The tranny on my brother's 88 7.3 had been slippin for a couple of weeks. It would not ever take off in 1st gear for some reason. It always took off in 2nd, even when the shifter was in drive and should have took off in 1st. Anyway it must have finally burn the clutches completely up, cause now it has no forward gears at all, just reverse. I am wondering how hard it will be for us to rebuild this thing ourselves? Thanks for any help guys!

 

I had the same problem with my 89 7.3 1 ton. I bought it from a friend for 500 bucks because the tranny was toast (only had 2 and 3rd) and the block had pinhole leaks. I found out by taking it apart the reason I had lost all my forward gears is because they where shreded to pieces. I literally had nothing but reverse and 3rd left (3rd wasn't gonna move 35in tires ). So I decieded to take it to a tranny shop and get it built up right. Aftermarket everything later it(didn't want a replay of befor) cost me 3200 bucks . I dont think it was worth it now. It runs really good and will tow anything but I only have 3 gears . So my opinion would be to look for a 5 speed to throw into it. That is what I am going to do when my motor goes (about 80,000 miles). So if you do the swap let me know how it goes.

 

When my dad's c-6 went out, the local shop rebuilt it for $400. If you have no experience with automatic rebuilds, you would be better served to have a pro do it, they integrate the upgrades to keep their reputation. C6's are a good trans to start with, and don't have to have a lot of upgrades, but if you have concerns, talk to them and see what they have to say. BTW, after the rebuild, which came at about 200,000, it has never failed again, still going. It has over 300,000 on the chassis now.