About a month ago I asked the list for advice on rebuilding the transmission in my "new" '91 Carat. I received a lot of information, and it led me to decide to do the work myself. As of today, the van is on the road again, and I'm happy with the choices I made. I've done lots of other mechanical work over the past several decades, but this was my first automatic transmission rebuild of any variety. This project involved several repairs which I believe to be beyond the scope of a "normal" rebuild. I had a bad planetary and a broken diaphragm spring. The final drive case was very rusty. The throttle cable connector was frozen to the kickdown lever. The throttle push rod would not come loose without a torch, and that destroyed the plastic bushing. I ended up making a new one from a bronze starter bushing. Doing the work myself allowed me to correct all these problems without being at the mercy of any shop. It also allowed me to get both cases really clean and do it on my own schedule. I'm already stocking parts to rebuild my daughter's '88 Wolfsburg. The transmission works wonderfully, I saved at least a thousand bucks, and I know what was done and how. The down side is that the car was VOR for a month, mostly because I had to keep locating and waiting for additional parts. I'll probably buy a core and build it while Daughter is still using her van. Thanks to all who contributed information. Jim Huskins Spruce Pine, NC |
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