727 Tranny Trashed-Opinions

[RAMJeep]

Hello Everyone!

I have been hanging around here reading posts for over a year and never really had a reason to register and post. Well, now I do.

I have an 81 Wagoneer with a 360/727 and on New Years day the thing stopped moving in the middle of the road. I bought the Wag in '96 with 86,000 miles on it and the front pump seal went out shortly thereafter. Had the tranny rebuilt by a "reputable" shop then. I have driven it probably 8,000 miles since then at the max.

Pulled the pan yesterday and apparently the rear band is trash as there is 1/8 to 1/4 inch of "red" material in the pan and the rear band adjustment arm is just hanging free.

My question is what to do? I have $2500 already in the Jeep. It just serves as a third vehicle and a "toy". However, I am partial to it somewhat.

Should I;

1. Sell it as is and get nothing for it.
2. Pull the tranny and take it to a rebuilder
3. Pull the tranny and rebuild myself
4. Find a manual tranny and change it out

Thanks in advance for your advice / opinions! :confused:

[tuckers89GW]

was there any warranty? I'm sure time would have probably run out. I would definatly call them. If they are out of buisness for problems similar, get ahold of better buisness bearu and if there were complaints against them.

otherwise rebuild and keep the 727. It is a good tranny. If you take is somewhere make sure they have a good warranty.

Oh Welcome to the forum.

[ January 17, 2002: Message edited by: tuckers89GW ]

[rigger]

i am on my second one as well i bought a donner cherokee for 500$ and it has worked well i now have no need for auto wreckers for other parts i have needed as doner is just that i am allso rebuilding my 727 in the basment it seems fairly easy (i have yet to put it back to gether though just my thoughts not your's

[Sgt. Dave]

727's are about as tough as any automatic on the planet. They will take unbelievable abuse and keep going. Go back on your "reliable" rebuilder. They didn't do their job.

[Ralph]

Just the other day I finished rebuilding a donor transmission I got from Narnian. Here's what I spent:

$ 43.72 Training Video from SpeedDirect.com
74.99 Rebuild Kit from A'Zone (shop cost)
90.00 Rebuilt Lock-Up Torque Converter
20.00 Used Reverse Drum
16.68 Kevlar Reverse Band
24.93 Washer/Shim Kit from NAPA
_______
$270.32

The AutoZone rebuild kit didn't have the correct front pump seal, so I had to give them the original one and they exchanged it. I only needed one shim from the NAPA kit because I broke one, I didn't use the remaining washers, shims and bushings from this kit.

Also, I got the torque converter because it seemed like a good idea, not because it was necessary. The video recommended it because it's a sealed unit; you can't see inside it to tell if anything's wrong or not.

I'll be rebuilding another one as soon as I swap this one into my J10. I expect to buy just the Rebuild Kit and new Reverse Band for the next job; I'll leave it to Narnian if he wants to get another torque converter.

[RAMJeep]

How long did it take you Ralph?

[Ralph]

The transmission was already removed from Narnian's Jeep, so I didn't have to go through that. I think the actual hands-on work took about 8 hours, but that's because I kept rewinding the video to make sure of a couple of things. I didn't do it all at once, but rather pieced it together in the course of a few evenings this past week.