It cost me 2200 to get my 545 rebuilt with good parts, and R&R'd. It was a buddy deal though. I took them the transmission that came out of the truck originally when I bought it locked up with 200K miles on it. They bench built it and then swapped em out. I had a 545 that I'd bought to put in my 70 Duster with a 5.7 Hemi, and just used it in the Dakota. It worked good until it didn't...lol. You might try changing fluid and filters, clean all of the grounds and see if that helps. If you do change the fluid and filters (there are 2 filters in the trans) be sure to make sure the o ring on the spin on filter inside the trans didn't come off the filter and stick. They are even worse than oil filters to do that. If you clean all the grounds, it will be the ones you can see on the bellhousing bolts and maybe one down low somewhere. Clean the grounds on the ECM where it bolts to the inner fender. If/when you clean them, use some of that dielectric grease like you put on battery posts when you put them back together. It will definately help protect them from all of that close by salt! :)