My 2001 Ford Ranger 4.0 only has 58,000 miles. Hasnt had any warning signs, driven easy done all scheduled maintence ect. havent had a single problem with it yet.

Its going to be about 1k to fix at the dealership.

This doesnt seem like a normal repair to me, low miles, well taken care of ect. Is this a fluke or should i get a new car before it starts falling apart like a chineese motorcycle?

How do they know the valve body needs to be replaced?  Is it a scheduled item? (unlikely) Did they run diagnostics on it?

The transmission has but one purpose, and if it seems to be performing that purpose well, I don't see what the problem is.

The danger here is that if is reporting trouble codes, or is unnoticeably failing, waiting may bring a larger expense later.

for a valve body? Get a second opinon. First off, a valve body doesn't fail unless it cracked. It can get gunked up, a spring stuck, not allow proper flow, but all of those things should be an easy cheap fix. Second, 1k should come close to replacing the tranny. My boss just got the shaft and replaced his for about 2k, for an exploder, but he went to the dealer for a genuine ford part. You can buy aftermarket valve bodies with shift kits in them for way under that. Not hard to put in either.

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=partdetail.asp&part=TCI-522100
138 bucks for one.
That would mean 300 for the part and 700 bucks in labor. BS.

need more information on symtoms, that you are experiencing. Ford Motor Co. does have a technical service bulletin, related to transmission shift issues, seems that the valve body gasket blows out and allows fluid to leak in the valve body. This repair requires minimal gasket replacement, or valve body replacement in worst case.

The Ford Service Dept. that you went to runs an OASIS report, which identifies warranty service history, any open owner notifications (recalls), and also allows the service advisor or technician the ability to research known service issues, tecnical service bulletins, some of these carry additional warranty time and mileage.

If you have to pay for this repair, there are several options based on your year of vehicle and mileage.

1. P01-  This is a District manager approved after warranty adjustment, where you may be asked to participate by paying a percentage of the repair, normally 20 -30 %.

2. P07 - This is dealer approved and requires a higher dollar participation amount, but it comes with an extended warranty for the repair.

Do not let the service advisor tell you that these are not availeable, He/she is payed to bill service repair hours, You as a "VERY LOYAL FORD CUSTOMER" are entitled to this consideration, if you have not used it before. It will state whether you have had an after warranty adjustment on your OASIS report, ask the advisor to see it.

Good Luck

Thanks for the advice.

This will be my last american car.

Great first post, micman777!

Welcome to the forums - Stay long, and post often!