tbow5 Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 My 92 STS that I have lovingly owned for 5 years now has 160,000 miles and a transmission with seals that are going bad. Transmission shop (very reputable with high recomendations) says it may last another week or another year but new seals are needed which means a total rebuild. The price tag is $1850.00 I also need tires and my third brake light is out. Otherwise the car runs and looks great. What should I do? Spend $2,500 on the tranny, tires, and brake light for a 160,000 mile car or cut my expenses use the $2,500 on a 98 - 99 STS with 70,000 - 80,000 miles and sell the 92 for $500? What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldoman95 Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 sell... pick up a nice ETC, or STS for under 10K with low miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Your car will make another 25-50 kmiles. Try to stop the leaks in the tranny (Lucas stuff or whatever else). What are you going to lose? A brake light... cannot be a good reason to sell the car. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoo Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 I'd drop in 1 or 2 cans of the lucas trans fix, or bars leaks. it should stop it for a while.. If the car is in really good condition (exterior, interior) with little rust etc then there is no reason to sell it. New seals doesn't mean total rebuild. Find one of those little mom & pop shops instead of going to one of the 'chains' and see what they say about it. Besides, you can buy a remanufactured transmission online for a lot cheaper and then just pay a shop to simply swap it out. Or if you have a place like autozone or advanced auto parts they will sell you a reman transmission and take your old core in most cases. Besides, $1800 for a total rebuild isn't that bad anyway although it could be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 but new seals are needed which means a total rebuild. Who said that new seals equates to a total rebuild? What seals are bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 You need to find out where the trans. is leaking....it could just be the pan gasket or the seals at the drive axles. Both are easily replaced and certainly do not require a rebuild..... Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norton1 Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Local shops can't rebuild most Caddy trannies. They are a dealer only item. At least on my 94 STS that's the way it was. $5000 later I have a new tranny and a sweet running car. The third light is a piece of crap anyway - I disconnected mine and somewhere down the line I'll pull it off and bondo in the empty spot. It may also not be the seals but the lines themselves. I had the lines fail on mine a couple thousand miles after the dealer put new ones in. So get a second or even a third opinion. $1800 bucks - I'd of kissed someone for a price like that. It was the original bid from a local shop to rebuild mine and when the tranny folks showed up, and the main replacement shop is in Denver I believe, they went - "Nope - dealer item only." Best of luck - but if I had it to do over again I'd of sent the thing down the road and bought a newer one. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norton1 Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Oh yeah - Toyo tires are around $4-500 for a set - ride great, corner great, and I improved my fuel economy by 2 mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Local shops can't rebuild most Caddy trannies. They are a dealer only item. That is not necessarily true, a lot of dealer send the tranny's out to so called reputible shops, especially if they are older vehicles. I went to my local Caddy dealer to have my 91 rebuilt and they send out tranny jobs, its quite common, by the way the shop they recommended sucked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 You need to find out where the trans. is leaking....it could just be the pan gasket or the seals at the drive axles. Both are easily replaced and certainly do not require a rebuild..... Glad we are thinking alike, tranny shops are notorious for scaring customers and being pigs For that matter, if the torque convertor seal needed replacement they could do that also even though its more work, but still no rebuild is necessary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmpafford Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Lets see... 3000 to fix up the car and get it running again or "A NEW CAR!" If you do the repairs and drive it for just one more year, thats $250 a month. A new Caddi is going to run you about $600 a month (or more!) not counting the nice down payment. Assuming that you buy new and not used. So over that year, you just saved $4200 by NOT buying the new car. Would a new car make you $4200 happier? That is something you will have to decide. Would the wife rather go to Maui for a nice vacation? Do the kids need college money? Would your mistress like a nice fur coat? Stock market is going up! There are alot of things you could do with the money you aren't spending on new car payments. Not to mention the insurance savings vs new car rates. When ever I have to make a major repair, I always try to think about how many car payments it represents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoo Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 You could always buy a saturn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 I don't know where you live. If you have a Lee Myles transmission place near you, go to them. My 1994 STS was stuck in second gear. Bad shift solenoids, harness, and speed sensor. I took it to 4-different shops, not only did they act like they did not know too much about the tranny, but all 4-said i need the tranny rebuilt at a price range of $3,000-to $5,000.00. Along with the price came the story about how complicated the trannys are. I happened to pass Lee Myles, and said what the he__ i will check with them also. They put my car on the scanner, test drove it, all at no charge. The reason for no charge because they said, that they get so many seville, and eldo's at their shop with tranny problems. They also said most shops don't know how to fix them, and the first ting they say is you need a new tranny. To make a long story short Lee Myles put me pack on the road in 3-day's, I had bad shift solenoids, harness, and speed sensor. They said my seals looked a little weak, but it was up to me too replace. I ask the price for a total rebuild. Well i'm happy to say $1,300.00 and three days later i was back on the road with my tranny rebuilt, and it shift's as sweet as ever. And yes they did give me all of my old parts, and after i got the car back, i checked to see it it was my original tranny, and it was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoo Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 There is a lee myles' in columbus not to far from me.. i wonder if they are as good here as they are there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regis Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Local shops can't rebuild most Caddy trannies. They are a dealer only item. That is not necessarily true, a lot of dealer send the tranny's out to so called reputible shops, especially if they are older vehicles. I went to my local Caddy dealer to have my 91 rebuilt and they send out tranny jobs, its quite common, by the way the shop they recommended sucked This is true. Many dealers do send their tranny work out to local tranny shops. I would get another opinion first. I don't know about your 92 but the tranny on my 94 was throwing all kinds of fits 2 years ago and i thought for sure it needed major repair. Long story short it turned out to be some gunk clinging to some parts (less than $10 fix plus the price of a drain and fill of tranny fluid). Over 210,000 miles on the same transmission has got to be some sort of testament. "Burns" rubber " I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Hey what if you found someone for $500 to drop the tranny, replace all the seals, change the filter, fluid, side and pan gasket, buy tires for $400 and forget about it? Just make sure that this "reputible" tranny shop knows WTF they are doing and that they install it correctly, and that means, replacing the OIL COOLER O-RINGS, Route the wiring harnesses correctly and re-install ALL bell housing bolts! When I got my 91 Seville back from a "reputible" tranny shop recommended by a Caddy dealer, they 1) left a bolt out of the bell housing, 2) had mis-routed electrical wiring across sharp edges, 3) did not replace the o-rings in the oil cooler lines that NEED to be removed to get the bell housing bolts out and I was leaking from them badly and 4) they did not even test drive it as the brake rotor splash shield was smashed up against the rotor and scraping, I drove it 2 blocks and returned to them! Six Months later I had an electrical problem that burned out a fusible link that controlled my AC Clutch, Horns and Cooling Fans that did not have time find, that I blame on them and junked the car! BE WARY of REPUTIBLE TRANNY SHOPS!!! Once the oil cooler lines are disturbed on a car as old as yours you need to replace the o-rings or they will leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill A Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Maybe we should get together. My 92 just developed a coolant in the engine oil problem. Maybe an intake or head gasket problem. Maybe worse if overhheating to 250-260 caused other damage. Otherwise been great car with 108K miles. Shifts great. Add to it that the day before the 92 acted up we bought a 96 STS with 38K and was going to sell the 92. The 92 now sitting in my driveway while I look for a shop to fix it in Des Moines IA area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Add to it that the day before the 92 acted up we bought a 96 STS with 38K and was going to sell the 92. '96 with 38K Good Lord were did you find that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschunke Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Buy a 98 with 70,000 mi and chances are your buying someone else's problems. $1800 isn't outrageous, especially if you like the ride, it runs well, and know the history of the vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Rockwilder Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 If you want to sell it, send me an IM and it's sold. I do tranny work and don't mind a project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBuckley Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I would have the trans checked out a local place, call you dealer and see who they send them to. I had problems with my 94 STS, "the" local independent transmission shop in town said total rebuild, I argued with them that it was the shift solenoids, from the codes that I had, and I was there when they dropped the pan, no metal shavings or any other junk in the pan, but they stuck to their story. long and the short I orderd the solenoid kit for under 50 bucks bought the fliud, and did the repair myself. I also had a slight leak, and I found and fixed that while I was doing this. So, I would reccommed that you try to determine where you are leaking, is it actually a seal, or possibly something else, once you determine where you have a leak you can then invest a little time on the phone, to call around and tell them what you want fixed, not leave it open to the shop to tell you what they want to do to lighten your wallet. John John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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