I've had a lot of problems with the transmission in my daily driver recenty. Between Christmas and New Years it seemed the trans went out and I limped the car to a trans shop about 1.5 miles from where my troubles began. This shop has been in business many years and is well known locally. They did a repair on my '86 LS Monte when the torque converter went out in late 1997.

This shop looked the car over, pulled the trans pan and did a filter/fluid change then told me the car ran/shifted fine and if I wanted to come get the car. They did recommend the torque converter be replaced at some point as (what they told me) the coating on the converter was peeling and THIS is what caused my trans problems. I thought it over a bit and since I use the car quite a bit decided to go ahead with the converter replacement which they billed me almost $700 for.

Three days after getting the car back we were headed to my g/f's sisters house for a visit and the car acted weird so I got off I-75 as soon as I could. We didn't even get off the exit ramp before the trans seemed to go out again. I had to call a tow truck and I was PISSED!

That was saturday and the following monday after work I went to the trans shop to see what they discovered about the car? The shop foreman looked to car over, put a scanner on it and announced some part of trans wasn't operating. We talked the situtation over and he told me it would be $150 for them to pull the trans to see what the problem was inside? I thought it over for a day or so and attempted to locate a used transmission but couldn't find one that seemed like a good deal. I called the trans shop and asked they pull the trans to find out the cause of it's problem? They called and said the planetray gear set had blown up. The trans was more or less scrap. So I actively searched for a used trans so I could have my car back.

The trans shop wanted $1900 to re-build my trans and offered a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty. I checked into Mopar and they wanted $2050 for a reman trans with a 3yr/80,000 mile warranty. It seemed stupid to pay the trans shop $1900 for their warranty when a better one was availalbe for $150 more. My parents, g/f and friends at work all thought it kind of dumb to put $2,000 into a 14 year old car with 148,250 miles on it. The body is still in great shape and the engine is fine so I decided to buy the Mopar trans using my father's discount. It was ordered on monday and arrived early tuesday morning. The Mopar dealer offered to drive the trans over to the trans shop for me for free so it could be installed. So I thanked them and paid for the trans.

Today the trans shop calls to tell me my car is ready. ALRIGHT!

My father drives me over to get the car. I go inside, talk with the shop foreman and ask to drive the car before I pay the current bill of $435. Before I leave the foreman tells me he saved me some money. He kept the new converter they installed in my car. I went to test drrive the car and came back and talked with my father before coing back inside. I was so pissed off it wasn't funny. I paid these people almost $700 to repair my car the first time which it didn't really need obviously and they were keeping the part they chaged me for?

So we went in and I asked the foreman to explain what he did again? After a few minutes of misunderstanding they finally said all remanufactured transmissions come with a new torque converter and since it was with the trans they used it on my car and put the converter they charge me for back in their parts room. They tried to tell me the converter was now used and only worth maybe $50. The more they talked the more pissed I got. Finally I told them I wanted my part they charged me for. They tried to say it wouldn't do me any good but I told them...... I've got another car EXACTLY like the one they repaired and this part will work in it. Same engine, same transmission in m

 

This is a good reason why i don't do a lot with auto transmissions other than basic maintenance.. They can be so finicky and screw you and the customer badly.Though if i was positive that it needed the trans I will put one in..Now if it was me I would have just recommended a whole new trans seeing if the converter was trashed. All that bad fluid in the converter and metal means that it is in the trans too.. they should have just straight up told you that.. but sometimes as a tech you wanna try and fix something and it doesn't work and this situation happens. I'm not gonna defend the shop or tech, but this happens.. Though they are right that the new converter really isn't any good which sucks... it probably has old fluid in it with shavings from the trans.. If you decide to use it, you need to have it flushed by a professional...
Sorry to hear about it though.

 

I'm with you RJ. I'd be pissed, and demand the converter also. I'd tell them give me my freakin (keeping it clean here, but you know what I mean) converter, and have a nice life.

I don't care if it had old oil with shavings in it or not. It's the principle of the situation. I paid for it, I'll use it for a paperweight if I want to.

 

wow... just wow....

alot of people having problems here lately, must be the cold getting to the cars.

 

At least it wasn't the Monte this time. LOL.

 

 

YOU SHOULD OF HAD THEM SHOW YOU THE BROKEN GEAR SET.

 

Good point cause when this situtation happened the second time and I had to have the car towed, the moneday they looked the car over the shop foreman said, "Well what'd you do to it."

I do not trash on my cars. I know "I" have to pay for any repairs. I have always teken the best care of what I own that I can. My sisters used to tease me cause I'd ride my bike and wipe it down when I got home so it wasn't dirty. I did my cars like this for many years.

wheather this converter is now used or not isn't the point. The point is we all know they were planning on selling this thing to someone else as new. It still looks brand new. I did not put 100 on the car before this second incident happened. And if the trans put metal shavings through it the second time, why would this shop even want this converter? They put it back in their parts room to re-sell.

For some reason.......... my back side is sore? Cause I feel they did screw me the first time I took the car there.