Correct, Bob, that was September of last year, just a few months ago. Lost reverse on the 4L80E at 142K miles with no symptoms and no warning.
I will say I agree with your dealer but not the way he explained it. You are right, changing the leaking seals won't increase the pressure in the transmission or cause any other leaks by themselves. BUT....all the other seals are the same age as the one that are leaking. As I said before along with Lantley, 80-90% of the cost of the repair is the labor to pull the transmission, so why not do the other seals and wear items while it's out? If you do it piecemeal and only fix what's broke at the time, you pay the labor to pull the transmission over and over again.
There was no transmission shop in the town where mine died, and I couldn't get a recommendation on one. I did get a recommendation on a repair shop from a fellow RV.net member who lives there, so I was forced to go with a Jasper Remanufactured unit. Not the end of the world, it came with a 3 year 100,000 mile warranty and they have 2000+ dealers in the US. Downside is it's a stock unit and I was looking at some possible towing upgrades when it was rebuild time, now that opportunity is passed. Of course if I get another 142K miles out of it, I will be happy :)
