oscaroc

I am not sure what they might have done wrong but all I know is that tranny was cooked and there was bits of metal in the pan I don't know if an o-ring would have done that or not i am not to knowledgable on auto trannies

Hemi Cat

When the "O" ring seal is doubled or crooked in the bore, it lets the pump suck in air. The air will cause bad pressures and take out the clutches from slippage and cause the already inferior torque converter to fail. Then it is toast. You have to catch the problem right away to save it. The only time a tranny shop will tell you that is if a different shop did it, or reccommend you not touch them, remember, they are in the business of REBUILDING transmissions. Over half of my carreer was doing fleet maintenence to get max mileage from a vehicle and prevent catastrophic repairs.

Palmetto_kid

We had this conversation last Saturday.

My pap bought a 2001 Ram 3500 with 90k miles, and to his knowledge the tranny was never serviced. He called the dealer to see if they would flush the tranny, and change the fluid/filter. They said yes, but when he brought it in, they told him they couldnt do a complete flush since the fluid had never been changed.

Their reason: The new fluid has fresh "detergents" (or whatever thier called) in it, and will basically wash the inside of the tranny. This will loosen crud, and plug the filter quick, thus causing it to overheat.

He called his buddy who has been rebulding trannys for years, and he agreed witht he dealer.

I have no idea if this is true, but it sounds like it could be.

oscaroc

That is what heappned to the tranny it started to shift real hard like the pump was working overtime down there and it was slipping.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Hemi Cat

It sounds to me like they want to stay as far away from any type of a warranty claim as possible. They are much farther ahead of the game by not touching it until it fails, then rebuild it and give you a warrentee with a fresh rebuild. Remember what they are in business for? and it aint warrenteeing an oil & filter change!!! or prolonging a transmissions life that is close to failure if left alone. They don't have to worry about it, because they know you will have to rebuild it or replace it real soon by someone. Transmissions shops can be a real craw in my side, but I have dealt with a few real good and reputable shops that I will always reccommend to anybody that asks. By the way, there are 4 out of about 30 I will reccommend.
One good sign to use to identify a reputable tranny shop is when you take a good shifting vehicle with slightly dirty oil for a service, what do they tell you? Try to sell you a rebuild or sell you on a maintenence interval program to extend the life of your tranny? Or do they come out with the old dog and pony show with the burnt oil and junky looking pan to give you the bad news and how lucky you were to make it in to their shop? Many times a poorly shifting vehicle can be repaired without an overhaul. The best thing you can do before you take it in is check your own oil and observe the color of the oil, and wait to see what they tell you. If it sounds reasonable and you feel comfortable with them, go for it. If you feel something just doesn't sound right, FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS and go somewhere else for a second opinion. Tranny shops are on the BAR associations watch list for a reason.