Hi all,
had my annual service on my auto gearbox this week and was told that it needs a full recondition which will cost me $1800-$2300 parts and labour, the lot, with a 3 year warranty.
Anyone done this on their EL 5L? what does this cost sounds like? too much or good deal?
Am I better off just ditching this one alltogether and putting in a new stronger gearbox?
What would this then cost and what would I be looking for?
Plan to keep the car for a while and upgrade the engine with regards to cam, heads, tb, rockers, etc.
thanks.

The auto's will handle a lot of power is done correctly. Get them to fit an adjustable S5 solenoid from an AU trans while they are doing the recon, that will lengthen the lift and make the shifts nice and firm. Also fit a big cooler to it, the factory cooler if you have one isn't that great. They will also be replacing the torque convertor so it may be an idea to pay a little extra and get them to fit a good quality 2500rpm stall, that will make acceleration much better.

Last edited by EDXR8 on Sat Sep 10, 2005 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

el, try cal Joe on 9600-6229 in Liverpool in Sydney as he deals with a fantastic auto rebuilder currently and wouldnt cost you the earth either.

Last one he got sone was for a 180+rwkw au turbo and its going hard as ever with a stally as well.

thanks edxr8 & fuzion,
what do you think the cost would be to add the 2500rpm stally?
just reco my box, add the stally, soleniod, cooler, and I should be right?

From memory a stock recon stall is about $250-300 while a 2500rpm stall is around $500. And yes a reco box, stall, soleniod and cooler and you will be set, just shop around and make sure the mechanic uses good quality parts and replaces everything, some save money by not replacing little things which don't absolutly need to be replaced but can cause issues later on.

well my auto box was rebuilt just before I got my car & it costed the previous owner $1500 as he had good conections.

why did they say that your auto needs to be reconed
did you notice any faults with it
or are they just trying to rip you off

yep...get a stally and a shift kit....ive got a 2000rpm stall....it was in the car wen i got it...if i had my way it wouldve been a 2500 or 3000rpm stall...oh well...DEFINATELY get a shift kit..they are fun...

Wouldn't recommend going any higher than 2500 for a few reasons, firstly the EEC tends to drop into limp home mode with anything greater than 2500rpm and also the 5L has tons of low down torque, going too high on the stalll may actually loose you time unless you have other mods such as heads/intake to give you a lot more up high.

Just to add, the move from the factory stock 2200rpm stall to an aftermarket 2500rpm stall doesn't seem much but in addition to the 300rpm increase (which does help a great deal), the factory convertor is fairly sloppy to make the shifts nice and smooth. Aftermarket convertors from my experience are much firmer and give a great overall feel. Add a 2500rpm stall to some decent diff gears and have a lot of fun.