worst transmisison ever

[JDub02]

i'm going to factor in application. i'd like to nominate 2.

first is the 4+3 manual+auto that chevy put in corvettes in the mid 80's. i think that this is truly the world's worst transmission. in a truck, it might be right at home, but i've never driven a vehicle, including older trucks, that shift as clunky as my dad's 85 corvette.

this is closely followed by the 42/46RH that chrysler used in the 90's in jeeps and trucks. the general consensus backed by my personal experience is that these transmissions grenade ... alot.

so what's your nomination for the worst transmission ever?

 

[Possessed Freak]

I am going with this one.

1987 Ford Aerostar, went through 7!? transmissions all of which were under warranty (each successive one failed within the warranty time of the prior). We didn't even have the V6, just the 4 banger.

 

[Gand1]

Nope nope nope....Gotta go with the piece o shit put in the 2001-2003 Volvo XC70, XC90, and S80.....garbagola!!!! Then again..I think I need to nominate Volvo for their inept ability to fix the problem in the first place and deny anything is wrong!

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Possessed Freak
I am going with this one.

1987 Ford Aerostar, went through 7!? transmissions all of which were under warranty (each successive one failed within the warranty time of the prior). We didn't even have the V6, just the 4 banger.

Huh. Same transmission gave over 200,000 miles of flawless service in my family's '91 Explorer. Either we got lucky or there were some serious refinements made between '87 and '91.

As for my own nomination, it's not the transmission so much as the linkage, but the early Porsche 914 with the "tail shift" transaxle had perhaps the vaguest shift pattern known to man. You could move the gear lever around in a big circle without ever hitting anything.

ZV

 

[sdifox]

Tercel transmission on first gen (not sure about 2nd and 2rd gen) Rav4.

 

[Squisher]

OP, what do you mean by clunky?

Most cars that I've been in that have had their trans modded for performance have had very hard up shifts. Is it possible that GM did this on purpose to increase performance?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Any mid-90s Dodge/Chrysler minivan transmission. Those were utter crap.

 

[kornphlake]

I don't know if there's any minivan that doesn't have a crappy transmission. Toyota seems to be the best of the bunch, but I've had some pretty significant emissions problems with mine, a good tranny with a POS engine isn't a winning combo. Do yourself a favor and just don't buy a mini-van, my next van will be a full size.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: kornphlake
I don't know if there's any minivan that doesn't have a crappy transmission. Toyota seems to be the best of the bunch, but I've had some pretty significant emissions problems with mine, a good tranny with a POS engine isn't a winning combo. Do yourself a favor and just don't buy a mini-van, my next van will be a full size.

I never owned one. Worked for a couple car rental companies in the mid 90s and the Dodge Caravan was one of the vehicles we rented. Get 40k miles on them and you'd literally cross your fingers that they wouldn't leave some poor family stranded out in the middle of the desert between L.A. and Vegas on any given weekend...and they frequently did.

 

[RU482]

not that it was prone to failure, but I remember my friend had a mid 80's Ford Thunderbird (long time ago, back in HS) that had the such a dead spot shifting from 2nd to 3rd. The car wasn't a Turbo coupe, but the delay was similar to waiting for a turbo to spool up.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

International Travelall '65 to '75 3 speed on the column mystery shift. The shifter linkages got so loose, the only way to tell what gear you were in was to let out the clutch and pray.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Early 80's Jeep CJ's with the Ford SR-4 tranny. Worst I've ever seen. Definitely the worst ever put in a Jeep.

Ford made some complete turds in the 80's and 90's. The E4OD was awful, as was the AXOD, and ATX, and the A4LD, which is probably the one in the Aerostar mentioned a few posts back.

GM had some bad ones also. The 700R4's and 200R4's were terrible when they came out. They did keep modifying and improving them until they're pretty solid today....the 4L60 GM uses now is just an electronically-shifted 700R4, and they hold up pretty well.
Same thing happened with Ford's E4OD...they eventually improved them to where they'd last.

On the opposite spectrum, the GM Turbo 400 is the best auto ever made.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Early 80's Jeep CJ's with the Ford SR-4 tranny. Worst I've ever seen. Definitely the worst ever put in a Jeep.

Ford made some complete turds in the 80's and 90's. The E4OD was awful, as was the AXOD, and ATX, and the A4LD, which is probably the one in the Aerostar mentioned a few posts back.

GM had some bad ones also. The 700R4's and 200R4's were terrible when they came out. They did keep modifying and improving them until they're pretty solid today....the 4L60 GM uses now is just an electronically-shifted 700R4, and they hold up pretty well.
Same thing happened with Ford's E4OD...they eventually improved them to where they'd last.

On the opposite spectrum, the GM Turbo 400 is the best auto ever made.

sorry but the 727 was the best auto ever made.

worst trans ever was the metric 200's made in the 70's.

 

[radioouman]

Chrysler 42RH was pretty bad. I had decent success with the 44 or 45RH that I had in my V8 Dakota. The late 80s early 90s a604s in the Chrysler minivans were terrible. They got better over time though.

 

[BassBomb]

My 2002 Civic transmission is the only one I have had die in my short driving history (~5 years)

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Early 80's Jeep CJ's with the Ford SR-4 tranny. Worst I've ever seen. Definitely the worst ever put in a Jeep.

Ford made some complete turds in the 80's and 90's. The E4OD was awful, as was the AXOD, and ATX, and the A4LD, which is probably the one in the Aerostar mentioned a few posts back.

GM had some bad ones also. The 700R4's and 200R4's were terrible when they came out. They did keep modifying and improving them until they're pretty solid today....the 4L60 GM uses now is just an electronically-shifted 700R4, and they hold up pretty well.
Same thing happened with Ford's E4OD...they eventually improved them to where they'd last.

On the opposite spectrum, the GM Turbo 400 is the best auto ever made.

sorry but the 727 was the best auto ever made.

worst trans ever was the metric 200's made in the 70's.

Ha, not quite. Only Mopar fans will tell you that. Turbo 400 all the way. That's why they were used so much, and why they were retrofit kits into pretty much ever domestic make, from Mopar to Ford. Even Jaguar used them. The GM 4L80E is basically a Turbo 400 with O/D, and an electric valve body. 80% of the internals are identical. No surprise that they are also very solid units.

 

[exdeath]

The T-56 is horrible. Makes me waste so much gas and makes me unable to tolerate remote mount cable shifters. It whines a lot and sounds like it's full of gravel too.

 

[Pocatello]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Any mid-90s Dodge/Chrysler minivan transmission. Those were utter crap.

Dodge/Chrysler minivans should had been sold with a spare transmission back in those days.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: kornphlake
I don't know if there's any minivan that doesn't have a crappy transmission. Toyota seems to be the best of the bunch, but I've had some pretty significant emissions problems with mine, a good tranny with a POS engine isn't a winning combo. Do yourself a favor and just don't buy a mini-van, my next van will be a full size.

I have 88k on my mpv's transmission, first 15k of its life spent as a fleet. It's always had a tiny bit more of a clunk than it should going from 1st to second but otherwise no issues yet.

BTW can I nominate the Genesis transmission with its torque-saving throttle-override? Someone had to.

 

[potato28]

I'm gonna have to say the AXOD from Ford is really bad. Damn thing shifts sloppy and slow, but once its in gear it goes ok.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Any mid-90s Dodge/Chrysler minivan transmission. Those were utter crap.

Yeah they were. Even into the late 90s. Plastic gears or something dumb. But they learned at least and the ones after that were OK.

I think one of the worst transmissions was on the Accord (forget the year range exactly). Those blew up a lot, mostly on the 6 cylinder Accords.

Another would be (I'm gonna get shot for this lol) the Nissan GT-R transmission

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Early 80's Jeep CJ's with the Ford SR-4 tranny. Worst I've ever seen. Definitely the worst ever put in a Jeep.

Ford made some complete turds in the 80's and 90's. The E4OD was awful, as was the AXOD, and ATX, and the A4LD, which is probably the one in the Aerostar mentioned a few posts back.

GM had some bad ones also. The 700R4's and 200R4's were terrible when they came out. They did keep modifying and improving them until they're pretty solid today....the 4L60 GM uses now is just an electronically-shifted 700R4, and they hold up pretty well.
Same thing happened with Ford's E4OD...they eventually improved them to where they'd last.

On the opposite spectrum, the GM Turbo 400 is the best auto ever made.

sorry but the 727 was the best auto ever made.

worst trans ever was the metric 200's made in the 70's.

Ha, not quite. Only Mopar fans will tell you that. Turbo 400 all the way. That's why they were used so much, and why they were retrofit kits into pretty much ever domestic make, from Mopar to Ford. Even Jaguar used them. The GM 4L80E is basically a Turbo 400 with O/D, and an electric valve body. 80% of the internals are identical. No surprise that they are also very solid units.

only a chevy fan would say the 4l80E is a THM 400. Its a 700 R4 derivative.

AMC used the 727 too.

727 is still the better transmission. It was the automatic for racing in the Stock and Super Stock classes.

don't forget the crappy Ford FMX.

besides, I am just messing with you.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

only a chevy fan would say the 4l80E is a THM 400. Its a 700 R4 derivative.

AMC used the 727 too.

727 is still the better transmission. It was the automatic for racing in the Stock and Super Stock classes.

don't forget the crappy Ford FMX.

besides, I am just messing with you.

I know.

Don't know if the bolded part was serious or not, but it's wrong if you were. The 4L80E is definitely a descendant of the TH400. About 75-80% of the internals are identical.

The 4L60E is the descendant of the 700R4.

And yeah, the 727 would be "the" tranny for a Mopar racing in Super Stock...since you have to run a factory tranny in those classes. Otherwise, they'd probably have been running a beefed TH350 or a Glide....less weight, and quicker. Nowadays, everyone uses a Powerglide. They had an awesome Challenger/Cuda race car on Pass Time awhile back, with an old Steve Smith Pro Stock engine in it....with a Glide.

Oh, and AMC also used the TH400.


Most info I've ever heard and read indicates the TH400 is better than a 727....not that the 727 isn't a great trans, but just not as strong as the 400. And not as much potential. Even Mopar guys are split on this subject. Comes down to cost, and from what I've seen, a built-to-the-hilt 727 still isn't as strong as a built 400, (although it's very strong) and the 727 costs a LOT more to do so.
That said, still....most people run Glides. Maybe that makes them the best tranny. At least for drag racing.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I dunno if it's the worst ever, but the CVT in Saturn Ion Coupes from '03 to '04 had an extraordinarily high failure rate. Dealerships had a hell of a hard time keeping them running, and I believe the CVT was pulled from Ions after the '04 model year as result.

The VW DSG transmission probably deserves an honorable mention as well.

 

[Mojoed]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Any mid-90s Dodge/Chrysler minivan transmission. Those were utter crap.

Yeah they were. Even into the late 90s. Plastic gears or something dumb. But they learned at least and the ones after that were OK.

I think one of the worst transmissions was on the Accord (forget the year range exactly). Those blew up a lot, mostly on the 6 cylinder Accords.

Another would be (I'm gonna get shot for this lol) the Nissan GT-R transmission

Yeah, 1998-2002 6 cylinder Accords had pretty bad transmissions.