From looking in mine, it's just the parts in the rebuild kit and the
pistons that need repairs, and the thrust bearings, and even these are
only if water gets in the AT.  The case looks new as well.  My chassis
is at about 135k.

Looking on theSamba, it's evident that the valve body sealing plate
suffers from the impact of the ball bearing seals slamming into the
holes in it.  A ridge forms that prevents the smooth entry of the ball
into the hole and it fails to properly seal its gallery.

This part is NLA, so simple replacement is impossible when it becomes
worn.  Once in a blue moon someone talks about CNC milling a
replacement, but I don't think it has ever gone beyond talk.

If you don't ever want to mess with that plate, if you want a half a
million miles or more from your AT, maybe consider reducing the load
at the shift points?

On 8/30/16, Jeff Palmer <jpalmer@mymts.net> wrote:
> Just out of curiosity I understood that automatics had a longer lifespan,
> right? I'm at 300k kilometres and functioning normally. Fluid gets changes
> regularly thanks to the ongoing drip that no gasket ever seems to fix :)
>
> Thanks
> Jeff

-Chuck
--
It seems my TO-DO list is a FITO (faster-in-than-out)