New Member w/ 2004 Bonneville SLE

[7zorro7]

I purchased my fully loaded 2004 Bonny SLE near Boston MA, in 2014 w/ 72,000 miles on the odometer.
The car has been pretty much trouble free, however earlier this year I started getting rough shifting between 1&2 and 2&3d gears after driving for 20-30 minutes. So last week w/ 118,000 miles on the odometer, I had the tranny overhauled by a local tranny shop ($2400) which included the replacement of the front engine mount.

Now she runs & shifts as she did when i bought her, however I am getting a creaking noise when I stop or start moving the car and sometimes when I turn the wheel ... The shop tells me that the noise could be due to worn or failing cradle bushings. So monday she goes back to the shop.

My question is, shouldn't the cradle bushings have been replaced when the tranny was being overhauled ?

Looking forward to getting to know all Ya Bonny co- owners ...

[J Wikoff]

Welcome to the club! It would be easy to overlook the cradle bushings if they didn't have conspicuous issues. Are they your issue source now? I don't know.

[7zorro7]

Are they your issue source now? I don't know.

Thanks for the response & guess I'll find out Monday when car goes back to the shop ...

[nos4blood70]

Welcome!

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a $50 shift kit would have cured your harsh shifting issues.

My car has cradle bushings that are toast and they creak a lot when going over uneven surfaces.

[7zorro7]

Welcome!

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a $50 shift kit would have cured your harsh shifting issues.

My car has cradle bushings that are toast and they creak a lot when going over uneven surfaces.

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Too late now, but I got a 2 year, 24K mile warranty and a new mount. Also, tomorrow they are installing new cradle bushings ...
She shifte beautifully now and hopefully the creaking and clicking will be gone tomorrow ...

[nos4blood70]

Let me know how the cradle install goes and how the car feels afterwards! Got 180k on my original bushings and likely will finally swap them out this Thursday.

[7zorro7]

Ok, so I took the car back to the tranny shop this morning and they confirmed that the Tranny overhaul included a complete front to back rebuild.

Later I got a call that 4 of the 6 sub-frame bushings have to be replaced and that they were ordered and should be installed tomorrow. The total additional cost was estimated at around $350 (including parts and labor) ... Ouch!

[nos4blood70]

I would replace all 6. $350 for that job doesn't sound too bad. Got quoted over $600 at a few local shops!

[7zorro7]

Well, we ended up replacing two cradle bushings and the creaking is gone ... Now i will get an alignment and hopefully I'm done ...