96" Jimmy Tranny costn me money!

O.k. bought a real clean 96 jimmy v6 4.3. Drove it and it felt fine, bought it was driving the 3 hours home when it seemed like the tranny was slipping going into 3rd, by the time i got home it was real hard to get third to catch by redlining 2nd, So figured I got screwed! Found a used tranny for 350$ with 125,000 supposed to be miles, keep in mind i am no kinda mechanic, But decided I was gonna change this tranny well 4 days to get it out and 3 to get the new one in. So its runnin good for 2-3 weeks and im going down the interstate and all the sudden going up a hill cruise control on its red lining and slowing down I had to slow down to 30 miles an hour to get a gear to catch now I only have 1st and 2nd gear again did I just buy another junk tranny? I checked the fluid it stll looks brand new and is full? P.s. I also had 2 get the cv shafts changed when i did that i went ahead and put a new pitman arm, wheel bearings, ball joints well basically a whole new front end, this truck has already costed me over what it is worth when to cut losses? I found a reman tranny for 1300$ with a 3 year warrenty? Going to hook it up to a computer thing today just to check I will chime back in wit the codes but no service engine lights are on? The truck has 150.000 miles and is in great looking shape? HEEELP?? I'm Having to sell my snowmobile now to get it fixed! Thanks and merry christmas, Mitch:banghead:

O.K. I had it put on a computer today and nothing but an o2 senser, The guy at the garage said hes heard that this year had a problem with both a ground wire to the computer and a key switch problem both of witch can cause your tranny to go out? I called around and asked a few people and noone seems to know anything about these problems. Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Mitch

Before getting the rebuilt trans, drop the pan and take a look. It it's pretty dirty, change the fluid and filter, and clean out the pan. In my experience, this helps situations like yours about one-third of the time.
Yes, its a risk, but for $50 you may avoid spending $1300.

1997 was the very bad year for the ignition switch to cause problems.

You did yourself no favor by installing a transmission with 125K miles. Way too much. The remanufactured transmission is the way to go, I'd never waste my time with a used transmission in one of these trucks. I also wouldn't waste my time with a fluid/filter change on teh current tranny. Once they slip they are gone.

I have a 95 gmc jimmy with a rebuilt 4l60e tranny. When it started slipping into 3rd then switching really hard, then lost 3rd all together, I had to replace some solenoids, I replaced the torque converter clutch pwm solenoid, the torque converter clutch solenoid, and both 1st-2nd and 2nd-3rd just to make sure one wouldn't go bad after the other. If you take the pan off and there are no or very minimal amounts of metal shavings, the tranny should be fine... Electricaladvantage.net sells all of these for a lot less than anyone else I have looked up. I am not sure which tranny you have but if it is the same, I don't know how to attach the diagram.......

So I have an update but nothing good to say! I put in a 100,000 mile used tranny. Right away it was flairing going into 3rd and 4th, Took it to GM dealership and ythey ran tests for 2 hours to tell me that all 3 transmissions have had the exact same problem. this is what they wrote, performed scan test, no codes,checked adjustments, programs and electrical,found all o.k. , has extended apply and in internal transmission...I got the transmission finished yesterday, took it straight to GM to get that back. Drove home it was still slipping, woke up this morning to go to a dr app. and it was ? lugging and not running good period and wouldnt go into 4th. Im so confused if gm cant tell me whats wrong, where do I turn? I'm not the type to sell someone peice of crap, I just want to figure this out. I've got so much invested. I;m at wits end! :disappoin

Why are you tormenting yourself by installing transmissions with so much mileage? I am sure the ones with lower mileage are alot more expensive, but there is a good reason for that. Most higher mileage units have not had any maintenance at all. 80%+ of people out there throw away cars at 100K miles because they know they did not properly maintain it and it is going to fall apart. My only advice is to NOT install anything unless it has under 50K miles and a solid warranty that would get you another transmission with the same or less mileage. To be perfectly honest, I would never buy or install a used tranny in one of these trucks because the older ones have inherent flaws that would be addressed in a new rebuild. I know that most people cannot afford $1-2K to buy a rebuilt, but look at what you have spent and how much time you have wasted and I am sure you could have gone new.

Please do not be offended by what I wrote or think I am trying to be condescending. This is the EXACT same thing I tell all my customers when they ask me to install a used engine or transmission. If/when they talk me into it, I make them sign a waiver that I offer no warranty what-so-ever on the parts or labor since you are very much likely to get a bad unit from the wreckers. Add to that the fact that most wrecking yards outright lie as to the mileage on parts you never know what you are getting.

Don't count on GM techs to always know the answer. Sadly, transmission problems can be tough to diagnose and even tougher to fix. Stay far away from chanin transmission shops too. Try to find a local hot rod shop as they should know the best (probably not thecheapest) tranny people to use that won't screw you over.