Welp...This sucks.

The Transmission on my 2003 Taurus is apparently out. The guy says I have no pressure, and there is some metal in the pan. I've got 111,700 miles on it. they say its gonna be 2K to $2,500 to rebuild and then will have a 3 year, 100,000 mile warranty. Needless to say this is terrible timing. I'm trying to sell the Vert, (but kinda need to keep it now becuase the Taurus is MIA)....so............yeah...what should I do? I feel like paying 2,500 to keep the Taurus on the road is a terrible idea, but I cant afford to keep the stang....but... I dont think I can replace the Taurus for 2,500 either. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

My friend says finding a bone yard tranny would be more of a waste of money than just fixing it.

 

Bummer. Looks like you're going to be a vert family after all!

I hate auto trans! And having them rebuilt is always such a crap shoot. I had to finally dump my old Eagle because of the auto trans slipping the last several years, and it was too old to put any money in the trans. Too bad because I don't drive that much, it was 4x4 and 20mpg, and was a cheap way to leave my Bullitt parked for the winter. But had to bite another payment because repairing it didn't make any sense...

I would think if you could find a wrecked Taurus that would have say 70-80k on it and then have a machine flush after you installed it, would be a workable option. Or it might only be a few hundred bucks to replace the pump in yours.

PS: They all have some metal in the pan. That's why they put a magnet in the pan. You should have seen how much was in the Eagle when I dropped the pan and changed the fluid/filter. Wow! But it still drove, just shifted slow from 2nd to 3rd esp when cold. I nursed it for about 3 years that way by driving gingerly and manually shifting from 2nd to 3rd...

 

I"m goin to call around for junkyard tranmissions....May as well explore all of my options.

 

Does it drive?

Wrecking yards: http://www.car-part.com/

 

Nope. It wont go into any gears except park. Runs great though!

 

This is similar to the issue I had with my 2003 Taurus. It had 140K on it and started with a squeek at idle well I figured it was a w/p or something on the belt end of the engine. When I looked into it the noise was coming from the wrong end of the engine & was coming from inside the tranny case. One day on the way home from work it stoped going into OD and as that point I stoped on the way home from work and bought the Altima.

But with a 100+ mile commute each day I had to get something that could handle that.

How long is you commute? I would conside even something small like a civic for cheap money, I looked at a few in the 3K-4K range but in the end they were all in the mid 1990's and I was worried about how long they could handle my commute.

 

Back in late 2002 we bought a 1994 Camry V6 w/ 90,000 miles for $5,000. We still have it, now there is around 160,000 miles on the odometer and engine and transmission are still in a great shape.
Boring to driver, boring to even look at it, but very reliable.

They don't make it like that anymore.

 

There are a few on ebay.com and you may want to try taurusclub.com. I think you need a AX4N/4F50N tranmission. I think it is the same for the Duretec and Vulcan engines, but you may want to verify. And as a side-bar my 2001 Taurus had 155,000+ miles when I traded it in with no tranny problems.

 

I would fix it. Sometimes you have to shell out a bit but like you said you can't afford the vert and you need a driver. Consider it this way, you're probably not going to find a Taurus that is kept as nice as yours for $2500.

 

what kind of shape is the rest of the car in? looks like they are sill worth a few bucks.
http://motors.shop.ebay.com/Cars-Tru...c0.m282&_rdc=1

if you can get another 20 or 30 k out of it, maybe it is worth fixing

 

I've got a lead on a guy who works only with Tauruses... hopefully it works out.

 

I would think you would be able to find plenty of Tauruses out there that have spun a bearing in the DOHC motor with a good tranny in it.

 

For me, it becomes a dollars and cents issue. On a car like this, you need to look at the book value of it and decide using money as your guide. If you can pick up another '03 Taurus for about $3 or $4,000 then I would do that as opposed to spending $2,500 to fix a car thats worth $3 or $4,000. The thing with going with a junkyard trans is that the labor money to put that thing in there will still be a lot and if you only get 10k miles out of it or something, you've lost. Its a tough call on these situtations, but I'd be on the lookout for a similarly aged, one owner Taurus to replace it.

 

Problem is, I don't have the cash to do that. you're right though. I'd do that if I could.

I've got her on a trailer on its way to a guy.... says he'll do it for $800..including that transmission and torque converter. If this doesn't work, I'll probably just sell if for what I can and start over.

 

Sounds like the pump is gone. Unless there is something major messed up with the case (not likely if it just stopped pulling) a rebuild from someone who does a decent job should last just as long or longer than the stock one. Unless you like spending more later do not go the junkyard route. A friend of mine has been building transmissions for over 15 years and has yet to see a junkyard trans last more than a year. Flushing (which will have to be done) an old one is only going to remove the grit helping the clutches retain friction lost due to normal clutch wear.

 

Taurus lives again! shifts great! If this even lasts one year it will have been worth it. Only $857 for a 80,000 mile transmission, torque converter, and new front brakes including installation.

 

Great news Cody!

 

 

Sweet!

 

Well worth the price.
Congrats and good luck.