Hey all,

new to forum.  I have an '03 2 door chevy tracke4 2.0L 4wd with the auto 4 speed electronicly controlled trann (A44DE, i think). less than 53k miles on the car, just got it 3k ago and my transmission guy says 3rd gear blew up and he's pulling chunks of it out of the housing.  He's recommending a rebuild for $19-2200 and my brother (a honda mechanic) is recommending a salvage or GMC certified remanufacture (regular remanuafactur seems to be running about $1500+core not installed based on my internet research).

-Any ideas what could have caused this, known problems with this tranny?

-Any suggestions on rebuild vs reman vs salvage?

-Any recommendations on reman sources? OR Any recommendations on parts/upgrades during the rebuild?

-Any thoughts on the quoted price of the rebuild?

This is my daily driver and I don't plan on doing anything more than Colorado fire roads to back country camping/hiking or pulling a 5-700 poind sailboat and trailer at 5000-11000 feet of altitude. Transmission cooler recommended?  

Thx,
Josh