2002 Liberty transmission troubles

Jehu10842 · **Posted:** Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:10 pm

My son's girlfriend has a 2002 Liberty, 5-speed manual, that started making grinding noises. After asking several questions, I finally got it isolated to the transmission. They said that it was low on fluid when it started. I guess it took somewhere between a pint and a full quart but the noise persisted.

I finally got a chance to drive it for myself. The noise is loudest in the lower gears. It totally disapears in fourth gear and starts back up in 5th gear. I figure it must be the countershaft bearings (possibly a thrust bearing). The noise isn't really that bad. It is definitely there but it's not much more than the kind of whine you hear out of old truck transmissions.

Is there a rebuild kit available for this? How difficult is it to R&R the shafts in this? I've never worked on a transaxle before. The quotes for having it rebuilt are in excess of $1500.

MiniDevil · **Posted:** Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:53 pm

I'm not exactly sure here, but 1500.00 to rebuild a manual transmission sounds way too high. I had an Acura CL with a 4 speed automatic transmission rebuilt for 2200.00 which included a new torque converter and a couple other electronics.

Jehu10842 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:56 am

Yes, $1500 is pretty much out of the question. The car isn't worth much more than that. There must be a reason that this is so expensive. I'm just trying to figure out why.

I've gone blindly into manual transmissions before and got the job done. I've just never dealt with a transaxle before. BTW... the $1,500 price was for carry-in rebuild!

jeepkj02 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:37 am

Jehu10842 wrote:

I've just never dealt with a transaxle before. BTW... the $1,500 price was for carry-in rebuild!

The Liberty isn't a transaxle. IIRC, the 5-speed on 2002, is the NV3550. Try to find a used one in the classifieds (cragslist, ebay), or your local junkyard. The TJ Wrangler also came with the same transmission.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:04 pm

Yea, it wont be hard to find that transmission for alot cheaper than that.

Was the fluid ever changed? If it was low on fluid I would say that helped to ruin some bearings.

How many miles are on it?

Jehu10842 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:57 pm

jeepkj02 wrote:

The Liberty isn't a transaxle. IIRC, the 5-speed on 2002, is the NV3550. Try to find a used one in the classifieds (cragslist, ebay), or your local junkyard. The TJ Wrangler also came with the same transmission.

I guess I made an assumtion on that one. :oops:

Next time I'll actually look at it. Thanks

Blue KJ in PA · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:03 pm

How many miles are on it that it is worth less than $1500??

My 03 auotmatic was replaced last Christmas by DC for less than that. It was under warranty but I think the cost listed was $1200 for the factory rebuilt and the labor.

MiniDevil · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:05 pm

Blue KJ in PA wrote:

:shock: How many miles are on it that it is worth less than $1500??

My 03 auotmatic was replaced last Christmas by DC for less than that. It was under warranty but I think the cost listed was $1200 for the factory rebuilt and the labor.

That sounds about right for a very basic auto tranny rebuilt. Like I said, mine in my acura needed other work.

Jehu10842 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:27 pm

Blue KJ in PA wrote:

:shock: How many miles are on it that it is worth less than $1500??

My 03 auotmatic was replaced last Christmas by DC for less than that. It was under warranty but I think the cost listed was $1200 for the factory rebuilt and the labor.

The quotes for drive-in rebuilds were anywhere between $1900 and $2300. The $1500 was for carry-in.
I was expecting the BB value to be about $4k. (based on a couple of Liberty sales I was familiar with) I get a little nervous about spending half of what a car is worth to get rid of a transmission whine.
Kelly puts the value of this rig at about $5,800. That makes it another issue. I think it's worth the cost of a rebuild but I'd rather just get a wrecking yard tranny.

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

Jehu10842 wrote:

I finally got a chance to drive it for myself. The noise is loudest in the lower gears. It totally disapears in fourth gear and starts back up in 5th gear.

Sounds more like your t-case than the tranny. I just had the bearings in my t-case redone and went for a drive with the mechanic who did the work. He had explained that when there is noise with 1-3, but gone in 4th, it's not a tranny problem. I can't recall WHY this is, I just recall him mentioning it.

Unfortunately he's out of town right now so I can't give him a shout and ask him to explain it again.

It worked out to be about $800 total to rebuild the t-case.

N

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:23 pm

I'll give her $1500 for it right now:D

seriously, though, for a call-in rebuild quote, without the shop seeing or driving the vehicle, they're gonna give you the highest full rebuild crap-your-pants price just so if you DO get it rebuilt and it's $600, you're so happy you could crap your pants again.

Try actually TAKING it to a transmission shop and see if their quote changes. IMO it's worth paying other people to R&R a transmission if you have to do it in your driveway.

2002 Liberty transmission troubles

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