Black2003SS Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 So I decided to take my truck into the local trans shop which has over the years, had a good reputation, including high performance builds. I figured I would get it looked at to make sure it was the trans prior to ordering a Performabuilt. Well, while there, they really seemed to know their stuff. They provided references for local hot rodders and racers alike if I wanted to call them. They new all the talk and they took the time to go over in detail with me exactly what parts they would put in the transmission. They also came ina round $2,200 total for parts and labor. I went over everything with zippy and of course he recommended rossler over anyone, but cost and time was a huge factor. So anyways, I decided to go with them because they promised a one year warranty to stand behind the product even knowing I might take it to the track once in a while. Sounded like a safe bet to me. They normally offer a 2yr warranty on stock rebuilds. Ok, so I get my truck towed over there. They diagnos the truck and the mechanic says, hey, your speedo goes up when given gas in gear, but the truck doesnt move. Oh really...He says that must mean the transfer unit is bad. Ok. Pull it and find out. Instead, they go ahead and pull the entire transmission and transfer case!!!! WTF??? I had specifically told them if its not the trans, lets not worry about it right now. Now they are trying to strong arm me into spending $4k on a trans and transfer case, when I'm unemployed. I hate being taken for a ride. I asked them if there was anything wrong with the trans, and there response was they dont know until they crack it open. Well, I guess we could have just fixed the awd unit and found out if the truck drove with just that fixed. They, said, well, your trans fluid was burnt, and there was some metal particles on the magnetic plug in the pan. No chunks, no heavy friction material. They said since I already had my trans out, I might as well go ahead and rebuild it. I told them no to crack it open because I have a total lack of trust for them at this point. The BIG msitake I made was when I went in for my quote on Monday, I wanted to just see what they would charge me to pull the trans and install performabuilts. During that discussion, it came out that they knew how much performabuilts trans were and knew who they were, didnt trash talk them. Just said they could do the same thing as him without having to worry about shipping. So they knew I was willing to drop about $3,300 for everything done at that point. I feel like they figured I was just going to blow this money and what the hell, they would charge me for all they could get. I realize nobody knew the AWD unit was bad, but in my book, they should have called me and told me that was an issue first, then worked on the trans if it didnt completely solve the problem. Now, my back is up against a wall because I was stretching VERY thin to do the tranny now, but onyl because I thought it had to be done and wasnt going to go cheapy as a band aid. Here are the symptoms of the truck... When I start it, it starts fine. When I went to put it in gear, it would go into gear, all gears, but there was a god aweful ratcheting sounds coming from underneath and the truck would not move at all when gas applied or brake released. (I could push it or it would roll on a hill). The ratcheting sound got worse with RPMS. The speedo would increase in seed, but being a novice trans expert, I thought that was normal possibly. When they pullled apart the awd unit, the main shaf that goes froma planetary type assembly into a bearing type ring gear (had teeth on the inside, looking for a picture online) was damaged. Its the shaft that transmits the power when its first enters the AWD unit. The teeth in th ring gear were totally broken and stripped away. The teeth on the corresponding shaft were warped, chewed up and pretty much not there either. Anyone with mechanical ability would know that was probably the culprit of the nasty ratcheting sound and would explain why the speedo worked, but the truck wouldnt move. It also is a great example from the mechanism of failure as well. I was leaving a stoplight at 3/4 throttle (kind of heavy) to beat some traffic to get over for the next light. It totally makes sense to me. Am I missing anything? I dont want to spend the money on a trans, especially with them now, feeling as though they are just trying to jack up the ticket price on me. I would rather get a zippy shift kit and take my chances with the trans. BTW, they were telling me to expect $2k to repair the AWD unit alone and even if they dont do anything to the trans, I have to pay them for pulling it and installing it. The whole time I was there today (not the first day) They were makign comments like, WOW, you have a blower on that thing, that wasnt cheap. That muffler looks expensive, this is was an expensive truck wasnt it? They probably think I'm loaded. Sorry for the super LONG rant, but it really pisses me off when people try to screw people out of money. If they would have gone and just fixed the awd unit, called me and said good news, its only the awd, god thing you didnt order the trans, etc. I would have in a hear beat been excited and would have gone back to them to rebuild the trans when it does eventually go out. But not now. Am I going overboard here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman31 Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 (edited) No you are not going overboard, you told them to pull the transfer case, not the trans.......they found broken parts in the transfer case too which was their diagnosis. They should not have dropped the trans without your approval. The fact that they keep trying to jack the bill up, along with their "oh this was expensive" comments is . You may have a valid Consumer Affairs or Better Business Bureau complaint. If I were in your shoes, my discontent for their words and their actions would be made well known.............too a point. You want them to know you aren't happy, but they still have your truck so you don't want to tear their heads off just yet. I would wait until the keys are back in your hands, then let the hammers of hell fly. Keep us posted. Edited June 18, 2008 by Fireman31 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detjoe Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 (edited) they have to pull the transfer case to get the trans out. still reading the rest but I dont think its the transfer case...if your output shaft is broken it might spin and make the speedo move but not move the truck. pay for them pulling the trans, and see if Zippy can rebuild it then bring it back and put it in, I'll lend hand. since I am local shoot me the name of the company so I can see whats up.thx Edited June 18, 2008 by detjoe (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black2003SS Posted June 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 So they come back to me today with a price of $2,300 for a transfer case installed. Plus, the $2,300 for the transmission. So now I am up to $4,600. I told them I am going to come get the truck on a flat bed and to box up my parts. I'm going to order a rebuilt transfer case from www.drivetrain.com and order a performabuilt level III trans with converter. about $2,600 for the trans and converter from performabuilt and about $950+core for the transfer case. Thats $3,500 + I either pay someone to install it or since everything is already pulled, go ahead and install it myself. So I can still be out of this for about $4k and probably end up with a far better quality product in my truck. They told me the transfer case was $2k and they were only charging me $300 for labor on the transfer case. I called the dealer and they said a new transfer case complete was about $1600 including tax. So the shop was marking it up $400 or more since they probably get a break. I know they are in the business to make money, but this rediculous. Especially when they know I am a ver cost conscious customer. Also, I told him that I could get one for about $800 out of the local junk yard with less than 10k on it. He said I was lying and that he had called the same junk yard and they told him $1,400. Yeah...probably with his $600 mark up included it was. I talked to the local junk yard personally not 5 minutes before I called him. I'm so done. All this stress is almost so not worth it. All this comes wonderfully at the time of finals this week and next at college. I might just have to pull the supercharger and sell it. Kind of defeats the purpose of the built trans. Tough choices to make...but maybe necessary. Maybe even sell the truck itself at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 STOP THE INSANITY!!! First of all, my read on how you've been treated so far is that the transmission shop is trying to do the job in the absolute most expensive way possible. Screw that, plus you just can't afford it right now. A good used transfer case out of a good wrecked truck can be found for $450-600, FIND ONE and have it shipped to you via UPS, they are not that heavy and a good salvage yard will have no problem guaranteeing that it will go at least 6-months. You are shopping for a New Venture Gear NVG-149 AWD transfer case. If you are going to get a rebuilt transfer case, $950 is a fair price, that's the going rate - see if they offer a hardened or improved main belt (chain) for the NVG-149, they do stretch. $2300 for a performance built trans (with labor) is a fair price *provided* the trans they build is a proven unit - I would tell them to stick to the original deal of $2300, and you will bring in the transfer case you wish them to reinstall in the truck and that you want your old one BACK. You will have to pay them $$$ for the "inspection fee" but you can sell the original TC for it's core value and recover costs there. Another thought - I'm gonna say after reading everything I don't think there is anything broken in the transmission, however I'm not there to judge in person so that's just an opinion from 1000-miles away. BUT there is NO DOUBT that they are in the wrong for pulling your transmission, because on diagnosis the technician told you the transfer case was suspect and you instructed them to pull the transfer case and begin repair on the transfer case. You do not owe them for mistakenly pulling the transmission, as you did not authorize them to proceed the repair that far. And I would tell them just like that, it is not YOUR fault they did not follow YOUR instructions and made a mistake in pulling the transmission. And I would make it clear to them what the truck is worth is none of their concern; what you make or don't make is none of their concern either - their concern is that you specifically instructed them to remove and inspect the transfer case, that's all that was put in writing - any work they've done beyond that I would be *furious* about because it's not their truck to do whatever they think they want with, it's YOUR truck. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detjoe Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 http://www.schramauto.com/ this place is in waterford and is IMO one of the best GM dismantlers... I dont remember anyone with a radix ever hurting a Transfercase...even fuelslut I need to dig up my info with the service check procedure...I think Mr. P posted it a long time ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black2003SS Posted June 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Yeah. I already called schram and they dont have a transfer case. The rebuitl one comes with a 1 2month warranty so if I do snap it again, I can send it back and they will replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 This is just rediculous. Call me when you get some time. There is no reason for them to treat you like that. They seen your truck and mods and figured they'd hit you for all you could give them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black2003SS Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Update on trans woes... I GET MY TRUCK BACK MONDAY! Perfect! So here is what happened. I ended up ordering a remanufactured transfer case from www.drivetrain.com for $1050 + core (I'll get the core back when I send mine in, no big deal). These guys were great to work with and if you need a new transfer case, I highly recommend you at least give them a call. They gave me a 12 month unlimited warranty on the unit, no questions asked... I ended up with another Yank as the original TT2600 I had lasted 50,000 miles. I spent the coin and went with the SC2600 (he took a SC3000 and tightened it up for me). I have to say, Dave at Yank, went above and beyond. Many Converter shops were telling me I would have to wait until around the 4th to get one from them. Dave said being a returning customer, if I paypal'd him the money last Monday night when I spoke with him, he would build it Tuesday and and ship it Wednesday and 2 day air mail it to me (he just charged me the difference between ground and two day which was like $50 or somethin, very fair). He promised me the converter by teh weekend. The converter arrived Friday via 2 day right on time. Now, to me, thats customer service. Onto the trans shop...yeah. You read in the other posts of what happened. I went and had a short ocnversation with the owner of the shop about what was happening and how I felt like I was being lied to, asking for my truck back. He looked into the matter and apologized for everything. He told me he would make sure I was well taken care of and his shop policies did not constitute what was being said. He then made me an offer I couldnt refuse. He said he would honor the original price quoted, plus install/work with any parts I wanted to put in, AND, the most important part, provide me with a 24month 24,000 mile warranty, in writing. Done deal. I felt kind of bad though, because when I went in there last Monday (I had talked with them the Friday before), the sales tech whom I had been working with, was no longer there. The owner fired him. I feel kind of bad, but in the same instance, I doubt it was the first complaint. The master builder took over working with me and has been great. The parts list? I dont have everything in front of me yet, but we went with some kind of blue clutch packs, a double sealed aluminum accumulator piston, borg werner sprag, beast sunshell, kevlar band, sonnax 2nd and 4th servos. Also, he re-worked the valve body and put in some kind of larger valve with a sleeve? .490 size is what he said. He used most of the transgo HD2 shift kit and springs, but did not use the acumulator stuff including the washers, which has been advised against. Its basically the same parts as used in most of the other transmissions out there. An FLT level 5 might have been better, but with a 2 yr warranty, it really didnt matter to me at this point. If it breaks, he will fix it for free. They told me they dont want to lose repear business and a referral as they admitted they know I could send them alot of business. If this trans holds up, I just might start referring them down the road as they have come through with everything so far since last week. Bottom line, new trans, new converter, new transfer case, about $4k down the drain, but everything is warrantied and I couldnt be happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobradh77 Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 glad you got it all worked out...sometimes you just have to go straight to the top to get the results and if someone who isnt doing their job gets hurt in the process so be it...not your fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman31 Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 (edited) glad you got it all worked out...sometimes you just have to go straight to the top to get the results and if someone who isnt doing their job gets hurt in the process so be it...not your fault. agreed, sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns.....glad to hear everything is going okay Edited June 29, 2008 by Fireman31 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTMD8R_SS Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 's, glad you got everything worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevyman03SS Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Congrats on the good news!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detjoe Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 what was wrong with the Transfercase??? was it just a damaged input shaft?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black2003SS Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Yeah, the input shaft and the bearing it went into was stripped out...I called around for parts, and the parts were hard to come by and weren't cheap. So I went with a rebuilt unit with a warranty anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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