Hi Scotty, I live your channel. I've watched your videos for years. I have a question about my truck. It's a 1994 Ford Ranger XL 2.3L automatic 2WD. It has 104,000 original miles. Motor runs great, no rust at all. I just bought it about 1500 miles ago. Transmission started slipping a couple weeks ago and has since been parked. What do you recommend? Is it worth repairing and what's the best route to go?
Transmission started slipping
1st of all, you need to check it. Transmissions don't usually fail at 100k miles.
Is there enough fluid in it? What does the fluid look like? Do you know the service history?
The fluid & filter should be changed roughly every 60k miles.
Is it worth repairing
If it has failed, then the answer is usually no. Usually what happens with repairs, is that you pay a lot of money for them to take the transmission out, repair the part, put it back together, mount it back in the car, and it works for a while and then a month later it fails again. If the transmission needs to come out, you replace the whole unit.
Take it to a competent and trustworthy transmission expert. They're hard to come by, so make sure you get a referral from someone you trust. Let him look at it. If it has to come out, then get a quote for replacement ($3k - $5k) , find out how much your truck is worth, and then decide if it's worth spending that much money on it.
Also don't forget to read the transmission page in our FAQ.
