• Welcome to H4O! For a reduced ad experience, please login or register with the forum.

Less than a month later replacement transmission already crapped out.

Brad

Well-Known Member
Messages
45
Location
New England
Have only had the H3 a couple months now. It had 125k on it when I bought it. First transmission lost the 3-4 clutch pack in like a week. The dealer where I bought it replaced the trans with a used one supossedly with about 100k miles on it. I've had this one for just under a month and I first noticed it shifting a little hard from 1-2 intermittently. Last night pulling out slow out of McDonalds it banged really hard and It felt like the rear passenger tire broke traction. (35's) At first I thought I might have ran over something but then the check engine light came on. I checked the codes (while I was driving) and there was a P0716 and a P0717. Still seemed to be driving ok until I came to a stop then it wouldn't go again unless I put it in 2 (or 1). Figgured great, I'm going to have to drive all the way home (still an hour and a half away) in 2nd gear.... AGAIN! It actually went into 3 and drive if I shifted it manually once up to speed though and I drove it home and then to the dealer where I bought it this morning. They are going to put another used transmission in it no charge. From the sounds of it the imput sprag went bad this time. I cleared the codes and it made no difference but the codes didn't come back. I'm a little worried those codes may be something with the wiring in the actual truck and were actually the cause though. What are the chances of that?
 

alrock

El Diablo
Staff member
Messages
10,442
Location
Scottsdale
Not that I know much about transmissions, but the shop that just rebuilt mine recommended changing the MAF sensor as it is a big factor in setting the line pressures for the transmission. Even though there may not be a fault code, if it's not working well it can lead to premature transmission failure.
 

Jeepwalker

Well-Known Member
Messages
857
Location
WI
Hopefully the next one's the charm. I've owned so many vehicles over the yrs and never had tranny failures. Only one time when I was in college. And I melted that one by my own stupidity! lol.
 

Brad

Well-Known Member
Messages
45
Location
New England
Not that I know much about transmissions, but the shop that just rebuilt mine recommended changing the MAF sensor as it is a big factor in setting the line pressures for the transmission. Even though there may not be a fault code, if it's not working well it can lead to premature transmission failure.
Replacing the MAF with a new OEM one was like the first thing I did when I bought the H3.
 

Brad

Well-Known Member
Messages
45
Location
New England
Hopefully the next one's the charm. I've owned so many vehicles over the yrs and never had tranny failures. Only one time when I was in college. And I melted that one by my own stupidity! lol.
I'm 34 and I've had 8 transmissions blow on me so far. I must have bad luck. Blew the original transmission in the Thunderbird Supercoupe I had as a teenager and then blew the first rebuild the day I got it back and the 2nd rebuild in about a year although it started slipping a little before then. Seemed solid after I put an ArtCarr performance transmission in it. Then a year or so later the engine blew. Blew the original transmission in the 95 Riviera I had just after getting it and a replacement junkyard transmission lasted until the subframe rotted out in just shy of 300k miles. Blew the transmission in my Monte Carlo SS too but I knew it was messed up when I bought it. (Got it cheap partly because of that and the guy thought the engine was blown but it was just a short in the wiring harness for one of the fuel injectors) Then also eventually blew the transmission in the 2nd gen Explorer off road rig I had (Reason I bought the H3). Granted that truck had served me well and had over 300k on it. Unfortunately it had really bad rot so it wasn't worth sinking money into any longer. Figgured I would spend more and buy something nice with "lower mileage" and I wouldn't have as many problems. The H3 is the most I've ever spent on a vehicle. Now two transmissions in two months in the H3 that I dropped a pretty penny on to replace the Explorer with a blown transmission. I haven't even thought about driving the H3 the way I used to drive that Supercoupe when I was a teenager either. Honestly out of all the vehicles I've had (a lot) it's starting to feel like the cheapest most well used vehicles with the highest mileage have been the most reliable. Most reliable vehicles I've had have been a 500 dollar Nissan 200sx, and a 370 dollar Saab 9-3 convertible. (Both 5 speed and bought with over 200k miles) The Riviera was pretty good too after replacing the transmission though and never needed much.
 
Last edited:

650Hawk

Well-Known Member
Messages
480
Location
SoCal
I'm 34 and I've had 8 transmissions blow on me so far. I must have bad luck. Blew the original transmission in the Thunderbird Supercoupe I had as a teenager and then blew the first rebuild the day I got it back and the 2nd rebuild in about a year although it started slipping a little before then. Seemed solid after I put an ArtCarr performance transmission in it. Then a year or so later the engine blew. Blew the original transmission in the 95 Riviera I had just after getting it and a replacement junkyard transmission lasted until the subframe rotted out in just shy of 300k miles. Blew the transmission in my Monte Carlo SS too but I knew it was messed up when I bought it. (Got it cheap partly because of that and the guy thought the engine was blown but it was just a short in the wiring harness for one of the fuel injectors) Then also eventually blew the transmission in the 2nd gen Explorer off road rig I had (Reason I bought the H3). Granted that truck had served me well and had over 300k on it. Unfortunately it had really bad rot so it wasn't worth sinking money into any longer. Figgured I would spend more and buy something nice with "lower mileage" and I wouldn't have as many problems. The H3 is the most I've ever spent on a vehicle. Now two transmissions in two months in the H3 that I dropped a pretty penny on to replace the Explorer with a blown transmission. I haven't even thought about driving the H3 the way I used to drive that Supercoupe when I was a teenager either. Honestly out of all the vehicles I've had (a lot) it's starting to feel like the cheapest most well used vehicles with the highest mileage have been the most reliable. Most reliable vehicles I've had have been a 500 dollar Nissan 200sx, and a 370 dollar Saab 9-3 convertible. (Both 5 speed and bought with over 200k miles) The Riviera was pretty good too after replacing the transmission though and never needed much.
Wow, you've got a curse! I'm 60 and have only had 2 transmissions go out on me; one in a 4x4 Toyota van (at 300,000mi), and one in a Honda Civic.
 
Top