Trans Valve Body Rebuild Kits; 2016 2.5

[i86hotdogs]

One of the plaguing issues with the Transit Connect is the transmission. Countless stories of transmissions biting the dust at or around 100k miles. We’ve all read about it. I’ve even been a victim of my van’s trans acting up. This ultimately led to the retirement of the van from racing competition.

 

That was 4 years ago. Van still runs and has 190k miles. Every now & then, with no consistent factors or patterns, transmission will act up and give me troubles. Never once has it left me stranded. But it left me limping to my destination one way or another. Sometimes, if I cycle power on the car, I’m able to get by.

 

It’s a ticking time bomb at this point. One of these days the van won’t recover. It’s one of those scenarios where I can’t front the $3k—$5k for a new transmission. It would be more reasonable to drive it until it dies then pick up some cheap shitbox or finance a used car with a low payment.

Until I came across these kits in the attached photos. 

 

Apologies if the photos are not in order or they don’t work. I’m posting off my phone for the first time. These kits claim to restore functionality in the transmission. They claim to rectify the shift issues (have those), the ratio codes (have those), and other trans issues (have those).

 

This isn’t a full rebuild kit. This doesn’t include clutch packs or bushings. These kits also claim the transmission does not need to be dropped to perform this repair. It’s basically a bunch of components to rebuild the solenoid/valve body. Which makes sense when I think about what may be causing my sporatic drivability issues. This also may not fully repair my issues. It may need a full rebuild, especially knowing that I used to beat on this van for racing. But a $200 repair kit is a much more approachable option to start.

 

I like to think I’m a 7/10 wrencher. I can do most of anything depending on resources, tools, time, and money. I’ve pulled motors and dropped trans before. But I’ve never messed with anything internal in auto trans. Trying to figure out if this is within my scope of work.

 

if anyone has experience using kits like these for these vans or other applications, I’d love to learn more.

[G B L]

Have you ever done a Scan? were there any codes? After it acts up does it go back to normal ? If it does it sounds  like it could have solenoid issues.  What does the fluid look like?

[i86hotdogs]

On 4/14/2025 at 8:53 AM, G B L said:

Have you ever done a Scan? were there any codes? After it acts up does it go back to normal ? If it does it sounds  like it could have solenoid issues.  What does the fluid look like?

 

There were codes, for the life of me I can't remember what they were. They're stored in my scan tool, so I'll look those up when I get my hands on it.

 

When the issue happens, it's sporadic. Light driving/aggressive driving, morning/noon/night, hot weather/cold weather. No correlation with the issues. Which means it also sporadically returns to normal operating condition.

 

Example: I have a 25 minute work commute; half side streets and half highways. The van would start slipping, missing shift or lurching at a random time. The "transmission fault" light pops on. The issues would either remain until I get to my destination, or would simply go away. Cycling power to the vehicle will reset the fault light, but wont necessarily rectify the issue. I can go weeks without it acting up, or I can't get down the block before it starts acting up again.

 

Fluid is always dark when I inspect it. But that seems to be normal with these, even in healthy transmissions. No glitter or anything out of the ordinary.

[G B L]

Sorry for being Lax. The codes should tell something.  With that many miles checking the harness connection to the trans for corrosion could help .

As for the fluid I changed mine to Triax universal  at 35000 and now the out going fluid at 30000 mile increments it still very red.  It  sounds electrical .  If your scan tool allows a shift relear could be done.  Waiting for the next up date!  You are also allowed to be lax.