Technical question about failed transmission - advice needed....

[Protege5-driver]

OK, I'm quite new here, sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong part of the forum.

I have a 2002 protege5, auto transmission, with 190k on it, that had been running smoothly for all this time. Then, couple weeks ago, I was driving on the highway, all of a sudden my engine revved up to red zone, and the "driving power" (what's the proper term for it?) disappeared. as if the car suddenly went to neutral. I tried switching to neutral then back to drive, but same story. During the manipulations with the gears I have discovered, that the car shifts to second, then third, and then this stuff happens. like instead of going to fourth gear it goes to neutral.

I went to the mechanic, I know for a while. He said that to rebuild a tranny with a 190k on it is a bad idea, and said that a used replacement is like $1200 (work included), but only 3 months warranty on the part

My dad, on the other hand, came up with some guy, who says he specializes on tranny issues, and claims that he can rebuild mine for the same price, and, claimed that it is designed to run for like 300k. I still have to call him and ask if there is any warranty on that....

My question is - what should I do? The tranny my mechanic offers has like 73k on it, but I frankly forgot to ask about it's origin....

Or, should I go for trying to rebuild?

Or should I work with my mechanic, to establish the origin and condition of this replacement tranny, because, if my Japanese thing went for 190k w\o a problem, then, if this replacement is Japanese it can also go for this long, and screw the warranty?

And, out of curiosity - what the heck could have happened? all good, then, all of a sudden, oops - no more fourth gear


Thanks everyone!

 

[SmilesPerGallon]

Option 3: Take the car to a reputable transmission shop for a proper diagnosis. The tranny might be toast, or it could be something relatively cheap and simple like a bad solenoid or electrical connection. Does the O/D OFF indicator flash when this happens?

EDIT:

Also, $1200 to rebuild a 4-speed automatic is a half to a third of what a good transmission shop would charge. A bad planetary gearset alone could run you $1500 or more just for the part. I'd be suspicious of the guy with the lowball price, as he's likely to cut as many corners as possible (cheap/low quality replacement parts) in order to make any profit at all. I think for the same money, swapping in a good used 73k transmission in original/unmolested condition is probably a better bet.

 

[hotcracker69]

were you pretty up to date with the fluid change in the tranny?

 

[Protege5-driver]

were you pretty up to date with the fluid change in the tranny?

Well...not quite. In fact, the car was not driven much (almost standing) for most of the end of 2013\start of 2014 (I was in the hospital, fixing myself from a bad skiing accident). And I haven't changed tranny fluid for well...a while, even before that. But I highly doubt that a simple fluid change can fix it, and I'm not willing to waste a bunch of money on tranny fluid change, unless someone who really knows what they are doing assures me that it can fix the problem.

Option 3: Take the car to a reputable transmission shop for a proper diagnosis. The tranny might be toast, or it could be something relatively cheap and simple like a bad solenoid or electrical connection. Does the O/D OFF indicator flash when this happens?

EDIT:

Also, $1200 to rebuild a 4-speed automatic is a half to a third of what a good transmission shop would charge. A bad planetary gearset alone could run you $1500 or more just for the part. I'd be suspicious of the guy with the lowball price, as he's likely to cut as many corners as possible (cheap/low quality replacement parts) in order to make any profit at all. I think for the same money, swapping in a good used 73k transmission in original/unmolested condition is probably a better bet.

Thanks a lot! No it does not flash when it happens. I am also thinking that the replacement transmission (73k) is a better bet, including the fact that I know the guy, who will do it, for a long time, and he is not the type to cut corners and do a crappy job.