How to have your slushbox rebuilt... (NOT!) :-( Very long....

[MHLIGGINS@aol.com]

	When it started looking somewhat poor I started keeping notes on this fiasco.
Thought I'd share the notes with you. The transmission shop in Clarksville is
a one hundred mile round trip. We made several.
	Later.
	--ml

	We began checking on having the work done in late November. We were told that
it
normally took five days for the job to be done. Day one - pull trans/diff. Day
2 - tear down and
inspect. Day 3 - get parts. Day 4 - rebuild trans. Day 5 - reinstall. Gary
Watts had one done and
this was the timetable. (I recently found out that he'd been promised three
days...)
	The car was dropped off in Clarksville on 22 December 1998. We understood
that, due
to the impending holidays, the car would not be done in five days. We were
given the impression that two
weeks would be needed. We were told that we would be called the following
Monday (before
New Year's day) with a status report. No call from them so we called
Clarksville. 

	From the call log:
	Monday (28 Dec) - "call back Tuesday."
	Tuesday (29 Dec) - "call back Wednesday."
	Wednesday (30 Dec) - "call back Thursday."
	Thursday (31 Dec) - Joe is gone and no one knows the status.
	Friday (1 Jan) - New Year's day.
	Saturday (2 Jan) - no answer.

Monday (4 Jan) - "the trans will be pulled today."
Tuesday (5 Jan) - "the trans is now out, will be checked real soon now."

Wednesday (6 Jan) - We went to Clarksville to check on progress. We were told
the car needed
a torque converter, quoted verbally as $200. We needed Joel Mark's parking
pass for school
since the car was not ready -- as we had been led to believe it would be. We
were told that the
trans had been pulled but the diff was still in the car, which is strange
since they come out as a
single unit.

Monday (11 Jan) - finally got a call from Clarksville at about 7:00 p.m.
Trans needs complete overhaul. Diff gears are within spec, diff cover is
cracked, diff bearings
are gone.
Trans needs a master kit - $378.00.
Trans needs a filter - $11.00.
Washer kit - $90.00.
Differential kit - $122.00.
Differential bearings - $333.00.
Torque converter - now quoted as $306.
Labor - $229.00.
With labor the total was quoted as $1497.00. My math shows $1469.00, not sure
where the
difference is. I promised to get back with him as soon as Joel Mark & I had
time to discuss it.
Told him we had expected the quote to be twice the original, but not three
times that amount.
Was not thrilled with the tripled cost factor.

Tuesday (12 Jan) - checked prices and availability. He has bumped the price
right up against the
edge, so there's not much use in ordering parts. Exception - torque converter.
At $200 I thought
it was high, at $306 I thought it was outrageous. German Transaxles offers a
rebuild for $125
plus freight, $75 core charge. Joe says they are planning to have it ready by
Friday, so if I'm
supplying the converter I better hurry.  Made arrangements for one out of
Nashville because next
day freight from German Transaxles is very expensive. The quoted cost is still
less than GTA's quote, especially with  freight both ways.

Wednesday (13 Jan) - finish checking prices. Called Joe to tell him we had a
torque converter,
but he was to do the other repairs. Joe told me that since we had a torque
converter he'd knock
that $200 off the bill, making it $1268. Reminded him that HIS quote had been
$306. He also told
me that the warranty would not cover converter failure. Now the quote is for
$1162, including
labor.  Told him I would have the torque converter there on Thursday or
Friday.

Friday (15 Jan) - torque converter delivered to Clarksville, as promised. Joe
is not around.
Talked to Paul and he showed me the trans and diff. Old torque converter was
really bad
looking. Dad died that morning, in Tucson.

Saturday (16 Jan) to Saturday (23 Jan)  - no contact due to my dad's funeral.

Monday morning (25 Jan) - called to check on, hopefully, picking up the car.
Joe NOW tells me
he's about to order the parts. 10 FULL DAYS after the repairs were authorized.
I  told him we
wanted the car done by Friday. "Well, we'll try." I told him "Try" was not
good enough because it
had been far too long already.

Monday afternoon (25 Jan) - parts are ordered and should be in on Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon (27 Jan) - parts are in and the trans should be put
together on Thursday.

Thursday (28 Jan) - they are working on the trans, might have it done today.

Friday morning (29 Jan) - trans is done, they are working on diff, might have
it ready to install
this afternoon.
Friday afternoon (29 Jan) - visit to Clarksville. Trans/diff is finished, but
no rack time to reinstall.
Won't be done Saturday either. Car will be done on Monday.
Kenny rebuilt the trans and diff. We had him loosen the diff fill plug.
Talked to Paul. Asked to have synthetic ATF used in the trans. Told them Red
Line is $8 per
quart, so don't want to be over that. The book calls for six quarts for a
total change of ATF. Paul
also said the coolant hoses to the trans need to be replaced. He thinks they
are standard heater
hose. I told him the repair should be done. That repair is authorized if the
hoses are standard,
otherwise they are to call me first. Also advised Paul that we left Red Line
gear lube to be used
in the final drive, it's in the car. So there should be no charge for gear
oil. There should be a
"deduct" for the standard ATF.

Monday (1 Feb) - Joel Mark called Atlanta to tell me he'd been told the torque
converter didn't fit.
They told him they would order one. Instructed him to ask the price, and if
it's still the $306 to tell
them to wait until I got home. 

Tuesday (2 Feb) - Joel Mark called Atlanta to tell me Joe had quoted the same
$306 so he had
asked told them to cancel the order. He also told me that some woman had come
by to look at it
and said it was not right. After consulting with her father she said it could
have been off by 1/4"
and cause lots of problems. The torque converter was ordered anyway. Joel Mark
says he's now
being told that we have to hurry because they are planning to have the car
ready this week.

Friday (5 Feb) - Checked on the doughnut at different places on the way home,
none available in
Nashville. Voice mail message says to call Mr. Transmission IMMEDIATELY.
Phoned after I got
in from Atlanta. Joe answered, Paul needed to talk to me. Told him no luck on
the doughnut. He
also told me they lost one of the bolts to hold the front axle in place, we
need to supply another.
Was advised that someone would be working on it Saturday morning, would be
there until noon.
They needed the bolt and a doughnut if available.

Saturday (6 Feb) - Advance Auto Parts ordered the wrong thing, still no
doughnut. Took the front
axle bolt to Clarksville to pick up car.  10:30, no one there.  11:30, Paul
drives up in a yellow
truck, someone else in the cab with him. Stays parked two minutes, then goes
up the road
beside the shop.  I wrote a note and left it, plus the bolt, taped to the
front door.  12:30, Paul and
someone in shop. He lets me in and shows me the Audi on the rack. Nothing has
been done. I
got the parts of the doughnut. Also put the axle bolt on the bench in front of
the Audi. Paul will be
out most of the next two weeks due to his mom's problems with cancer
recurrence. He says there
should be someone at the shop at about 8:00 on Monday. Also told me it would
be better to have
a new exhaust gasket at the flange.

Monday (8 Feb) morning - Picked up the flange gasket at Advance Auto, doughnut
at Waverly
Tire. Got to Clarksville at about 9:30, Paul was working on the car. Paid the
bill. Synth ATF had
not been picked up. Went to Auto Zone and got 7 quarts of Mobil 1 synthetic.
Was back by about
10:00. Joe left, so Paul had to work on the car and catch the phone. He was
working against an
11:00 deadline because he needed to take his mother to the doctor. Paul
finished just before
11:00, Leroy went for the check ride. Said it was not right. I had to teach
class in Waverly
starting at 12:15, so I left at 11:15. Kenny and Leroy were working on it as I
left. The torque
converter they installed was not an extra charge.

Monday (8 Feb) afternoon - called the shop just after 15:00. Was told to call
back in 15 minutes.
So Linda & I drove to Clarksville, got there by 16:30. The car was on the lift
and had an exhaust
leak. Dave was working on it. They said the trans had been pulled again and a
seal was
replaced. Thought they'd have it ready by closing. Joe and Kenny went for a
check ride, with Joe
saying he was very confident in the transmission. They came back and parked
the car in the
back, saying they'd need another day. Should be ready tomorrow. Paul will be
in Tuesday
morning to work on it. As it stands now, they have the money and the car, we
have nothing but
lots of miles racked up on the highway.

Tuesday (9 Feb) -- called at 11:00, they're working on it, call back later.
Called at 1:30 and was
told the car was ready. Drove up there with Joel Mark after school, arrived
just after 4:30. Dave
said they'd pulled everything again today. Joe said it was another seal. Our
check ride revealed
that the car shifts "early" going 1-2 and "late" going 2-3. Joel Mark also
notes that it now shows
3,000 rpm for 65 m/h where it was 2,800 rpm before they worked on it. Joe told
us to bring the
car back in three weeks because they are concerned about leaks. We plan to
head back no
later than the first week of March.  We got some of the "old" parts back, but
not all.

Wednesday (10 Feb) -- Joel Mark told me that the car refused to shift into
third this morning until
he was a half mile down the road, even at 3,500 rpm. After it went into third
the first time it shifted
reliably afterward.