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Cavalier Auto transmission life - Keith Hayman
No one I speak to in the trade seems to know what sort of life expectancy I can expect from my Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0 8v automatic transmission. Most agree that the engine can easily go to 200,000 , but many say my current 130,000 may be pushing it a bit for a vauxhall auto box!

Has anyone experienced failure around this mileage and does anyone have experiences where their auto box (cavalier 2.0) lasted significantly longer.
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - Cockle
Sorry Keith, can't confirm one longer personally. I currently run a 1.8i auto and that required a new box at 80k, fortunately it was down to the company. Knowing it had had the new box I bought it for SWMBO at 85k and have had no other mechanical problems up to current 125k. Have a 'friend of a friend' who says his is up to 125k on original box but I would suggest you might be getting close to breath-holding time.
Cavalier Auto transmission life - David Lacey
It is very difficult to put a life on a component - it does depend upon how/where it has been operated. Motorway use vs shopping car, you know the score.
We did have to replace the auto transmission assembly on a 2.0i Cavalier a few years back - I think it was down to a warning light which kept coming on and holding it in one gear.

David
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - crazed idiot
auto cav's i have known and loved

if auto box warning light comes on then car is still drivable
but it reverts to a manual change

1 = 1
2 = 2
3 = 2
4 = 3

or something like that
anyway you can drive them, but you have to move the lever, otherwise it'll stay in one gear

often this would clear itself after leaving car switched off for a while
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - ladas are cool
my dad had a cavalier 1.6L, it was automatic, but the gearbox started playing up when the car was 6 years old, so he sold the car :-)
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - Mark (lost in Brazil)
ladas are cool wrote:
>
> my dad had a cavalier 1.6L, it was automatic, but the gearbox
> started playing up when the car was 6 years old, so he sold
> the car :-)

Chris,

I try and ignore you when you are in these moods, but these one-liners of yours are driving me nuts.

You say you like this site, certainly you use it a lot. Understand that you are potentially harming the site. New people to the site will not realise what we all know, and endless one liners from you can put people off.

This site needs an endless supply of new and additional users, please don`t discourage them or make the site seem less valuable to them.

Try and work out when, and where, humour is appropriate, and other times if you don`t have a valuable, informational reply to post, consider whether or not you should post anything in that thread.

Mark.
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - ladas are cool
my dad had a red vauxhall cavalier, 1992 J reg, bought fron the main dealer fiat garage in seaton delaval (i think its called DALE garage), he kept the car until the auto transmission started to refuse going into reverse, he sold it in part ex to a garage in sunderland, and he got a 1994 M reg hyundai sonata.
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - ladas are cool
plus he bought the cavalier in 1995, but sold it in 1998, three very un-reliable years.
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - Moosh
If somebody becomes a nuisance on this site how is he/she expelled?
What about a vote in this instance???
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - Ian (cape town)
Unfortunately I don't know the cavalier. But my Astra (SA spec) has a 4 speed autobox which seems to be sturdy enough. A friend recently sold his, with 250 000ks on the clock, and no 'box worries.
However, as mentioned, the nature of the driving (we have far fewer traffic jams and nose-to-tail situations) and I'm sure the variations in climate must make a difference.
Last year, the family got rid of a commodore with 320 000 on it. that was a 2.8L beast with a 3-speed box. again, no problems with it.
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - Rob Fleming
I've heard that changing the fluid every 12000 miles can help and autobox last forever. I've also driven a Saab 9000 that had this treatment with 400k on the original box, which worked fine.

Rob
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - Keith Hayman
Thank you Rob for your comments. There appears to be no consensus, apart from dissaproval of idiotic users of this site.

I do change transmission oils every 65K, so live in hope.

Keith
Re: Cavalier Auto transmission life - RogerL
It's easy to check Vauxhall auto boxes. Take the transmission oil dipstick out and look at the colour of the oil.

If it's red, all is well.
If it's brown, it has been overheating and the transmission oil needs replacing.
If it's black, the box is very worn and will soon need replacing.

I tow a caravan 2-3,000 miles a year in my Astra 1.8 Auto, just below Vauxhall's towing limit, so I change the transmission oil every year. This is cheaper than fitting a transmission oil cooler.

Front-wheel drive Vauxhall automatic gearboxes are built by Aisin-Warner in Japan and are also used in Saab V6 turbos and Chevrolets. It's reputation is for being bullet-proof but poorly maintained versions will eventuall fail.