, the learning curve is getting pretty steep with this. Could be the rebuilder had worked on an early LS and perhaps assumed all LS years used the N. So if he was expecting an N on this car, I'm sure he was surprised by the S. Can't wait to talk to him on Monday.
 
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