Transmission Rebuild

[86Olds442]

Hey guys, I want to run my situation by you and get your input. Two weeks ago, I dropped my original 200-4R off at the trans shop for a rebuild. I know for sure this trans had a very hard life, as it would even grind in park with the engine running. Guy assured me everything would be fine, so I dropped it off. Fast forward to last Friday that he calls me and tells me that he had to order planetaries and a drum, and it'll be another week. (ok, I buy this statement with no problem) I get a call this morning that its all done, but he wanted to let me know 'ahead of time' that my original trans was so bad that he got another unit 'exactly the same' and rebuilt it instead. Why didn't he tell me that at least a week ago??

Ok, so here's my dilema - Do I trust him? Did he really rebuild a trans, or grab a used unit and clean it up? Whats an easy way to tell if it was really rebuilt? (if there is one..) I plan to remove the pan and look inside.

And secondly, what would tell me if it is an exact match? Mine I know had a KZF on the tag. I assume that this one would have to have the exact same, yes?

Thanks for my hearing my rant. I wanted to keep the original trans from the car in the car. I guess that's not going to happen now...

 

[monte olrac]

thats hard to say, if he did the job or not without busting into the transmission, but see if it has a warranty and use it.

 

[MR442]

If getting a warranty . I would have checked any work on auto trans have warranty .

For the case numbers . I bet not . Its up to you .

 

[86Olds442]

If getting a warranty . I would have checked any work on auto trans have warranty .

For the case numbers . I bet not . Its up to you .

Yes, a 12 month warranty. I would never do business without it. I just hate feeling like I'm dealing with someone that's shady. If I knew all of this a week ago, I'd think nothing of it.

We'll see how it goes tonight when I pick it up.

Thanks Guys.

 

[megaladon6]

make sure the "new"trans is the same or better than the original. IIRC the KZF is a hurst olds/442 trans. this means it's one of the top 3 or 4 of the 200-4r's. so i'd make sure it's a (ZF), CZF, BRF, or BQ trans. they are, respectively, a Monte SS, late GN, and early GN.
also make sure he checked the speedo gears and that they match.
also, don't remove the pan, this could actually void the warranty. but do get a full list of parts and labor performed.

 

[dogsht]

Ditto on what Mega said. I would not be happy maybe not even take the trans if it has something other than the 442 tag with the transmission. You would no longer have a complete numbers matching car. Maybe its already had the vin9 code 307 dumpstered and gone and it does not matter but if you still have the vin9 even if its not in the car I would want the correct transmission back. Aside from everything said I hope its built better than stock and I hope you had it done somewhere that has a verifiable successful history of building hi po 200-4Rs. If you plan to upgrade the power in anyway over stock. Lots of general transmissions shops fail miserably when they first try to build up one of these. And then they will tell you its just the trans is too weak for this much power go to an old 3 speed. Blah blah. This is one place it pays to find someone who knows what they are doing and has a warranty that they will stand behind.

Sorry for my rant but the guy I sold my 442 to ruined my old built 200-4R by not having the TV adjusted and then despite what I told him forgot what the transmission temp guage that I installed was for and burnt it up. Then despite my advice he took it to a "reputalbe" local shop who's first performance 200-4R rebuild lasted 9 miles behind the 509. After which he found out their warranty & integrity was crap. It now has a th400 in it and with 3.73s it screams going down the road. On top of that he put shorter tires on the back so its likely to have the engine hurt before long. 🙁 Good work going down the drain because of idiots. Sorry rant over. Just be smart and protect yourself.

 

[megaladon6]

unfortunately a was just celebrating my 32nd birthday, please forgive any grammatical or spelling errors.
i didn't specifically mention this, but myself and dogshit alluded to it, most people believe that all 200-4r transmissions are the same. after all they are a 200-4r right? wrong.
different 200-4r's were built with different valve bodies and different governors. these 2 components are key in determining the behavior(and life) of the trans.
some were also built with different number of clutches and other parts which determine the load rating. unfortunately you never know about the load rating, but if you have a trans rebuilt to the original specs, with an original engine etc you should be ok, especially since you were starting off with a good core.
this is probably the most glaring error of the 200-4r next to the TV cable. you could buy a "grandma's car" and have extra clutches, or you could buy a "sport variant" (SS etc) and have a standard number of clutches. this led to a great ambiguity in the load capability of the, trans leading people to call the trans a POS. (that and the TV cable, which is a good piece of engineering, but people never understood how it worked or how to PrOPERLY adjust it)
these trans' will also greatly benefit from a "shift kit" BTW. the idiot that had the trans before me rebuilt a olds 307 core with a trans kit and possible the extra clutches and it's surviving behind a 400hp/450tq (guesstimate) engine. i really wish he'd used the original monte SS core as the shift points and quality would be MUCH better, but oh well. 🙁

 

[Bonnewagon]

It's possible there was unfixable damage to your case and he went the extra mile to get you a "same as" replacement. Or if he was a crackerjack rebuilder he could have taken a plain-jane and brought it up to 442 specs with your valve body.

 

[86Olds442]

So here's my update. I got the trans back. Its not an exact match, its a BCF that he added a shift kit to. I'm not thrilled, but at least the car moves again. The speedo is off, (he'll be correcting this), and the torque converter is my original that was sent out and rebuilt, and its now making noise so it's gotta come out again and get replaced. This has not been a great experience, the only good is that I'm getting my original trans back from the shop, and when this one dies, I'll try rebuilding that one myself. Thanks for the replies, I've learned alot from you guys. Anyone want to come by and drop this trans for me? I'm not up to doing this again yet....

 

[dogsht]

Sorry to hear that. fwiw the quality & extensiveness of a shift kit in these things vary. www.ckperformance.com has one of the best on the market. I paid $100 for mine from them when they had it on sale. There kit manages to have a great wot shift as do some others but they also have a firm but not harsh part throttle shift. Both of which not only make your transmission more enjoyable but also live longer.