If you have an automatic transmission in your vehicle, then it has what’s called a transmission valve body in it. You might not have ever heard of this part if you’re not a car enthusiast, but the transmission valve body plays a vital role in the overall well-being of your vehicle. It’s often referred to as the “brain” of your transmission. With this in mind, you’re going to need to have a fully-functioning transmission valve body in your car at all times. You’ll have to pay the transmission valve body replacement cost to have a new one put into place if yours ever goes bad. Find out more about the transmission valve body and what it’ll cost to replace it below.
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What Is a Transmission Valve Body?
When you look at a transmission valve body, you’ll notice that it looks a whole lot like a maze. It consists of a bunch of valves, solenoids, and passageways that all come together to create a maze-like structure. But despite the complexity of its appearance, the transmission valve body in your vehicle actually has a very simple job: It’s designed to send transmission fluid to wherever it needs to be in order for your transmission to shift from one gear to another.
If the transmission valve body in your vehicle isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, it’s going to be difficult for your vehicle to get transmission fluid to the right places. This could potentially cause all kinds of issues with your transmission and make it difficult for you to drive your car. It’s the No. 1 reason why you need to keep a close eye on your transmission valve body for any signs of trouble. You’ll need to pay the transmission valve body replacement cost right away if you ever suspect that your transmission valve body may have gone bad on you.
How Does a Transmission Valve Body Work?
In a few moments, we’re going to talk a little bit more about how you can tell if your vehicle’s transmission valve body has gone bad on you. But before we get into that, we want to discuss how your transmission valve body actually works. It’s important for you to have a solid understanding of how your transmission valve body works so that you can appreciate it and see why it’s essential to replace it as necessary.
Your vehicle’s transmission valve body works by welcoming transmission fluid into it and moving it around based on what gear you need your transmission to be in. Your transmission valve body will move the fluid through its various channels quickly to activate the right bands in your transmission while you’re driving your car around. All of the different valves found in your transmission valve body play a different role and help your car move from one gear to the next. It’ll be impossible for your transmission to shift gears if your transmission valve body isn’t able to move transmission fluid to the right place.
How Often Does a Transmission Valve Body Need to Be Replaced?
If you’ve never heard of a transmission valve body before, there is a pretty good reason for that. In spite of the fact that transmission valve bodies are very important components in your transmission, they don’t break down on car owners very often. In fact, it’s not uncommon at all for a transmission valve body to last for as long as a car does. You might be able to get away with never having to replace your transmission valve body.
That being said, transmission valve bodies will break down on drivers every now and then—and when they do, it’s typically very easy for people to tell. You won’t have to drive around with a bad transmission valve body for very long before you realize that there’s an issue. You should keep your eyes peeled for signs of problems with your transmission valve body and plan to pay the transmission valve body replacement cost sooner than later to get things fixed.
What Are the Common Symptoms of a Bad Transmission Valve Body?
As we just mentioned, you aren’t going to have to look too hard to find signs of a bad transmission valve body. More often than not, the issues that you’re experiencing with your transmission valve body are going to be painfully obvious to you and anyone else who is driving around with you in your car. At first, you might hear knocking sounds coming from your transmission that represent a problem with your transmission valve body. But things might also get worse from there.
Here are some of the most common symptoms of a bad transmission valve body:
- You experience a slight delay when you try to shift your car from either park to drive or park to reverse
- You see your car shifting to higher or lower gear at the wrong times
- You notice your engine RPMs increase rather than decrease when you shift to a higher gear
- You find that your transmission gears seem to be slipping on you all the time
When you have a bad transmission valve body in your vehicle, you might also see the check engine light in your car pop on. You’ll want to have your car scanned right away so that you can find out if you’ll need to budget for the transmission valve body replacement cost.
Can You Continue Driving a Vehicle With a Bad Transmission Valve Body?
When you first start to see potential problems with your transmission valve body popping up, you’re going to be tempted to ignore them. You might turn your radio a little bit louder so that you don’t have to hear your transmission valve body causing knocking sounds or turn a blind eye to your check engine light. But you should not—we repeat, not—drive around with a bad transmission valve body for too long.
Over time, a minor issue with your transmission valve body might turn into a major issue with your entire transmission. You’re going to put a huge strain on your transmission when you have a bad transmission valve body. It’s why you shouldn’t waste any time when it comes to having a bad transmission valve body fixed. You should take your car to a shop to have the transmission valve body either rebuilt or replaced entirely before you begin driving around in your car again.
Where Should You Take a Car to Have a Transmission Valve Body Replaced?
Replacing the transmission valve body in a vehicle isn’t an easy job. It can be very challenging for even the most experienced mechanics to get to the transmission valve body so that they can remove it and replace it. For this reason, you shouldn’t trust just anyone to work on your car when you have a bad transmission valve body. You’ll be much better off going with someone who knows their way around a car’s transmission.
At the very least, you should make sure that you have an ASE-certified mechanic on the job when you need a new transmission valve body put into place in your car. But if possible, you should go the extra mile and take your car to a transmission specialist. They’ll be able to diagnose the exact problem with your transmission, figure out if you need to rebuild or replace your transmission valve body, and then get to work.
If you don’t take your car to a transmission specialist when you’re having a new transmission valve body installed, you could end up going through more transmission troubles in the near future. You could also eventually have to do a major repair job to your transmission as a whole. You’ll wish you had sucked it up and paid the transmission valve body replacement cost to have the original job done by a transmission specialist.
Is Replacing a Transmission Valve Body on Your Own a Bad Idea?
Have you ever worked on the transmission in your car and done so successfully? If you didn’t just answer that question with a resounding “yes!”, then there is a really good chance that you shouldn’t go anywhere near your transmission in an attempt to replace your transmission valve body. You’re going to be making a big mistake if you do.
The transmission in your car is, in and of itself, one of the most complicated parts in your entire vehicle. It’s filled with all kinds of different components, which makes it difficult for someone to fix it. So you’re not going to have much luck trying to replace your transmission valve body. You could actually do more harm than good by trying to work on your transmission yourself.
No one wants to pay the transmission valve body replacement cost. But paying it will be a much better option than trying to fix your transmission valve body yourself and failing. Transmission valve body replacement is a job that would be best left to the professionals.
How Much Does Transmission Valve Body Replacement Cost?
There’s a good reason why some people will consider trying to replace a bad transmission valve body on their own. It’s not cheap to do it through a transmission specialist! Even the most experienced mechanics will take anywhere from two to three hours to complete the job from start to finish. This usually drives the cost of it way up.
On average, you’re going to have to pay somewhere between $400 and $850 to have a transmission valve body replaced. That includes parts that’ll cost you anywhere from $250 to $500 and several hundred dollars worth of labor. And if you happen to have a luxury vehicle like a Mercedes-Benz or a Volvo? You could be looking at paying even more than that for a new transmission valve body.
You might be able to get away with paying less for transmission valve body replacement by buying a remanufactured transmission valve body rather than a new one. It’s one effective way to get around paying an astronomical amount of money for a transmission valve body. But even still, the transmission valve body replacement cost is still going to be on the higher side. It’s an expensive auto repair job in most cases for vehicle owners.
Is the Transmission Valve Body Cost Worth It?
After hearing about what the transmission valve body replacement cost is going to be, you might be wondering, “Is it really worth it?” It feels like a lot of money to pay for a single part in your transmission. But if you plan on keeping your car and driving it for the foreseeable future, it’s going to be a cost that you just can’t get around. It’s well worth it for those who want to be sure their transmission is working properly.
The only people who might find that the transmission valve body replacement cost isn’t worth it are those with very old cars. If you have an older car that might only be worth a thousand dollars or so, you probably won’t want to pay over $500 to have a new transmission valve body installed in it. It’s only going to be a matter of time before other parts of your transmission start to conk out on you, so why bother messing around with your transmission valve body?
Selling a Car With a Transmission Valve Body: Is It Possible?
If you fall into the second category of people that we just talked about and find that it’s not worth replacing the transmission valve body in your car, you might not know what to do with it. You’re going to have a tough time selling your car to a private buyer with a bad transmission valve body. But there is another option for you.
If you want to sell a car with a bad transmission valve body, junk car buyers will pay you cash for it. Cash Cars Buyer routinely pays top dollar for cars, trucks, and SUVs with bad transmission valve bodies in them. We don’t care if your transmission valve body isn’t in good condition anymore. We’ll still give you the cash you’re looking for in exchange for it.
Would you like to sell your old car to us? Contact us now to learn more about selling a vehicle with a bad transmission valve body in it.