It depends on how well you take care of the car and a little luck. I push 420hp with over 550 ft/lb of torque through a stock trans and as of yet have had no problems. I fully expect to though as these transaxles are only rated at 280 ft/lb of torque and you do that from the factory.

JBWalt: Just stick with your car. They are workhorses, and seem to last forever when taken care of.


-justin

Haha no doubt about that justin...My '90 SSE has 147XXX miles on it, and mechanically the car is perfect. No trans issues, no engine issues. The only thing it needs as of right now is a tune up and a new serpentine belt, and a new cat. Its been in my family since it was brand new, WELL taken care of by my stepdad. The issues I am having with it are mostly electrical. I don't want to get too far off topic here, but the entire DIC had to be disconnected becasue the interior lights wouldnt shut off after the doors were closed, and the car was eating batteries as a result. Of course, the dealership couldn't figure out why. Their solution? Disconnect the whole damn DIC/Compass system. Light problem solved, at the expense of knowing whats going on with the car . On top of this, somthing is wrong with the ABS system....its on ALL the time. Whenever you push the brakes, it activates and makes the car stop very erratically. I've gotten used to it so I know what to expect, so its not a huge safety issue for me anymore....but to replace the part thats messed up (forgive me, I don't remember what it is), the dealership quoted my stepdad some outrageous price, along the lines of $2000+ to fix it. Not worth it to him, so he gave the car to me. That, and it needs new paint (no body rust at all, but it still looks like crap), the brake lights short out all the time....its just money I don't have right now, and I'm afraid its only going to get worse before it gets better. Of course, I want to stay in the Bonneville realm, so I wanted to upgrade to a newer model; something reliable and nice looking, that I can cart the wife and baby around in

The trans issue is shaking my confidance slightly though...

I think you're safe. The 87-91 Bonnevilles are much more likely to have transmission issues than the 65E. The 60 E does seem to be the most reliable of all three transmissions though. I think you'd be safe. my 97 Riviera had the 65E-HD and even at 120,000 miles it still shifted perfectly. As long as you drive it nicely and don't do WOT a lot, or jackrabitt starts you should be good to go.

What seems to be the problem here?

I know, I know.

You're gonna need a way bigger magnet.

Sorry.

well..it'* official....the car is running again!

Goodwrench rebuilt tranny.....couple hours of TLC.....and i'm back on the road!

Now lets pray I don't have to use my 3 year/100,000 mile warranty!

So did they tell you the problem or just replace the trans?

haven't sent the old tranny in yet.....will be really interesting to find out what it was.

FOr the record the 65E compared to the 65E-HD is virtually no difference other than the gear ratio / torque converter size and weight / and the differential. Other than that, SAME thing.

The problem isn't that these transmissions are bad designs and are garbage, the problem is that they pull SOOO much weight with a LOT of torque going through them (Modified L67'*) with high shock load.

Beating on your car will cause it to fail. Putting a lot of power though a high milage 65E will cause it to eventually fail. The type of failure varies. You generally break a hard part if you beat on it, and if it is just a lot of power and you take care of it you will probably burn up clutches or spin the 4th clutch hub shaft first before a hard part snaps.

It is the name of the game.. I do however have a 94' mercury tracer (Ford escort basically) with 170,000+ miles on it with a stock transmission that I BEAT on that has never skipped a beat... why? Because the car LITTERALLY weighs 50% of the total weight of a 2000+ Bonneville.

'Luxury' has a price folks.