Need advice for dealing with bad transmission

I lost all forward gears in my 05 SR5. Tried chasing code down and swapped SLT1 solenoid but no good. Reverse still works. Truck has 437K miles on original engine and transmission. Engine runs fine still (albeit with small exhaust manifold leak). Transmission shop did a diagnostic and says he really believes the torque converter is gone at this point. Diagnostic was free and my options are to pay $895 for a tear down to pull it and take it apart to see what's salvageable. If he has to do a complete rebuild he estimates 3-5K and the $895 charge goes away and I just pay for what needs to be fixed and the rebuild. If he cracks it open and it looks like 5K on the high end at the end of it and I decline then I pay the $895 for the teardown but they don't put it back in the truck, just box it up and set it in the back and make the vehicle towable so I can get it home. He said he'll do transmission swaps but the warranty is all on me and dealing with anything from the seller. Guy seems honest and all the reviews of the place are legit. Just a very thorough kind of mechanic. I hate to let the truck go because otherwise it runs great. What would you guys do?

 

Transmission shops in general are scam artists. Like you said, you're $900 in before you get a quote and it's always the highest end of the scale.
Much better off to find a reman unit or a low mileage used with a warranty.

If you get a reman unit then you just swap your core and you know the price.

At 400k yours will need substantial parts as every gear, bearing and surface will have some wear for sure.

 

How’s the fluid level? Any maintenance done on the transmission? Ever? If the torque converter is shot, why does reverse still work? Hard to find a good transmission shop for sure. $5k is high for a replacement.

 

@KNABORES Everything that happens inside that transmission housing is a mystery to me. I don't get how any of it actually works when I watch the rebuild videos and they're just dropping those gear discs in there. No idea how the torque converter would go and leave reverse working. I can follow a manual though and maybe this comes back to swapping transmissions at home. He said he'd do a swap but mentioned that you would have to trust that the one going in actually works and I'm not getting scammed and be out all the labor to put in a bad one. Maybe it's an 'on the way out' thing. It was a "sealed" transmission and my father in law that put the first 350k on it didn't touch it and neither did I. Always done the oil changes like clockwork and the engine is clean based on valve cover gasket I did at 400k.

 

No forward gears but functioning reverse gear sounds like a solenoid issue to me. I would at least start by checking the fluid level first. A drain and fill or two with some lubegaurd added may free a sticking solenoid. But let’s be honest. 437k miles is a good run if the trans is toast for any reason. You have to decide if the truck is overall in good enough shape to keep and fix or it’s time to move on. You won’t be able to replace it with a better truck for what the trans fix will cause.

 

The code I got when all forward gears went out lead me to replace solenoid SLT1 (the one up by the valve body screen) but did not fix the issue. Next I was going to trace down the electrical to be sure I'm not just grounded out somewhere after all these miles. The whole thing started after my son replaced the radiator and didn't realize the transmission cooler was attached so he just pulled tubes off and fluid drained out. I put it all back and refilled as best I could according to the videos and manuals I have for the A750E. Ran for about 100 miles or so after that happened then my son described a pop/crunch sound and at that point only reverse still worked. The fluid level was right according to all the info I had. I'll probably price out some used A750E's to see if that's a better option.

 

I'd try what @KNABORES suggested and then if that doesn't work, If the rest of the truck is in good shape, I'd either go junkyard transmission or fully rebuilt.

https://www.importperformancetrans.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=171

 

@rock climber I've already tried what @KNABORES suggested with the flush/fill, etc. Looked at that link and at 4500 bucks and I still have to pay the shop to do the swap I might as well let him rebuild mine from scratch and get the one year warranty he was offering.

 

Which code did you get?

 

@KNABORES I wrote up a thread about it a while back. Been sitting in my yard for months and finally pulled the trigger on letting a shop look in case it was something stupid like a bad ground. Now that I have something from an actual shop I was just posting back for advice.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/05-sr5-v6-only-reverse-works.123761/#post-3170439

 

I see where you're coming from, but the one in the link is an upgraded transmission and more durable than what the shop will rebuild (unless they use the IPT parts).

 

I think automatic transmission are more intimidating than they should be. If you’re patient and have a garage and a table you can lay out the parts you can rebuild it. I think Rock auto even sells parts and kits.

https://www.reddit.com/r/LS430/comments/15jmr2v/ls430_transmission_rebuildoverhaul_a650e/#lightbox

 

So I'd bought this '05 Altima on FB Marketplace from a non-english speaking shade tree mechanic that had salvaged it and got it roadworthy. He quoted me all of $350 bucks to just swap out the transmission. I bring him the truck with a replacement tranny in the bed and he'll take it from there. At this point with almost half a million miles on the truck I don't see how he could hurt it doing the swap. I'd even attempt it at home but I'm worried about all the bolts that will probably be seized up and need work to back out. I just hate having to constantly spend more and more on tools every time I do something on a vehicle. I did the valve cover gasket on this Tundra along with the alternator and belt. Stuff like that I'm fine with. Haven't met anyone that's personally swapped an A750E out and most advice on swapping I'll hear them say its easy but they're basing it on some old vehicle that only has like 4 bolts holding it on or something. I think the FSM for the Tundra said you have to unbolt some stuff on the front of the engine, maybe around the flywheel? IDK but I mean it's not running now so if I found a new-to-me A750E from a junkyard with decent mileage and either attempted it myself or just paid the $350 to the shade tree mechanic the worst that could happen is it still isn't running.

 

I don't know how many times I've read rebuilt transmissions are a risky affair in that many shops (not all) really don't know how to rebuild them correctly. So your left with two options buy a low mileage used unit and assume all the risk or get raped in cost for a shops new or rebuild transmission with a warranty of course.
Ultimately ANYTHING beats a new truck note at 1000$ for 6 years when you consider this also if your truck is in decent shape aside from the tranny then 4-5k may not be so bad after all.
I promise myself I'd never buy a new vehicle again after buying my
2011 5.7 Crewmax with 233k I love this truck despite its drunken thirst.

 

Great find!

 

Where are you located? A few forum members could pull the old trans and swap in a $3-500 salvage unit in an afternoon.

Do it! I bet this guy can get you squared away.

 

A good transmission rebuild shop will have a little bit of a waiting list and clean build rooms where they build away from any contaminants. Anything less probably should be approached with added caution.

 

So I found a used transmission from a junkyard going through uneedapart . com. The shop that has my truck right now will do the swap for an even $1000. Transmission is out of the same year/model truck with an alleged 89k miles on it for $895 + $145 shipping (FL to TX). All in ~2200. I'm going for it. 6 month warranty. My luck though they'll go to pull it and discover after I've paid that all of a sudden it's not a good one and there's trouble refunding me. lol

 

That's how the shop I used operated. Waiting list. Good reputation and they all called the owner "the builder." He had a room in the back where all he did was the rebuild all of the internals

His workers that did all the transmission flushes, etc handled all the removal and reinstall. He just got it laid out in that room and that's all he did. He had quite a reputation for being good.

He quoted me 2800 to 3300 after a test drive and held true to his word. Two-year 24,000 mile warranty and that included a new torque converter

The only thing he wouldn't do is put that kit in the aluminum valve body that uses a steel sleeve, etc instead of the aluminum which eventually gets a little loose and causes a lot of the lazy shifting issues many in this forum complain about. But I can always go back and put a shift kit in it after the warranty expires and for now, as best as I can tell, mine is as good as new

 

This one worked out. For about $2200 bucks I got the used transmission (89K miles) shipped to the shop and swapped and ready to drive home. Here's to another 437K miles!