An Interesting Transmission Rebuild post

[F4Phantom]

The auto transmission guys have had my car for 4 days doing a 2.3k rebuild. Was suppost to get it back today but instead a call saying they could not get the car working. Worked sometimes in R, sometimes in D but never both. He recons he does not know what is going. Said the tranny is very fragile and complicated with one component doing several different jobs. So anyway they are taking the thing to bits and going to problem solve.

As a side line issue, it crossed my mind that for the extra work they may ask for more money, not having an exact understanding of mechanics and what to expect of charges/fees, if he does ask for more is this fair? If not, what would you do, refuse altogether. And what if they dont get the tranny working properly?? do I pay a bit of money, the full amount. This could become complex (i hope not) but just want to be prepared with some levelheaded advice from you guys. THANKS

[Randell]

no, no, you paid $2300 for a rebuild, it's not a rebuild unless it works

all perishable parts should've been replaced, and all other parts should've been checked to see if they're ok... that's what you're paying for, if they can't put it back together properly that's their fault!

[BigKriss]

If they don't fix it and they can't fix it, I wouldn't pay anything. I always assumed the rebuild wasn't that hard and from your first post, I asked winfred about the rebuild myself and bought a clutch rebuild kit from a member here over a year ago for around usd$150 becasue I know one day the transmission will fail, I don't know when though. So far it has performed well so fingers crossed. Here's what I wrote;

how long did it take you - the first time to rebuild the gearbox with the new clutch packs.

and how long does it take you these days

and total time to do the job, from start to finish ( i mean removing the driveshaft and gearbox and then putting them back together). How much does a rebuild like this cost aat your workshop - i mean how much does your workshop charge?

Here's what he replied with;

i can't remember how long the first couple took as that was many years ago, the whole process starting with pushing the car into the bay to test drive probably sucks up most of the day, the a-clutch job itself doesn't take long maybe a hour or less, i don't know what the office charges for the job but a guess would be between $500 and $1000 parts and labor depending on how much other stuff it needed like tranny mounts, driveshaft hanger bearings, flex couplers, various seals and exhaust system hardwear

Phantom, did you get the transmission error message? What where your symptoms?

[F4Phantom]

Thanks for the advice, I will now know where I stand if I get a problematic call next week. The only reason for the rebuild was the reverse clutch pack was gone, which is also the first gear engine braking pack. In D the car is perfect. So basicly it is not worth taking the thing to bits without rebuilding the lot (thats what they tell me) so thats what I did. They now say it is an overly complex trans and hard to work with. Anyway, lets see what happens.

BTW the symptoms after the rebuild when the guys drove it was D sometimes working, R sometimes working, but never together. While the car was in my hands I only saw the TRANS PROG once (right before I gbooked it in) I suppose as the R slowly wore out it got worse.

[clhorton]

I bought a used tranny for 600 because I needed it now, but why did you want to pay someone 2300 to rebuild that tranny when you could have bought a remanufactured tranny from Kirt. If I had the extra money I would have surely got one from him, but the price you are paying is a lot more than what he charges for an already rebuilt unit. If they don't fix it tell them you want your tranny back and dont give them one more red cent.

[F4Phantom]

Kirt? I am afraid I dont know where he is & if he can ship to Australia. I went through a few auto specalists, these guys were at the lower end in price and at the top end in how well they came accross for expericance, knowledge and knowing my car. I could have judged em wrong, but so far I have not spend a cent so I suppose if they cant fix it I dont need to pay. Also some guys were saying they have a 3 months warranty, these guys said 2 years unlimited k's, made me feel like they were confident in their work.

[pundit]

"...Said the tranny is very fragile and complicated with one component doing several different jobs.."

"... and they forgot to mention that big round thing that goes... WEEEEEEEEEE, THWACK ZING!!!"

Well that inspires confidence.... NOT!!
That kind of appears to indicate hey don't know what they're doing and are feeding you ******** to cover their arses.

Does this crowd specialise in ZF transmissions or are they a general trans shop?
I'd be somewhat concerned that even if they get your trans working again, how long will it last?

If I were you I'd be pulling the plug and have the car towed out to a shop that knows what they're doing.
I think there's a shop in Dandenong that specialises in ZF's. If I can find the address I'll let you know.

[pundit]

I bought a used tranny for 600 because I needed it now, but why did you want to pay someone 2300 to rebuild that tranny when you could have bought a remanufactured tranny from Kirt. If I had the extra money I would have surely got one from him, but the price you are paying is a lot more than what he charges for an already rebuilt unit. If they don't fix it tell them you want your tranny back and dont give them one more red cent.

Yeah but it would probably cost $2,300.00 in shipping costs to Australia!

[pundit]

Kirt? I am afraid I dont know where he is & if he can ship to Australia. I went through a few auto specalists, these guys were at the lower end in price and at the top end in how well they came accross for expericance, knowledge and knowing my car. I could have judged em wrong, but so far I have not spend a cent so I suppose if they cant fix it I dont need to pay. Also some guys were saying they have a 3 months warranty, these guys said 2 years unlimited k's, made me feel like they were confident in their work.

Which trans shop did you take your car to?

[F4Phantom]

If they call me next week with more probs I am wondering if I would pull the pin. I dont want to be unfair, but I dont want to waste money either. They did say they have 2 guys who specialise in ZF's.

This is them

http://www.automatictransmission.com.au/

Pundit, having worked on mercs in a shop?? what would the shops reaction be to a non paying customer if they were dissatisfied??