Hey guys,

My auto transmission in my SC AW11 has seriously carked it today. It started making slipping noises today after i accidentally put it into reverse whilst driving at approx 20km/h and it locked the wheels slightly and stalled. I put it into neutral and started it. Within driving 2kms the car was dropping its revs when in drive and then began to stall. Now it is practically undriveable. As soon as i put it into drive it lurches forward and then stalls, i managed to get it to the mechanic on the street i broke down on by revving it and switching between neutral and drive constantly to stop it from stalling. But they have quoted me $1300 to take the gearbox and engine out just to take a look at it.
I was under the impression that the box could be dropped out of the bottom of the car after first dropping the exhaust off. Is that right? Does anyone know reputable mechanics in Brisbane who know how to work on these cars? Cause it sounds like these guys don't know what they're doing, or are chucking it in the too hard basket and quoting some ridiculous price.

They said it could be thousands to have the box fixed, at this point should i try and source a replacement auto gearbox? Or should i try to source parts for a manual conversion? Have any of you guys done the conversion? Or should i be looking to have the current auto box looked at a transmission mechanic?

Thanks guys.

Ben

Tow & to place of choice for manual conversion.

The A241E is a hard transmission to find a replacement for and even harder to get someone who knows how to rebuild them. The specific A241E gearbox in the AW11 only came out in the AW11, despite there being a A241E for the SW20 and RAV4, neither seem to share more then a few internals with the AW11 specific version.
 
You can remove the gearbox from the car while leaving the motor in, but it is just as easy to drop the whole lot. If you want to just drop the motor and box then take it to an automatic transmission place, I suggest you give Scope a PM/Call (He's located Lowood/Fervale region) and see if he can help you out at his workshop.
 
PS: If you do go for a manual conversion, I'll take the A241E off your hands for some $$ :)

a manual conversion if your not doing it yourself woul set you back about the same as getting the auto rebuilt by a transmission shop.

getting an e51. then driveshafts to match. then shift cables. these will be the hard to find parts.

shifter. clutch lines. pedals can all come out of a local aw11 wrecking. 4agze flywheel and clutch could maybe be sort of easy to find.

the mechanic with the car has already called me and I believe them to be competent persons who try to do the jobs properly. i have a complete conversion kit.
 
comments above correct. the box can be fixed, but no local car has an identical box. its a case of bits from this and bits from that, to fix one if its really rooted. the last one i did was over $3500 just for the auto
 
they are relatively simple to get out if you have all the gear, but not a 5 minute job no matter who does them. they dont jsut fall out the bottom. the best way is to take them out with the engine as a power train.  whislt out, do all the other maintenance jobs on the engine

Thanks guys. I just needed some info. Sounds like these are a truly rare auto box. I'll wait to see what the mechanic says on Monday. I would have considered doing it myself with my brother and a few mates. I just really don't have the time.

What did the mechanic say today....are you fixing the auto or going manual??
       IF you choose to go manual,I may be able to help you out......with everything!
           Local at Dinmore 4300
  You mentioned you got quoted $1300 just to remove motor and gearbox...How much do they expect to charge to re-fit it? 
         

Ok. So i got the quote back from the mechanic. $5300 for the full manual conversion.
I would imagine that refitting it would come in around $1300 as well. I hadn't asked yet, as i was more keen on going to manual, because fixing the auto was likely going to be around the same price as a manual conversion according the previous posters.

That's a lot of money just to do a manual conversion.
 
Wouldn't you be better off selling the auto car with crook transmission and putting the sale price together with the $5300 and buy another manual AW11.  Mind you I understand how one gets attached to these cars.

It's just getting too hard to find clean and unmolested examples of these cars. Especially the Targa-Top SC model. Mine is really clean, only some little rust bubbles at the top of the windscreen, which causes a leak in heavy rain, nearly no other rust on the body. The whole car has been resprayed at some point, although could do with some touch ups and a good cut and polish. The front lip could do with a respray as most could. The interior is quite neat and tidy. The engine was fully rebuilt at 200,000 by the previous owner who owned an engine rebuilding business. It's just a great example of this classic and fun to drive car, I love it and absolutely dread the thought of selling it. I have plans for BC coilovers and a big pulley kit and piggyback ECU eventually.