Transmission problems, Part3 (this is getting rediculous)

Transmission problems, Part3 UPDATE. FOUND THE PROBLEM (i hope)

Well... Im beginning to seriously think I got screwed over. Once again, my transmission does not work. I drove it to a friends house yesterday, then drove it back home without any problems or anything. Everything ran fine and shifted perfect. I woke up today and went outside and started it up. I let the car warm up for a minute or 2, then stuck it in reverse to back out. Nothing happened. I checked to make sure I didnt shift it into neutral by putting it back in park and then into reverse again. Nothing. I switched it to drive and nothing happened. I went back to reverse and gave it a little bit of gas, the transmission is once again slipping so bad that it will barely move the car. I have no idea whats wrong with it once again. I checked the fluid and the fluid level is perfect. The vacuum line to the modulator is hooked up as well, so I dont know. When my anger calms down, im going to give the guy another call, which will probably end up being a week trying to track him down again... Anybody have any other ideas on things I can check myself?

I just went out there and let it warm up for a good 5mins. Just to double check and make sure I read the tranny fluid level right. I let it warm completely up and then checked the level in park with the car running, and it looks to be a little over full. I would guess around a 1/5 quart, to almost a full quart over full.. Could this make it act like this? Could I just drain some of the fluid out and it will shift right again. Or is the tranny now screwed up once again? I dont know why or how it got overfilled, unless they put more fluid in it when I took it back to them to have "the vacuum adjusted"...

 

Me, too. I'd be thinking of finding another shop and sending the bill to the first one. A THM400 shouldn't be that hard to do right the first time, let alone the 2nd. :rant:

 

I doubt if overfilling by that little bit would cause that. (now I'm the tranny genius :Brow: ) Isn't that what it did the last time when he "made a vacuum adjustment inside the transmission"

It sounds like you have little or no pressure and the reverse band and/or forward clutch won't apply. Sounds like he messed up with a seal or something that's causing a drop in pressure........Maybe he didn't install the filter correctly and you will be lucky. I hope I don't have those problems once I get mine back in. uzzled:

 

Well,, im going to try to find someone else to rebuild it. I figure I lost 600.00 on this one. It takes forever to get ahold of him, it took nearly a month for him to ''adust my vacuum'', and I cannot keep shelling out the money to have it hauled up to his place everytime it screws up. I thought that when you have a transmission rebuilt, it is supposed to work like new again. Not run 40-50 miles and screw up again. Im going to find someone local, and start all over. I dont know what else to do, especially when its so hard to get ahold of the guy who rebuilt it for me.

 

Who is this bozo, and where's he located? I know some people... :Brow:

 

Im going to try to get ahold of him again tomorrow, and if that doesnt work, then im going to come up with some more money, dont know where, to put towards having it re-rebuilt. Hopefully it will get done the right way this time...

 

He should have crawled under the car and adjusted the vacuum on the spot AND shown you how. Having not done that and kept the car more than an hour or two (A MONTH!?) tells me you need to LOSE this guy, find another shop and bill or try somehow to get your money back.

 

The part that sucks about these trannies is trying to find a place that knows what a switch pitch is.........many mechanics look at you like you're on crack when you tell them it's a SP 400. One guy I talked to told me I had a turbo 375! uzzled:

This guy Brian took his tranny to knew what one was, and I thought he would do a good job. ou:

 

Yea, he told me more than I knew about the transmissions over the phone, which had me believing he knew about them.

But, he just called me back. He told me that it sounds like a reverse valve hanging up, or something like that, I dont remember his actual words. He told me go outside, start it up cold and put it into gear and call him back and tell him what happens. Well, I went outside, and started it up cold, and put it into reverse. It went into gear pretty solid. I took it out of gear and went to drive. It shifted into drive really solid as well.. Like it is supposed. I put the car back in park and let it warm up. Once it was all warmed up, I put it into reverse and had nothing. I then went on down to drive, and had nothing again. I shut the car off and came back up here and called him back and told him what happened. He said that is really weird, and that he had a group of people in front of me, and he had to call me back after he thought about it. I do believe him about the group of people, because I could hear alot of people in the background talking. So, now, im waiting for him to call me back.

In a nutshell...
I pulled the tranny out of the car, and took it to him. He rebuilt it and I went and picked it up and put it back in my car. I tried to test drive it and it had no 3rd gear and slipped going into 2nd gear. It took me close to a month to finally contact him again to see what was up with it. Once I got ahold of him, I rented a trailor and took the car to him. 2days later he calls me up and said its ready to go. I had my gf drive me out there and I drove the car back home (40 something mile drive), without a problem. Since then, ive put about 10-15 more miles on the car without a problem. I drove it yesterday without a problem, I got in it today and this thread was created...

 

Brian,

You might want to try Mike Kurtz the owner of Century transmission. He is a Houston Buick Club Member. He also gives discounts to members of the Houston Buick Club.

281 633-8155

http://www.centurytransmission.com

 

I may have to do that. Its been close to 11hrs and still no call back... It just sucks that I already spent so much on it and its still not fixed.. Thanks.

 

I have two THM400s; one in the car and one sitting in the floor ready to go.

I know enough about them to change the friction material but if things get too indepth I'm in over my head. I had a rash of problems one year and found a guy (here in Michigan, of course) to make the repairs and then dyno test the trans before giving it back.

I think the dyno test is key: that way you know you are good to go before spending several hours horsing the bulk back into the car only to find somebody left an O ring out.

K

 

I'd have Mike or somebody else fix it right, then take the bozo to small claims court for the $600 + time and expenses pulling and transporting the trans.

I'm no lawyer, but from what little I know, it'd be a straightforward case: You paid hime to fix it, he didn't, you took it back, he still didn't, he won't return your call, so you took it somewhere else. He didn't do what you paid him to do, after a 2nd chance. You've been more than reasonable here. Just have all your documentation lined up.

Sloppy Mechanics... :af: :spank:

 

I've been thinking about this problem.....although I'm far from a transmission guru, I've really been into how this transmission works over the past week since I'm attempting to rebuild mine. A thought came to mind today as I was assembling my front pump...........I wonder if he forgot to tighten the pump bolts or maybe the pressure regulator valve is sticking? The fact you have pressure when it's cold but not when it's warm would indicate to me there's something wrong in that area. Didn't you say it was noisy at first? That's an indication of an air leak into the suction side of the oil pump.

You may be able to have it repaired without rebuilding the whole thing.....try taking it to someone else for a second opinion first. You may be surprised what they find once they get the pan down. Maybe the valve body wasn't properly tightened? The fact it shifted well and worked without slipping for a short time may be a good thing. I have a feeling your problem is something simple. Either way it sucks that you got hosed. :af:

 

Any updates?

 

I still have not heard anything from him. Im working till sunday evening. Im going to give him till Monday morning to call me. If I do not hear anything, im going to attempt to call him. If that fails, then I am going to proceed forward from there. Any ideas on how to set up a case in small claims court? What are the costs of doing so?

 

Did he give you a receipt? If so, take it somewhere else for an estimate and get in writing what may be wrong with it. it still could be something very simple. The court may order him to pay for what it cost you to get it fixed right. I don't know the laws in Texas, but here in NY the fee is minimal. Just keep in mind that even if you win, collecting the money is another thing. See if he is a member of the BBB.....if not, then going to court may be your only option. It's in your best interest to give this joker every chance to make good........keep a record of when you called and if you spoke to him what he said.

That tranny is a good one, but if someone screws it up good enough you will have problems. My dad had a '72 estate wagon, Th400, after the third rebuilt tranny went within 6 months he junked the car. The first guy went out of business, and the second guy was just as bad as the first guy. The converter went the third time, and my dad would not give him another chance. I hope your convertor is OK, I don't know wher you could get a new one that's SP and good quality. Do you know if he flushed it? o No:

 

Brian,
Without looking at the car it is hard for me to say for sure. It sure does sound like a pressure problem. Once the fluid heats up and thins down, your problem happens.
My 2 cents worth is to give the filter a good looking over. Have had many a trans work fine when cold and the shift soft or slip when hot. A filter change solved the problem.
Other than that, someone has to go back into it and see what is going on. Sorry to hear you are still having problems.

Good Luck,
Mark

 

Yes, I have a reciept, and I took screenshots of his website where me and him communicated back and forth (which he deleted from the website).

 

Whats weird to me is, before I ever had any work done on the tranny, it had problems. While it was cold, it would shift, but as soon as it warmed up a bit , it slipped badly. I pulled it out and had him rebuilt it, then it had no 3rd, so I took it back. It worked perfect with firm shifts for a few days, and now its back to the original problem. Like it never was ever worked on to begin with.