Never knew what a nightmare tranny repair could be. I broke my tranny last fall, just before winter. I ended up buying one from a vendor on this board. (won't mention names) Before I installed it I sent my converter back to PPC for a freshining & adding a little more stall. I wanted to make sure it was clean, didnt want a stuck valve body. I also bypassed my factory cooler, installed 2 aftermarket coolers & new lines. I even added a magnetic in line filter. After installing my new tranny, I noticed it didnt shift right. Really harsh 1-2 shift, early 2-3 & no O.D. untill 60 + mph. I called the builder & he thought I got junk in the valve body, & to get it hot, pull the detent while in reverse & then change the fluid & filter. I really doubted this was the problem due to all the precautions I took but I did as told. Fluid & filter were spotless as I figured they would be. Put it all back together & same problems. At this time I had to put it away for winter & figured I'd put some miles on it in the spring. Well spring came & it still didnt shift correctly but figured I had to live with it, untill I took it to the track, I found out the tranny wouldnt upshift into 2nd gear under WOT. This I couldnt live with so I called him again, & he told me to do the "flush fluid thing" again, so I did & no difference. Finally he said to remove it, drain it, wrap it & put it on a pallet & take it back to the shipper (20 miles away) & ship it back to him so he could check it out. (To his credit, he paid shipping) After almost 3 weeks I got a call from him saying he somehow installed the wrong valves & sleeves in the valve body & he was really sorry, I know shi! happens so I said no problem, were all human. To help him save $$ on return shipping, I offered to meet him at Summit Raceway because I was going to the Pinks All Out event there & it was only about a 2 hour drive for him. Again he said he was really sorry & that it will shift great this time. I was just happy to get it back, get it home & install it on Monday.
Well, It did shift somewhat better, still fairly harsh 1-2 & early 2-3 but O.D. shifted right where it should. I figured could live with that. I took it to a cruise night that same Monday putting about 4 miles on it. Afterwards, I was driving home about 50 mph, in 4th gear when I stepped on it enough to make sure the 4-3 downshift worked. At maybe 1/2 throttle, hardly any boost as it downshifted, it went KABOOM!
I heard all kinds of really bad sounds coming from the tranny, I pulled over, checked the fluid which was fine. I thought maybe the rear end blew or even a u joint, but no such luck. It would move only in second gear, making noise I knew I shouldnt try driving it but I didnt want to leave it in the area that it broke down in. Got it home, made it to my driveway & that was it. I pushed it into my garage......
I called the builder & he started giving me a hard time saying it was all my fault, & he wished he would have bought it back from me from the start because he knew I wouldnt be happy. Basicly blamed my driving and/or install on the failure. He also said you can't do the 4-3 downshift because it will break everytime!! Remember, up untill now my only complaint was the harsh & no shifting into O.D which he admitted he screwed up! He finaly told me to pull it again & to send it back to him & if it was anything he did wrong he'd cover it but "hard parts" were not covered. During the last call, he told me that he didnt know anything about the core he used & it could have had 200,000 miles on it. I was under the impression that he used new and/or hardned parts in the critical areas because he told me this high performance tranny was built to survive in a high 10 second car, which my car isn't close to. I ended up telling him I was going to take it to someone else because I didnt trust him anymore & if this tranny wasnt what he said it was I was going to post his name & business & what the failure was. He didn't want me to do this due to "his technology" & offered me $1,000 if I returned it to him. ( I paid $1850 + 3 fluid & filter changes & 3 installs) So, thats what I did. Bottom line, I think I got screwed on this deal. I told him the original tranny lasted 85,000 miles of driving + over 150 runs @ the track & his tranny lasted less than 100 miles. He said this happens sometimes & basicly it sucks to be me.
I guess I learned my lesson, even though this builder had good feedback, check out your builder & ask a lot of questions before spending your hard earned cash. Thanks!!
Well, It did shift somewhat better, still fairly harsh 1-2 & early 2-3 but O.D. shifted right where it should. I figured could live with that. I took it to a cruise night that same Monday putting about 4 miles on it. Afterwards, I was driving home about 50 mph, in 4th gear when I stepped on it enough to make sure the 4-3 downshift worked. At maybe 1/2 throttle, hardly any boost as it downshifted, it went KABOOM!
I heard all kinds of really bad sounds coming from the tranny, I pulled over, checked the fluid which was fine. I thought maybe the rear end blew or even a u joint, but no such luck. It would move only in second gear, making noise I knew I shouldnt try driving it but I didnt want to leave it in the area that it broke down in. Got it home, made it to my driveway & that was it. I pushed it into my garage......
I called the builder & he started giving me a hard time saying it was all my fault, & he wished he would have bought it back from me from the start because he knew I wouldnt be happy. Basicly blamed my driving and/or install on the failure. He also said you can't do the 4-3 downshift because it will break everytime!! Remember, up untill now my only complaint was the harsh & no shifting into O.D which he admitted he screwed up! He finaly told me to pull it again & to send it back to him & if it was anything he did wrong he'd cover it but "hard parts" were not covered. During the last call, he told me that he didnt know anything about the core he used & it could have had 200,000 miles on it. I was under the impression that he used new and/or hardned parts in the critical areas because he told me this high performance tranny was built to survive in a high 10 second car, which my car isn't close to. I ended up telling him I was going to take it to someone else because I didnt trust him anymore & if this tranny wasnt what he said it was I was going to post his name & business & what the failure was. He didn't want me to do this due to "his technology" & offered me $1,000 if I returned it to him. ( I paid $1850 + 3 fluid & filter changes & 3 installs) So, thats what I did. Bottom line, I think I got screwed on this deal. I told him the original tranny lasted 85,000 miles of driving + over 150 runs @ the track & his tranny lasted less than 100 miles. He said this happens sometimes & basicly it sucks to be me.
I guess I learned my lesson, even though this builder had good feedback, check out your builder & ask a lot of questions before spending your hard earned cash. Thanks!!
The guy who is building my original tranny didnt even want that one for parts! He said he only wanted my original core. I was recommended to him from a bunch of guys in my local Turbo Buick club. He is out of Ohio & is building my tranny with several billet parts for $1800 + delivery. I live in Buffalo NY so I drove to his shop & talked to him before deciding on him. He really knows his stuff, he races his own 86 GN. Ran low 9's with the 200 4 r he built. I have no doubt this one will work & last.
