Auto Transmission Upgrade

[NP1976]

Decided that I am going to have my Paj until she falls apart. With that in mind I am looking at doing either an ECU remap or Chip upgrade and 2.5" exhaust as I will be doing some towing in the near future over some rough tracks and on the beach. I didn't want the transmission to be the weakest link (it is just a standard factory transmission) so bit the bullet and contacted Wholesale Automatic Transmissions.

I can't take mine off the road for the time it would take to do the remanufacture of the transmission (including nomad valve body and upgraded torque converter). I purchased another transmission in Victoria and sent it to Wholesale Autos to be remanufactured. The transmission will then be sent to Kennedy Automatics in Mackay QLD where it will be swapped out for mine (Which I will then sell).

The exercise is costing me a small fortune (which explains the opening comment) so I hope it all goes to plan. When I spoke to Kennedy's in Mackay (Who have been around for donkeys years) they gave Wholesale Autos a really good wrap. I will update once it has been installed in the next couple of weeks.

[Terryo]

To put your mind at rest you won't find better people to deal with. Never been there in person but they did my transmision and all communication was done over the phone and by email.

[NP1976]

Wholesale Auto

To put your mind at rest you won't find better people to deal with. Never been there in person but they did my transmision and all communication was done over the phone and by email.

Hi Terryo,

I agree everything so far has gone smothly. All communication has been met with prompt reply and nothing seems to be too much trouble. My fingers are crossed this is the case for the entire change over.

Cheers

[Nab]

Make sure they weld the little pin in place. Not sure which one but a few on this forum have had the pin come loose and bugger up the gear teeth (or similar). If it lets go you need new gear box cogs but you can’t get new gear box cogs so need to find some at a wrecker, like rocking horse poo though.

Thats my lamens explanation, search on here for more info...

[kiwi1973]

Can you expand on what is being done in terms of remanufacture, aside from the valve body and torque converter? Are they strengthening anything internally? I presume they have given an indication they are confident in achieving the durability/reliability levels you seek, or there wouldn't be much point to the exercise.

I concur with paying particular attention to the pins that retain the planetary gears, however there is debate among gearbox specialists as to how best deal with them. Some don't like welding for concern that the heat will weaken the structure of the box. Others pein them in. I'm not sure what is best but just throw this out there for your consideration.

Do you mind giving an indication of the expected cost?

[gaz1]

A little off topic, but I do wonder about the often mentioned idea that new parts are not available for these boxes. Somewhere in consumer law there is (or at least used to be) a requirement that parts for major purchases (such as a car) should be available for 10 years after the date of purchase. Now although these particular Gen 3 vehicles are well past that age, the transmission under discussion was continued through (in petrol engined vehicles at least) until the NT model, that is well within the 10 year deadline. Maybe saying they are no longer available is just the quick and easy way out for some repairers (most?). Avoids them going through the laborious searching and obtaining of parts that are not in high level demand.

Update: I've checked on current Australian Consumer Law, and it requires that spare parts be available for 'a reasonable period of time' after the purchase. In the official commentary on that clause, it is stated that where the purchase involves a motor vehicle, a reasonable expectation would be that parts should be available for "many years" after its original purchase.

[Terryo]

Mine was one of the worst they had seen and I had already been told by another repairer that it couldn't be repaired. It failed at 376K with no unusual symptoms before it let go at 100km/h. I had only had a service done on it a couple of weeks before it let go and they said it didn't have any water or bits of metal in it. It had been regularly serviced up until then.

Cost $5895 for the rebuild including return shipping and a drum of oil. It would have been about $900 cheaper if I hadn't got the heavy duty valve body and torque converter.
All parts replaced were new so must be still available.

When I was speaking to them about what they would do they said they would weld the pins as that is what causes most of the failures they see with these gearboxes. Welded gearset mentioned on the invoice. Said it will now outlast the rest of the Pajero.

From memory it was about $600 to remove the gearbox and $800 to reinstall it. I also bought a transmission temperature guage which was installed at the same time along with transmission and diff breathers I had for a while but hadn't got round to fitting.

I would definatly get a transmission temp guage fitted if you don't already have one.

It was 1 day short of 11 weeks from when it broke to when I got it back on the road. Wasn't all Wholesale Auto's fault with the lenght of time it took and they were fairly close to the estimated time to do it. There was something like 20 gearboxes and 10 cars in the yard ahead of mine. 6 of them were the same as mine. I told them I would prefer a good job rather than a fast job.

They have recommended service people around the country that they reccomend for services if you don't live near them. First service I had at their reccommended agent after the rebuild was $100 cheaper than another quote and the last service I had before it broke. Although they were 70 km away.

Terry

[NP1976]

Can you expand on what is being done in terms of remanufacture, aside from the valve body and torque converter? Are they strengthening anything internally? I presume they have given an indication they are confident in achieving the durability/reliability levels you seek, or there wouldn't be much point to the exercise.

I concur with paying particular attention to the pins that retain the planetary gears, however there is debate among gearbox specialists as to how best deal with them. Some don't like welding for concern that the heat will weaken the structure of the box. Others pein them in. I'm not sure what is best but just throw this out there for your consideration.

Do you mind giving an indication of the expected cost?

Hi Kiwi 1973,

Below is what was on the invoice.

Overhaul Automatic Transmission V5A51 ( Customer supplied )
Overhaul Torque Convertor ( Upgraded Lock-up apply plate )
Nomad Valve Body Upgrade
Weld Planet Set pinion shafts
Strip and clean transmission
Replace all gaskets seals and O-rings
Replace all damaged worn and broken parts
Replace all clutches and bands if applicable
Adjust all clearances and endfloats
Reassemble transmission
1 4,780.00 4,780.00
Shipping-Handling:FREIGHT-NQX-ROAD
Road Express Freight via NQX Toll Group.
Tracking via www.tollgroup.com
1 395.00 395.00
WARRANTY12
WARRANTY:
Transmission & Torque Convertor 12 months Unlimited klms
No warranty will apply to any parts used in competition vehicles, or any off road events.
Repairs & replacements under this warranty are subject to these conditions: whether the
parts are repaired or replaced is at the option of Wholesale Auto's. All claims must be
returned to Wholesale at the customers expense, and must be prepaid or goods will not
be accepted. This warranty does not cover removal or refitting expenses, loss of vehicle
use, time inconvenience, tow or recovery or any other damages, these costs are the
customers. Goods must be returned to Wholesale before any claim will be processed.

[NP1976]

Mine was one of the worst they had seen and I had already been told by another repairer that it couldn't be repaired. It failed at 376K with no unusual symptoms before it let go at 100km/h. I had only had a service done on it a couple of weeks before it let go and they said it didn't have any water or bits of metal in it. It had been regularly serviced up until then.

Cost $5895 for the rebuild including return shipping and a drum of oil. It would have been about $900 cheaper if I hadn't got the heavy duty valve body and torque converter.
All parts replaced were new so must be still available.

When I was speaking to them about what they would do they said they would weld the pins as that is what causes most of the failures they see with these gearboxes. Welded gearset mentioned on the invoice. Said it will now outlast the rest of the Pajero.

From memory it was about $600 to remove the gearbox and $800 to reinstall it. I also bought a transmission temperature guage which was installed at the same time along with transmission and diff breathers I had for a while but hadn't got round to fitting.

I would definatly get a transmission temp guage fitted if you don't already have one.

It was 1 day short of 11 weeks from when it broke to when I got it back on the road. Wasn't all Wholesale Auto's fault with the lenght of time it took and they were fairly close to the estimated time to do it. There was something like 20 gearboxes and 10 cars in the yard ahead of mine. 6 of them were the same as mine. I told them I would prefer a good job rather than a fast job.

They have recommended service people around the country that they reccomend for services if you don't live near them. First service I had at their reccommended agent after the rebuild was $100 cheaper than another quote and the last service I had before it broke. Although they were 70 km away.

Terry

Hi Terry,

I am in a unique situation in that there is nothing wrong with my box, I just want to make it more reliable for when I do the ECU remap. Some of the places that I get to are very remote and quite costly to be recovered from. I was considering just doing the valve body/TC upgrade however, if the box is coming out anyway I thought I may as well go the whole hog. With that in mind I saved down time by purchasing another box at All Toyo Parts not far from Wholesale Autos and had it delivered. In all the vehicle should only be off the road for two days. The re manufactured box is sitting at the installers waiting and will be fitted on the 30 of August. Can’t wait to see what the difference is.

[Phil]

Interested to hear how it performs.
I've also thought about keeping the NP for a long time, the auto and ECU is on the list.

[NP1976]

Transmission fitted

Well the transmission was fitted at the end of last week in Mackay. I have not had the chance to tow anything with it yet, that will come in the next couple of weeks. After picking it up and driving it home I could tell right away the gear changes are quicker and there is no lagging between the change. I drove out to work on Sunday (two hour drive over the range) and you can really feel the difference in the torque converter, does not labour as much up the range and there is more power in reserve than there used to be. Got to work and topped up the fuel and noticed that is seems to be down in consumption by approx 1.5 litres per 100klm (think it will be better than that drove into a strong head wind most of the way). Will keep you posted once I get a chance to drive it a little more and have a play. So far very happy with the product and the service at both Auto Wholesalers and Kennedy's Auto's.

[Terryo]

Get it out into some steep country, low range first gear you will also notice a big difference. You will now have engine braking it just won't run away. Just done 30K since mine was done, still happy.

Terry

[conquistador]

A little off topic, but I do wonder about the often mentioned idea that new parts are not available for these boxes. Somewhere in consumer law there is (or at least used to be) a requirement that parts for major purchases (such as a car) should be available for 10 years after the date of purchase. Now although these particular Gen 3 vehicles are well past that age, the transmission under discussion was continued through (in petrol engined vehicles at least) until the NT model, that is well within the 10 year deadline. Maybe saying they are no longer available is just the quick and easy way out for some repairers (most?). Avoids them going through the laborious searching and obtaining of parts that are not in high level demand.

Update: I've checked on current Australian Consumer Law, and it requires that spare parts be available for 'a reasonable period of time' after the purchase. In the official commentary on that clause, it is stated that where the purchase involves a motor vehicle, a reasonable expectation would be that parts should be available for "many years" after its original purchase.

I think the Triton may still use the 5speed Jatco that was in the Pajero up to the intro of the NT.

[NP1976]

ECU Remap

Interested to hear how it performs.
I've also thought about keeping the NP for a long time, the auto and ECU is on the list.

I have just spoken to a firend that is in Brisbane who does ECU remapping. He is getting me a price to do the NP. He tells me that all the maps are pre programed in Italy and the settings are all still within the OEM safe specs. He said that you can alter them to get more power however you run the risk of doing damage (He recommends sticking with the safe remap).

He has done a lot of other vehicles and has had experience with performance chips in the past, he said that you will get much better results from the remap vs a plug and play chip. Watch this space.

[Gerbs]

Ask him if he can program the transmission computer (if it has one) or adjust the torque converter lockup parameters