Blown trans seal - UPDATE!!!

[bigdaddyoc]

Ok so heres my latest crap on this subject...can you tell I'm not happy....

I get a call today around lunch. I'm in a meeting so I can't answer it. I proceed to listen to the message and can't believe what I'm hearing.

"Chrysler has decided not to allow us to ORDER the replacement seals for your transmission. Instead they have asked us to remove the entire transmission and send it to them for further evaluation. I'll have an UPDATE for you in a few days."

I was like WTF....update in a few days my ass. I get on the phone and speak to assistant service manager. He says thats what they told him and that they were fighting with them as we spoke to get the seals instead of their idea. He calls me back a little while later to inform me that its a no go...they want the whole trans so that they can evaluate the problem. BUT...their solution....we'll ship you a replacement transmission to install in the car. Expect it to be delivered in approx 5-7 business days. Ok so at this point I'm hot...then he decides to break me more good news. " our other problem is this, your upgraded warranty does allow for a rental car, but only for the amout of time based on the hours in the book for total repair. Trans replacement books out for only 3 days so after that you are on your own with the rental. Oh hell no you didn't just tell me that. So I tell him he better figure this out before the amount of time elapses that I can get to the dealership...lol...mind you I was there yesterday...he remembers how big I am....so he calls me back to let me know that they were going to "do me a favor" by extending my rental car coverage until the vehicle is fixed. I said no...you did yourself a favor..trust me.

So needless to say...I'm extremely pissed off tonight. I'm going to be without my car for probably 2 weeks because of some bull**** with chrysler not releasing replacement parts.

Ok I'm done venting...thanks for letting me rant.

[davidl13]

that's nutty, i am sure if you talk to the right person, you will have your rental car covered...

BYW...there are magnum SXT and 300's out there to rent....

good luck...i am pullin for ya'!

[gone2vegas]

That sucks Bill! Chrysler should be paying for the rental car since they are the ones who want your trans. I can't believe they didn't even offer to cover it. Well, maybe I can. Anyhow, hope it all works out.

[bri]

i'm an insufferable optimist, and as much as you don't want to hear this, at least someone at DCX seems interested in investigating a failure with their products..

either that or collecting all the evidence..

[Unholy]

That sucks! They should be paying your rental for an car of equal value... tell them you want a escalade or something expensive. I mean you still have to pay your monthly payment... right?

Wait... cant you just tell them no. Get some other guinny pig?

[smackdaddy]

Two thoughts:

1) I can't imagine the dealership not covering the rental car in this obviously extenuating circumstance. You should make it a point to press this issue with management and/or ownership, they will not be happy to hear that some drone made that mistake. Clearly, in the end, you were not going to pay for a rental car in that situation, so to even get you angry was a big mistake, and his master will want to know.

2) I'm actually glad that DC has asked for the tranny back. I want them to figure out the problem for everybody, not just you. They can't have transmissions going bad just because they get broken in hard.

So...that sucks. But if could be MUCH worse!

[markyneutron]

Did they say where they were going to send it. CTC or the factory. Either way that's crap if your are going to be wheeless you should be accommodated, Bcuz it is not your fault it is DCX's.

[Fred]

Same deal happened with 2001 honda accords, trans was recalled, Honda told dealers don't freakin touch the trans sent it back still sealed to us or you get no credit for the return... I don't think the dealer wants to risk probably 3 grand for this trans to try to fix it and have the same problem again anyway

[jeepgrady]

You are probably much better off getting a whole new tranny as opposed to the bozos at the dealer screwing things up. I would be grateful for that.

Not to rub salt in your woumds, but: If you had the 300 you would get a loaner car no questions asked.

[kentc1978]

Hate to say this, but even though these trannys are MBZ derived, they sound like they still have the typical Chrysler reliability. My tranny in my 2000 Ram has been rebuilt twice already. Once by the dealership, and once when it went out of warranty, I had a shop do it second time. So far so good with the second though. Hopefully these won't suffer the same fate.

[henry]

That's an incredibly broad statement.

Chrysler transmissions have about the same failure rate as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, GM, Ford, you name it.

When a consumer GROUP hops on a failure mode bandwagon all of a sudden it's the hallmark failure mode - nothing but transmissions.....geez!

It's the Audi 5000 all over again. One idiot presses the gas instead of the brake, calls a newspaperman and all of a sudden thousands of Audis are "surging". What a crock of bs that was.

FYI the most reliable car I've ever owned bar none is not a Honda (of which I've had two) it is my PT Cruiser Classic. Zero problems to date. I hope my Magnum is just as reliable.

Henry

[schmeky]

kentc1978

I built automatic transmissions for many years as a hobby for street/strip and drag racing. Got to know a lot of builders over the years throughout the country.

I would follow up (if you have not already done so) on your past transmission failures in ORDER to know what precisely went bad. There are several good aftermarket companies that flourish on little idiosyncrecies, minor flaws, and problem areas in a trans and quickly develop items to alleviate the malady. Sonnax is one of the better known.

It could even be unexpected things like a filter pick-up located to close to the pan restricting fluid flow. A trans line can be positioned to close to an exhaust component, especially the supply side (return to the trans). If you install a trans cooler, always mount the largest one you can and position it in front of the A/C condenser.

Most modern valve bodies are now aluminum instead of cast iron and accelerated wear can occur on a pressure regulating or modulating spool valve bore causing a decrease in line pressure. Converters can fail (especially the L/U clutch) and may or may not take the trans with it. Nearly all reputable aftermarket converter companies braze their converters whereas most factory converters merely have the turbine fin locating tabs "bent over" w/o brazing.

Alto makes a very good friction clutch called the "Red Devil" and these have prolonged the life of many GM4L60E series that were used for towing.

From my experience, most trans shops can be pretty vague on what your particular failure was. Don't allow them to talk over your head, find out what happened.

[smackdaddy]

The only problem I've ever had with my 1996 Ram is that the AC developed a leak. 100k miles and minimal maintenance. *knock*

Now, it gets to be the homedepotmobile for the rest of its life...that is, as soon as DC gets around to building my AWD RT (8/13). :x

[Cucamonga Red RT]

"Chrysler has decided not to allow us to ORDER the replacement seals for your transmission. Instead they have asked us to remove the entire transmission and send it to them for further evaluation.

Big Daddy,

I remember a series of posts between you and DJClause regarding dyno horsepower at rear wheel versus at flywheel, etc.

You had questioned why DJClause got higher # than you did.

I was at Brothers Performance in your neck of the wood last weekend, and they confirmed that RT's are coming out 306 hp +/- at the rear wheel on first runs.

With the problem you are HAVING with your power train currently, do you think that may have accounted for your low horsepower?

Here is your post FROM that old thread

"And considering the other numbers(271hp & 289TQ) posted in the dodgeforum.com post were mine I'm still not sure how you got these numbers. My HP numbers were pretty much right on although the Tq seemed down by about 20lbs. Some say this could be the conditions we ran under, others think maybe the ESP was trying to kick in...who knows. I will be running it again here in a few weeks in hopefully much cooler condtions( sure as hell not today at over 100!) and in stages with the exhaust done and then with the CAI. I'll make sure to run it also with the 18's on so they are exact match runs...then i'll try it with the 20's and see how it throws it off.

I know I've heard of some factory variances in HP but 34 over mine and more then 50 over the other guys just seems like something else is the culprit.

[bigdaddyoc]

Take a look at the dyno sheet posted by K&N in the Typhoon post by E55kev....those numbers almost match mine exactly. And mine wasn't the only magnum used...I'm sure if they was a magnum thta posted better they would have used that instead.

Then work the numbers backwards on mine and those others(304hp or whatever it was)....if I remember correctly mine works out to the factory advertised HP almost to a T. The others come out and something like 370hp ..I don't remember.

But no...this has nothing do with it. Their was nothing wrong with the trans as far as power delivery...it was a simple leak...thats all. They just wanted to know why it leaked, something about the possibility of a pourus<sp> case.

And here we are....2 weeks later...and still nothing. Still no car...still no answers....sure makes me realize how much I really liked that car now that I'm without it.