Transmission - Replace or Rebuild?

I'm new to the forum and have done some reading after searching on transmission & transaxle. Still have a question.

98 Windstar (140K, 3.8L). Mine died in the middle of our vacation on the Olympic Penninsula this past May. Normal load, not towing anything. The van would shift fine until warmed up, but then would lock down into 2nd gear. The Ford dealer ran the computer, no transmission codes came up and their transmission guy had gone for the day. (I did get some fuel rail codes.) Then we took it to an independent shop in Bremerton, WA. After a test drive the owner told me that the transmission was defaulting to "limp home" mode. It will lock itself into 2nd gear and not shift up to 3rd preventing a shift up to overdrive. 3rd gear is probably gone. Turning off the key will reset the transmission, but after about 20 miles and a good warm up it will return to default. Eventually it will lock in 1st and then nothing. (Same thing happened with my folk's F-250 diesel by the way.)

We dropped the pan and found a very significant amount of metal filings (Lots and lots and lots, some like slivers), a clogged filter, and chocolate fluid. We had a service before leaving Utah.

So all you experienced Windstar owners, time for some arm chair mechanicking. Rebuild or replace? :2cents:

There are a lot of variables here. Are you able to do the rebuild yourself and if so, can the van be down for the amount of time it will take. If you need someone to rebuild for you, is there a reputable and dependable rebuilder in the area? If you need the van back ASAP then a rebuilt would probably be the way to go. You'd have to compare the cost of each way of doing it. I had mine go out a little over a month ago and I had a rebuilt installed by the garage that rescued me off the hi-way. Total cost was $1500 and a little change including the tow. This was in Buffalo, Mo. and the tranny came out of Springfield, Mo.. So far so good. It happend about 100 miles from home so I was kind of in a bind. It went completely dead as the fluid went out the front seal. It was mostly my fault for not watching closer and for towing more than it was designed for. Look on the dip stick and see what model yours is. It should be an XF2P-BA or a F88P-BA. This may not be the case either, as mine is a '99 and you're talking '98. Just something to look for. This number is also on a tag on top of the bell housing. Good luck whichever way you go.

I would replace that tranny with a new or used one.

I always replace the whole tranmission, never rebuild

Rebuilding is great but they are not like a engine block.
Once they start having problems you will have more down the road.

Thanks for the replys. Looks like I'm saving up $2200 to replace the transmission. I don't have access to a shop with lift, etc. to do it myself. Meanwhile the van will get started every week, run up to temperature, rolled up and down the drive to keep the tires round, and then put away again.

A rebuilt tranny should come with a waranty.
Also....if you get one from a reputable place....it will have been worked on in a setting that permits them to do a more through job.
I had a Ford rebuilt tranny put in several years ago....it ran me about $2800 (US) including installation and came with a 2 year 24K mile waranty.
Jasper is another brand name that comes to mind.....I think that they have an even longer waranty. Jasper has a website, that you can look up a local shop that deals with them. I have about 50K miles on my Ford rebuild right now....and it is still doing fine.

I had not found this site yet...but had searched around the internet and found a lot of posts by people who had gotten the transmission replaced for about $1600 including installation....with a 1 year 12K mile waranty....or even less..and had problems soon thereafter with the replacement tranny.....so that is why I bit the bullet and paid out the dough. I was planning on keeping my car........so I felt that it was worth it.