Transmission Leaking. Advice?

[pL2005]

One thing after the next lately with my Envoy (2005 XL, SLT, 4.2L, 4WD, 197000 miles). Replaced the temp sensor/thermostat last week and discovered one of the drivers side CVs was blown. Ordered an axle, and when I got under there, I discovered my new thermostat and the transmission were both leaking. Got the axle done and the thermostat resealed, but the transmission leak is out of my league.

Took it in yesterday, and the diagnosis is that the transmission pump seal is leaking. I took it to the dealer since I don't really have a local mechanic I trust. They want $1200 for the pump seal. I called around to some transmission shops for 2nd opinions and they are consistent in that they recommend a rebuild given the mileage and want $1500 +/- or so depending on the shop. Their logic seems to be that replacing only the pump seal doesn't come with much of a warranty, whereas a rebuild will have a 1 year 10-12k (one shop claims 1 year unlimited mileage) warranty.

I've been lucky with transmissions in my life so far and have no experience with this. My brother has had 2 transmissions rebuilt in his life and had nothing but problems. His were both failing prior to the rebuild. Mine shifts and drives completely fine.

I did ask the dealer about a rebuild, but they want over 3k. The truck's barely worth that so I've ruled that out. I would like to drive this thing another 2 years (likely around 20k - 25k miles based on the last 2 years) if I can keep it running that long. A newer truck will certainly cost me more than any of the above mentioned prices. I'm willing to spend the 1200 or the 1500, but I'm not sure which way to go.

Ideas? What would you do in this situation?

 

[Sparky]

How bad is the leak? Part of me would be tempted to just keep an eye on the fluid level and just drive it.

A rebuild at the cost makes sense to refresh things, on paper, if you're going to be spending that much just for the seal. I've never torn into a transmission that far but given the cost difference it makes me suspect the reason for only around $300 extra is because you have to tear it down so far to get to the pump seal that you're practically just adding new parts cost and the labor is similar. Just a guess on my part though.

What about buying a used lower miles transmission?

 

[pL2005]

It's not too bad, but it is leaving a silver dollar sized puddle under the truck overnight. Usually that's my threshold. If it's seeping, but not leaving a puddle, I usually just drive it and keep an eye on it. If it's leaving a puddle, I usually try to take care of it.

The price difference is partly what you said, and partly dealer vs local transmission shop. The local shops said they could do the seal alone for 600-700, 1200-1500 for a rebuild. The local shops are saying I'm wasting my money on the seal alone given the miles on the vehicle. This is really where I'm seeking the advice. The dealer wants 1200 for seal, 3000 for the rebuild, but seems perfectly content doing the seal only.

 

[Tiggerr]

The seal is the easy part... bad thing is you have to drop trans to get to it..
Or at least get it slid back enough to get torque converter off... it's just a regular old school seal like any other...
it's the labor involved if you're paying someone to do it...the seal is prob $10

 

[shovenose]

I feel like once you bother to drop the trans, you may as well have it rebuilt, especially at that mileage.

 

[Reprise]

What about buying a used lower miles transmission?

I would seriously explore this option, if they're readily available in your area, and you won't get killed on the installation (if you have the tools / room, it's probably not too difficult, save for the flywheel to TC bolts, and the top bolts of the bellhousing.)

You could probably get a used one for anywhere between $400-$800 - and at the upper end of the range, that might be a fully rebuilt one. IF you can install it (even with help), that would be your most cost-effective solution, given what your other alternatives are, how much each would cost, and how long you want to be driving the truck.

If you're going to be replacing the truck for sure in 2 years, this option should buy you the time. If you were more like "I love my truck and want to keep it" - I'd more readily suggest a rebuild of your own. To Sparky's point - once the pump has been removed, most of the rest of the internals should be easy to R&R. If you were to do just the pump seal (e.g.; dealer) - I can almost predict that they wouldn't warn you of wear anywhere else - and probably wouldn't remove anything past the pump to even look at it.

With 200K on the existing trans, I agree with @shovenose - at that mileage, if you're going to replace the seal, rebuild it. You can show evidence of that to the next owner (private sale is probably the only way you're going to recoup any of the expense; you'll be lucky to get $500 in trade from a dealer).

Assuming nothing else major goes wrong... $750yr for the next two, isn't terrible. I might do a compression / leakdown on the engine - if it comes up to within 90% of 'new' - then you might be able to keep it longer than 2 years.

 

[Mooseman]

Lets look at it a different way.. What if the tranny was perfectly fine in its original 200k mile state and it was the engine crank seal leaking. It's still the exact same labour to pull the tranny to get to the engine seal. Would you even think of replacing or rebuilding the tranny?

Replacing the seal on the tranny is the same as, let's say, an axle, once the tranny is out. Pull the old one, hammer the new one on with a pipe. Just did it on my son's Silvy. He bought the truck with a dead tranny but came with a used one as a replacement. Replaced the seal for good measure.

It all depends on how long you're going to keep this truck and its condition. 200k on a tranny is on borrowed time but depends on maintenance, use and abuse it had to handle. My '02 TB's tranny lasted only to 300k km (190k miles) so I scrapped it due to its age.

 

[Sparky]

If the seal is that easy to get to (relatively speaking) then yeah just replace that seal, if you can yourself.

 

[Tiggerr]

If the seal is that easy to get to (relatively speaking) then yeah just replace that seal, if you can yourself.

It's a piece of cake once the tranny is on the ground lol... getting the tranny out is the fun part...

 

[pL2005]

Thanks for the advice. I decided just to have the seal fixed. It was pricey, but any other options I could find around here were pricier. They did replace several seals and gaskets while they were in there. I'm going to search for each of the part numbers tonight to see exactly what was replaced. The mechanic said everything inside appeared to be in good shape for the age and mileage. I couldn't find any used ones in the timeframe I'm dealing with currently. I've never had any problems with the function of the current transmission (shifting, etc, and I know, I shouldn't even be saying this right now) so I decided why rebuild a working transmission. I may regret this choice. Time will tell. If I have additional transmission problems, I will explore the used route further, and potentially learn to install it myself. That's certainly a bigger project than I have ever tackled to date, but I've been successful with others I've attempted.

Thanks again for your input.