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DIY-ER,
As Norm pointed out the condition of the fluid is an important indicator. Look for signs of long term leakage that may have caused the box to run dry or low on fluid. The AW71 is the stronger box and if reasonably cared for it will go 250K or even more ... but any cared for AW with around 100K or less would be considered pretty fresh.
When we installed a Pick and Pull AW71 in my son's 83 244Ti ... I found a box in a 90 745T that had suffed an engine fire at 115k. The fire totalled the wagon but hadn't affected the tranny. I knew the box had been working at the time the 745 died. Look for a Brick with light front end or side damage ... or another obvious problem that didn't involve the transmission. You don't want to chose a box from a Brick that ended up at the wrecking yard because the tranny went south. We pulled the engine and tranny as a unit from the donor ... separating them was much easier with both out of the car.
Before installing the P&P box we replaced the tailshaft bushing&seal ... the cross shaft seals , solenoid o ring ... kick down cable, etc. It is much easier to do with the tranny out of the car. Also we replaced the rear engine seal while we could get at it. The P&P charged us 68 bucks for the box and with new seals, and KD cable it cost us only $100 for a fresh AW71. 18 months and 15K later the box still works like a charm and there's absolutely nothing leaking from it any where. A good way to keep one of your favorite old Bricks on the road and shifting smoothly through the gears. Hope this helps.
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