I bought a 2000 with 138K miles and the ABS fuse removed (long story). It got a remanufactured transmission installed at 110K....after I bought it, the transmission was shifting hard into second and the fluid was dark, so I went to a trusted, transmission guy with 40 years experience. Put the fuse back in and it shifts fine.

Come to find that the missing ABS fuse causes a tcc (torque converter) issue and has burned up my transmission. Probably what burned up the first one. Who would have known?

Here's my question...is it really burned up? Shifts well and seems strong, but the guy with all the experience looked at, and smelled the fluid, and immediately declared the transmission dead (or soon to be)...even warned me against changing the filter/fluid....I can't believe a newer tranny with only 30K can burn up so fast....

Should I sell it or drive it?

 

up to u. if was overheated and burnt fluid like that, i would service it NOW. i dont know where the idea of its too far gone to svc came from, if it works well, it wont with used up scorched lubricant in it for long. i say do it and when u have the pan off u will get your indicator of life left i believe by whats lurking around in the base. maybe nothing worth a try

 

I tend to agree with you, as the fluid is not that bad....it's definitely had an issue in the past, but it's still red, just a little dark...However, if I take the pan down to inspect the magnet, I'll have to replace the fluid, and all the older guys seem to think the detergent qualities of the new fluid will clean plugged gaps and accelerate the death of the transmission....but how will I ever know how bad it is until I look...chicken, or egg?....I bought the car for my teenager...I'm going to let him decide...


....By the way, I'm going to start a new thread about the ABS issue....would you mind taking a look? Thanks

 

well theres no fuel or carbon in a a/t so how can it bust anything loose right? put a filter kit in it and fluid and drive it. ill look for ur abs post

 

I had the chance to speak with the transmission expert on the phone, as a follow up to your suggestion.....he said the debris in the transmission would be clutch material and / or metal filings that fill the cracks.....

However, since the fluid is not too discolored (in my opinion), I will drop the pan for inspection....if it dies later, I will try to remember to come back to this post for the obituary....

Decided not to post on the ABS issue.....I managed to get what I needed in the existing posts....

Previous owner had removed the ABS fuse because it was malfuncioning. That is what caused the TCC issue that burned up both transmissions.

By the way, I have read a lot of posts suggesting removal of the ABS fuse to disable the ABS system. Apparently that's a bad idea, as it confuses the transmission and burns it up according to the transmission shop.

Anyway, the transmission guy had a snap on reader and the left front wheel was giving a bad ABS code. So I tested the front left sensor at the first plug with a voltmeter, and it worked. I then plugged it back in and tested the sensor all the way back to the main box plug, and got nothing. So I assumed it was the intermediate wiring in the harness.

To verify, I tested for continuity from the box back to the first plug, to verify the problem, but it was good??? Hmmmmmmm...I then went back to the wheel sensor and tested it back to the first plug....nothing!

So I tested everything again, both wheels this time, from every plug, and confirmed the left front sensor was not working....but it definitely was earlier. So I retested again...still nothing out of the front left sensor...so it was intermittent.

My question was how to determine if the box itself is broken, but I'm going to remove, and clean the sensor, and go from there.