Transmission Rebuild cost?

[Paleo]

So I picked up a 96 Winnebago Adventurer "QCG32WQ" on the chevy p30 chassis this past weekend on Craigslist. I test drove it and it seemed to drive fine, no major issues other than that u had to fiddle with the gear shift when in reverse to get the auto park brake to disengage.

The seller did say to me however that in the nearly 20 years he had owned it, on a dozen or so occasions, the RV would not want to come out of 2nd gear. He said he found if you stopped, turn the rig off for 10 minutes, then restarted it, it always went away and would go for another many thousands of miles b4 it ever repeated itself. He said he could never get a dealer to replicate the issue so there was no fix for it. It didn't do this when on the fairly lengthy test drive. For me it shifted just fine.

So here we are 2 days later and I'm taking it to a shop to have some minor things taken care of (oil change, have the auto park brake looked at, wheel bearing repacked, etc) and sure enough, it seems to not want to shift out of 2nd gear. I didn't have the time to stop and let it sit for 10 minutes as he mentioned, but is this normal for this model, and if not, am I looking at a shot transmission? If so, any ballpark figure on the rebuild cost for this rig?

Any input would be much appreciated.

[Born_To_Travel]

I wouldn't rebuild it yet.... Sounds like a component problem... Have a competent trans shop pull the pan and replace the filter... It probably needs done anyway.. Have the tech check to see what is in the pan... That will tell a lot.. Some clutch pack dust and some aluminum flakes are normal... Much debris and the smell of burnt fluid will also tell you if it needs replaced... If all look normal it could be a shift solenoid problem or a corroded connection.. Here is some info I found.. Seems that 2nd gear is the "limp mode" And explains why it does it... Good reading..

[Pyro6]

I wouldn't rebuild it yet. Can you hookup a computer scan tool? I think you have a bad shift solenoid. I just pulled mine last year and had it overhauled. New torque convertor, all new solenoids, some damaged hard parts and an updated wiring harness, I still had 3K in it plus my time in R & R and wiring in the new harness. I have a 93 Coachman Catalina, 4L80E

[royl]

Sounds like a bad PCM to me. The control modules will get loose or coroded solder joints.

[cj7365]

It seems from your posts, that you are set on rebuilding the trans, but before you do that, get some troubleshooting done.

While you had it in the shop, did they change out the Trans fluid/filter?

Have you tried to manually shift the trans.

If you only have 1st and 2nd gear, manual says to check the 2-3 solenoid, here are the problems.

-stuck off
-loose connector
-no volt to solen
-solen o ring failure
-no pcm signal to solen


There are shift solenoids, I would check the 2-3 shift solenoid, red and yellow wires, resistance should be between 20-40 ohms

The very least, I would drop the pan, and check the electrical connectors on the 2-3 shift solendoid

Or you could buy a 2-3 shift solenoid, they are about $25 and change it yourself

Is your check engine light on, if so, what codes are displayed?

How many miles on the trans?

[Dutch_12078]

It took a truck shop in Corbin, KY about 6 hours to swap transmissions on our previous '96 Coachmen 33' Class A on an F53 chassis. They installed a Ford remanned 3 year/100,000 mile warranty tranny for $2495 plus $500 labor.

[rgatijnet1]

Paleo wrote:
bump for rebuild costs, still havent heard anything from the repair shop

Just from looking under my coach, if the shop has the facility to get the coach up in the air, it looks easier to drop the transmission in my RV than it is on a typical pick-up truck. Everything is right there and out in the open. I would say that dropping and installing the new transmission is a one day job so maybe 8 hours at $150=$1200 labor plus they will charge you full retail for the rebuilt transmission. I'm guessing that the installed cost will be $3000-$3500.
If the shop is not familiar with RV's/medium trucks, they may double the labor hours to allow for the mechanic to stumble his way through the project.

[jerseyjim]

When my tranny failed, I had a choice: The shop could rebuild what I had...or get a "re-manufactured" unit from JASPER.
"Re-manufactured", I'm told, uses no "old" parts...new ones are installed and that is the main difference between "rebuild" and "re-manufactured".
I opted for the JASPER re-manufactured.
Cost$2300 + labor = 4 grand.

[Paleo]

bump for rebuild costs, still havent heard anything from the repair shop

[Paleo]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
If it does need transmission work it is probably a typical GM 4L80E/4L85E transmission which are available all over. $1200 or so should get you a rebuilt one, plus labor to drop the old one and install the new one.

and how many hours of labor does that take on one of these rigs approximately?

[rgatijnet1]

If it does need transmission work it is probably a typical GM 4L80E/4L85E transmission which are available all over. $1200 or so should get you a rebuilt one, plus labor to drop the old one and install the new one.

[Paleo]

Great, thanks for the replies, so teh fact that it drives normally other than this "hiccup" is maybe an indication that its something other than a major transmission failure I guess? Sorry, I'm really new to RV's but I'm a pessimist by nature so my first thought is that its the worst case scenario, lol.


anyone ever had to pay to have a rebuild btw, just in case it is that bad?

[okhmbldr]

Possibly a bad shift solenoid. Easy to replace.

[Fishbreath]

I would have your mechanic pull the transmission pan and inspect the pick up tube/trans filter. Sounds like stuff might be getting sucked up into the pickup and clogging. When it is shut off, the obstruction might be falling back into the pan.

Just a thought.

Good luck

[gbopp]

My first question would be, when was the transmission fluid changed?

I have a 96 Southwind on the P30 chassis. I've never had a transmission problem.
My AutoPark sometimes acts a little funny. Especially when it's cold.
It takes it's time releasing.
Other than that, no problems.