96 Riv Transmission

Well found another Supercharged Riv here for sale that has a freshly rebuilt motor then a week later the transmission by what the owner says, quit working..

Here is the description of why he says it failed:

Quote :

during the years of 96-00 gm made this transmission with faulty gaskets the channel and case gasket to be exact and they get brittle and blow fluid passages and the fluid is routed out the ent tube in the top of the casing

Now I am no genius at transmission. I can do filter/fluid changes, even change some solenoids or modules. So thought I would ask here and see if anybody might have an idea if that sounds right.


On kind of the same topic. what would some of you guys pay for a good condition 96 Supercharged Riv with a new rebuilt motor but a bad transmission?

Thanks!

In my experiences these transmissions are reliable until you put a lot of HP through them, OR have a pressure control solenoid get stuck, which seems to be the most frequent cause of death. I've never heard of internal gasket issues.

Boy, a lot of this is in the "who knows?" category.

What would I pay? Even in perfect running condition not that much, it's a 12-year old American car.

I would more expect that the seller may have busted the output shaft on that Riv.

You can get a rebuilt transmission for $1,300 or so. Then you have to put it in. See:

http://www.tomsrivertransmissions.com/id5.html

but I don't have any recommendations or warnings for you as to the quality of what they offer.

Good luck

Albertj

Thanks,

The original thread is geared more towards the tranny issue. The value was just thrown in since it falls into the same topic.

Just thought some of you guys would know as I am not extremely familiar with the Rivs.

Also, not sure what context you ment to use Boy in but in the way it's used in the above post it comes across very disrespectful.

Well here is what the seller said what I asked if the transmission even shifts anymore

He said:

Quote :

if you were to put enough fluid in it you could drive it but the problem is that the gasket is blocking the fluid path and its pumping all the fluid straight out the vent tube in the top of the casing i have no idea about transmission internals i really dont this is just what i have read on a gm tech site about this tranny it seems to be a easy gasket swap but once again i have no idea about the internals its a 4t65e hd

Anybody have or heard of this problem?

Thanks!

Bushytea wrote:

Well here is what the seller said what I asked if the transmission even shifts anymore

He said:

Quote :

if you were to put enough fluid in it you could drive it but the problem is that the gasket is blocking the fluid path and its pumping all the fluid straight out the vent tube in the top of the casing i have no idea about transmission internals i really dont this is just what i have read on a gm tech site about this tranny it seems to be a easy gasket swap but once again i have no idea about the internals its a 4t65e hd

Anybody have or heard of this problem?

Thanks!

if he claims its a 96 with a 4T65E, then he is off somewhere. The 97-99 had the 4T65E. The 95-96 had the 4T60E. One difference is the earlier model is vacuum controlled while the later electronically controlled.

Sorry, 'Boy' meant as a polite expletive not a perjorative. "Gee" or "Wow" would substitute. Thanks for letting me know in a direct way how my writing might be perceived. And a further note - This is a generally polite and orderly list. If it was thought I meant anything else, several of the other list members would have handed me my head by now - it does not take them long - or at least jumped down my throat and tap danced on my tonsils... Thank goodness this community has some sort of decorum - although "law of large numbers" definitely applies and we do have some behavioral outliers... You'll find them as you look around.

anyway...

As for the transmission, unless I was prepared to do a complete teardown and rebuild I'd assume it's scrap - well how about a little more detail... what might be up here? Here is my reasoning (like most advice, probly worth what you are paying for it)...

- seller tried to repair or modify tranny him/herself and used wrong parts, does not want to tear back down and use right parts because he/she is hunching that they busted something... if it was a tranny-shop rebuild seller would have made them get it right most likely and the car would not be up for sale - unless seller got tired of the low city gas mileage or some such. On the highway these cars get great mileage but in city driving you might want an umbilical cord to attach it to a gas station that you own or at least really, really like...

- something 'grenaded' in the transmission and seller has made up a story. I feel a bit uncomfortable about writing this because I do not want to falesly accuse; on the other hand I think in the years this editboard's been running you're the first to talk about a 4t6xx transmission wizzing fluid out the vent tube like the Brussels Boy (fountain in Brussels, Belgium with staute of naked and anatomically correct boy urinating). I've just never heard of that. Thinking about it - you just might want to ask a dealer service tech if you know any.

I suspect that what the seller is betting on - if the car is nice looking - is that a mechanic who wants one of these Rivs might buy it for his own rebuild and use. In which case they might be willing to pay more for it than a junkyard. Seller has no doubt discovered that although the car has devotees it does NOT mean an inoperable one will sell readily or even at all.

As for pricing - a more direct answer - try using the guide on http://www.edmunds.com, to get some idea of price, or if you deal with a local bank or credity union call their loan desk and ask what the NADA figures are - or put differently, what might they loan taking this car as collateral? That amount is a starting point for reckoning what the car is worth. Subtract the repairs from that. Don't be surprised if the result is a very low or even negative number.

Albertj