My 1987 4Runner tranny has bad whines on 1st, 3rd, and 5th gears and getting worse. It appears time for a rebuilt tranny or rebuild mine.

What are your thoughts on Marlin's W56-B tranny? Good, Tough, and reliable? Is It worth $1269 and another $150 for the bell housing?

What is a fair price for a rebuilt W56-B? What is a fair price to get mine rebuilt?

In case anyone has a shop that they can recommend, I am in the San Jose CA area.

 

I am in the same boat as you....

Can you just use the same bellhousing from your current tranny?....doesn'tmarlin let you order with or without?

 

I think I can, but I've never done a tranny before so I don't know if he bell housing needs to be replaced or not.

One tranny shop (good reviews on Yelp) here in San Jose will sell a rebuilt tranny for $1100 plus replace the entire clutch assembly and flywheel for $2100 total. 1yr/12K mile warranty.

Another Toyota dismantler shop here sells a rebuilt tranny for $700 + $400 labor. Add another $400 for clutch and flywheel and labor. Total for this place is $1500. 3 month/3K mile warranty.

An out of work ASE mechanic is charging me $500 labor plus the cost of parts to rebuild my tranny, and install a new clutch and flywheel. This will not come with a warranty.

Thoughts?

 

Not trying to be rude but how can you guys justify dumping 1-2 thousand dollars into a rebuilt tranny when you could pick up a used one for next to nothing?

 

Because a rebuilt transmission comes with piece of mind that it will work for another 250,000 miles. A used transmission might last a week, or it might last for the rest of the trucks life.

 

I agree that used tranny's are cheap in comparison to rebuilds or paying labor and parts for a rebuild. I saw a t-case and tranny for $300. Sure the seller was stating that everything was 'great' before he took it off, but other than putting my trust in his word, how can anyone actually know how good/reliable a used tranny is?

That is my dilemma. Buy used and hope it works and is reliable for a long time, or buy rebuilt and get a warranty.

Believe me, I would prefer not to spend the 1-2K if I didn't have to.

 

Peace of mind indeed.....I bought my current tranny as a rebuilt unit four years and twenty thousand miles ago and it is now starting to crap out. Yes, twenty thousand miles....I'm pissed. I spent the money at the time for peace of mind plus I wasn't that accomplished at working on my truck at the time.

Now, I'm thinking of getting a Marlin tranny and doing this myself. Never done a clutch or tranny but think I can handle it now.

I asked a local mechanic what it would cost to install and he said five hours labor, or about six hundred bucks. that is with no clutch.

Keep me posted about what you do, since you are local to me, and seem to be in the same predicament as me :/

Good luck

 

GO WITH THE MARLIN UNIT...... if you can do the install yourself may save some money, but cant justify spending 1000 plus for a basic rebuild when you can get a marlin ready to go with quality parts.