Transmission Rebuild in Progress: I'm in the really school now for VX OWNERS! WANTED!

[CowboyErik]

UPDATE! At 4 YEARs after REBUILD, I am GOOD! Made it to 2016 on good rebuild of our General Motors stock tranny!

old post:

I'm in the real school now! I have a shop here in Fairfield, Ohio, Cincinnati area really, GREAT PEOPLE! Had me out and apart in 8 hours! Flat rate rebuild price with warranty just $1250, max $1500!

I've learned some things, first, we all, and I mean ALL have transmissions that are really rated to run a CHEVY CHEVET!!!!!!!! Yes, that little economy box car that no longer exists. Why do I say that, well, cause our transmissions only difference is the OVERDRIVE! Else they are the SAME! Would you TOW a car or boat with a Chvey Chevet? Hell no! but would you run 4 wheel drive! omg, bigger NO.

My CASE to my transmission is actually damaged and I need a replacement CASE to put the guts back in at my shop, there is a worn input shaft that runs off the flywheel that has worn a groove in the case and it can't be BORED!! SOOOO the actual case is ruined at 129,000!!!!.

Conclusion so far, before this happens to you, everyone needs to REBUILD their transmission nearly at the SAME INTERVAL as we do TIMING BELTS!! Getting a master rebuild kit installed is more important that the timing belt!!!

THIS IS NO JOKE! There is a reason so many of us are having tranny problems, AND we don't know why. The General Motors 4L30E was never designed for HEAVY DUTY service of ANY KIND let alone 4 wheel drive all the time! 2WD at most on a light car/chasis! I mean never! It is not rated for that; we WILL all lose our transmission soon, everyone, no matter what year we have. Rebuilds must be performed using master rebuild kits by 75K, no later in my opinion OR you will have the nitemare I am having! Engine failure poll? We need a tranny faillure tracking poll! It's gonna be HUGE!!! We Need salvage yard tranny's just to get a case, anyone who did towing will likely need a case replacement in addition to the master rebuild kit! Speaking of that:

DOES ANYONE HAVE a spare bad transmission that I can gut for the case? I need the case that bears the MADE IN FRANCE logo!!! Please Help! I'm at my limit physically and mentally! I will post a picture of the defective case; I am at the shop here in fairfield daily taking images of everything; my 3rd crossmember broke ALL the bolts on the passenger side taking it off! You won't believe it!!

[Triathlete]

A quick look will show that the chevette DID NOT have the same tranny as our VX.
Our tranny is however shared with BMW and a few other rear wheel drive vehicles. Because a tranny is of the same type does not mean they are the same. The internals can be very different...gearing, different clutch packs, regular or beefed up parts, etc.
The price on your rebuild seems to be pretty good though.

[CowboyErik]

Yep, the Chevette economo box was a 3 spead, it was the precursor to the 4L30E, it's was explained to me, and shown in a static museum display; I was shocked; I will photograph; the same base tranny evolved to be used in other vehicles; at the truck level, the addistion of the small forward pain thats easy to come off was added amd this gave the 4th gear; so I don't mean the GM 4L30E was in Chevettes, it was not, but the successors of the base tranny are what we now have; electrical controls and, over drive where added; and some things that should have been beefed up for 4WD were not, and thats where our premature failure occurs; overhauls should be done at 75K; or, more expensive parts not in a Master OverHaul kid are needed such as the ENTIRE OUTTER CASING!!!!!! How has a tranny that I can gut for the case! Help!

[Triathlete]

I am pretty sure that if you look through past post on trans failures most were feom lack of maintenance. My trans has been abused severely off road as have many others without problems. As I said the 4L30 trans has been used in many cars including BMWs. Are there stronger trans? Yes. But for the torque and HP our engines generate the trans is up to the job.

[vt_maverick]

There is a reason so many of us are having tranny problems, AND we don't know why. The General Motors 4L30E was never designed for HEAVY DUTY service of ANY KIND let alone 4 wheel drive all the time! 2WD at most on a light car/chasis! I mean never! It is not rated for that; we WILL all lose our transmission soon, everyone, no matter what year we have.

Epic failure to use the search function if this is really a new discovery for you. And I whole-heartedly disagree with the need to rebuild the transmission every 75K miles; that's just nuts IMHO. Perform transmission maintenance according to the more aggressive recommended schedule and then rebuild when needed. There are a lot of folks on this site who have gone much farther than 75K before needing a rebuild (and many still don't need them at double your recommended miles or more). You're talking a ton of unnecessary expense. Can you imagine if deermagnet, at nearly 300K miles, was about to do his 4th rebuild?

[tom4bren]

Erik,

I don't want to complain about your tranny shop since they seem to be working with you quite well, but ...

Maybe they need to think outside the box a little.

There's absolutely no reason that your tranny case couldn't be salvaged if it's just a matter of sealing where the input shaft enters the tranny.

You said that it can't be bored ... but does it really need to be???

That shaft did NOT exit the tranny case without a bushing or a sealed bearing (hardened steel shaft spinning in a cast opening wouldn't last 100 miles). My guess would be that it is a steel clad babbet bushing that is really the damaged part. Unfortunately, there probably isn't a source for an exact replacement. That doesn't mean that you are SOL though. They should be able to find a brass bushing with the correct ID and machine the OD to make it fit. If the bushing requires an oil groove to keep the shaft surface lubricated, then that can be cut with a dremmel.

I'm not just pulling this out of the blue. That's the EXACT same thing I went through on a '87 Samurai I used to have. Granted that we are talking the difference between an automatic and a manual transmission but the input shaft seal doesn't care about that. BTW, I got another 150K miles out of that tranny after my "fix".

Another BTW: The Suzuki shop manual (mine nor the dealer's) even showed that there was a bushing there. The MFR recommended solution was a tranny case replacement. Suzuki wasn't interested in what I proposed to them as the solution since there was already an upgrade to better bearings internal to the tranny that caused the bushing to go bad.

[JAMAS]

what shop did you take it to?

[VX KAT]

Erik-
This is an active group of MANY obssessed owners.....many of whom are actual wrenchers.
Many know the history, details, lineage and provenance of every single part/component of this truck. It just doesn't make any logical sense that your mechanic has just discovered some new, unknown info about the tranny in this 11-14 year old vehicle.

They've taken apart/repaired/replaced/adjusted/modified/broken/bled on/changed etc...many of the major components of the truck, like the engine and tranny.
With the VAST amount of experienced people on this forum, who know this truck forward and backwords, do you really think NONE of them would have commented on this tranny issue before?

Like Tom said, I don't mean to question your tranny shop, but I'm 100% certain the many experienced wrenchers on this forum, know the VX far better than the guy you're dealing with.

[MsConduct]

Hi all... so glad I came across this thread here! Seems that my tranny needs a rebuild now. When it went out, I was not able to get the truck to an Isuzu mechanic, but did manage to limp it to the mechanic who works on my other car. He specializes in BMWs and MBs, but has also done a few things for other vehicles in the family.

Anyway, when he gave me the line about knowing all about the VX tranny because it is so much like the one in the BMWs, I thought maybe he was just saying that so that I would pay him to fix it, rather than tow it to someone else. I had a feeling it was going to be a hefty bill.

I am thrilled to see that he wasn't just pulling my leg on this! And feel much better now about possibly having him do it. (Otherwise I need to tow it about 50 miles or more to a dealer-based shop. Ugh.)

So, that said... what is a fair price for this project? I'm in So Cal where things are usually a bit more expensive, but would like to hear other's ideas...

Thanks!

[blacksambo]

Erik, I think Isuzu is a great truck company, and they would not have risked their reputation on a bad tranny on a halo vehicle like the VX. Too much was at stake. Granted, a manual shift would have been a better choice for off road use but for all- round performance the OEM automatic was just about right, and I have 158K on my Astral with barely a hiccup. Maybe switching to synthetic helped me, but still, 75k interval rebuilding seems a bit excessive.

[Triathlete]

ANY auto trans will fail when ran without fluid.

[PK]

What he said. ^^^^^^^^^

x2.


PK

[MsConduct]

Soooo.... what is a "reasonable" amount to spend on a rebuild? What about a trans from a salvage yard or something? Any ideas? I just spent over $600 to get the stupid window regulators and door locks fixed... :-(

[Triathlete]

MsC...you should PM JoFoto. He is down in your area and had a guy who did one of his trannys. I don't recall the price but to me it seemed quite reasonable. He even had an option with heavy duty clutches and bands.

[Marlin]

Hmmm, I agree with some and disagree with others. The 4l30E is definitely insufficient for the Zu family. We are right at the max of the torque rating for the tranny. That means any mods or agressive driving run a high risk of failure. I had my maintenance done by Isuzu at 100Kish miles. Less than 2K miles later, total failure. I feel that if I had left it alone, and it was bone stock at that point, it would have been fine. I got a yard tranny out of a trooper with 89K miles. I am now at 140K, no problems.
When I did the swap, the mechanic looked and thought that a 4l60E would fit with minor mods. We did not go that route, I only had 2 vehicles then and couldn't wait. I am curious if that would be a viable solution.
FWIW, the tranny in my wife's RS (same as ours, only the older version with a dipstick), it was $50 at a picnpull all you can carry. It does have occasional issues with hard shifting, but for 50 bucks, I am ok with that. I would try local yards first, then go for a rebuild. Feel free to get dirty and learn to do it on your own. It is pretty straight forward and you will learn so much!!!!