That explains the wait. . shipping both ways by truck takes time.
Hope you have a bit better luck this time.
Hope you have a bit better luck this time.
-
TDR Magazine subscribers receive more than the magazine! You also gain additional forum privileges!
Details here: TDR Privileges
Subscribe to TDR Magazine here: https://www.tdr-online.com/
ATS transmission Woes
- Thread starter BillZ
- Start Date
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies To the point: Click this link and check out the Front Page News story(ies) where we are tracking the introduction of the 2025 Ram HD trucks.
Thanks, TDR Staff
I only have 1 bad thing to say about ATS. That's their instructions. I followed the instructions to a T when i installed one in dads truck. It said to hook up a pressure guage at the center port, start truck, idle in neutral, pressure should be about (enter # here) The directions should have read, start vehicle, idle in neutral for roughly 2 mins, then place into drive and watch pressure. Pressure should be (enter # here) That's the only bad part i ran into. It was a very small problem, but i contacted their sales rep and got everything sorted out.
Bill i sure hope for your sake that this trans is a keeper. If you're saying this new trans is banging into lockup, i would have it checked out by an ATS authorized repair facility. Sounds like the TC is locking up to hard, wich could snap the input
Shipping does take forever!!! 2 to 2. 5 weeks for build time/shipping
I just wish my dads ATS had just a tad bit lower stall to it.
Good Luck
Curtis
Bill i sure hope for your sake that this trans is a keeper. If you're saying this new trans is banging into lockup, i would have it checked out by an ATS authorized repair facility. Sounds like the TC is locking up to hard, wich could snap the input
Shipping does take forever!!! 2 to 2. 5 weeks for build time/shipping
I just wish my dads ATS had just a tad bit lower stall to it.
Good Luck
Curtis
The question as to who builds the most trannys' is an interesting one . I wonder? I do know one thing, if Clint and Bill are as busy as Joe, how in the world could you ever count? Maybe it would come down as to how many folks work there. That would be the largest, I guess. I know one thing for sure, Joe's CNC machine stops when the doors are locked and everybody goes home for the night. And I mean busy.
. . Preston. .
. . Preston. .
ats v
joel and those guys have always seemed like good guys to me and i have 6100 in a level 5 with the billet input shaft. They are trying to make sure the guy gets what he originally was supposed to. It's a bit unfortunate it took a while and there were 2 instances but hopefully his luck changes. Now if the third goes bad then i would be ******... ..... hope that never happens sir
joel and those guys have always seemed like good guys to me and i have 6100 in a level 5 with the billet input shaft. They are trying to make sure the guy gets what he originally was supposed to. It's a bit unfortunate it took a while and there were 2 instances but hopefully his luck changes. Now if the third goes bad then i would be ******... ..... hope that never happens sir
Mark_Kendrick said:
I guess you sure did, considering that BillZ has posted that ATS did know and speak with the installer in Seattle. :-laf You tried to make it look like he took it to some unqualified shop that ATS wasn't aware of, with your 'take it to Joe Shmuckatelli' and then expect warranty coverage comment. .
As a manny guy, I have no dog in this fight.
When I read about transmission problem with an aftermarket auto trans, the first phrase I expect to see is: " I have dealt repeatedly with (insert vendor) and they were given multiple chances to solve my problem before I posted this. "
Though the lead poster didn't say the above, the story seems to bear out that he gave ATS first crack at problem solving before coming on TDR. In light of that fact, I have a hard time seeing how someone is "trashing" a vendor. He's simply posting about his experiences with a certain vendor.
Note: someone ELSE'S experience with a certain vendor is completely IRRELEVANT to any individual customer. If a vendor has a 99% satisfaction rate with 100 customers, how do you think the 1% guy feels? Any differently? If you're not satisfied, you're not satisfied-- and thousands of OTHER happy customers won't change that.
Conversely, what if someone is supremely happy with a product that is often bashed? What if the tables were turned and 99% of the customers were UNhappy? Do you think that would rain on the parade of the 1 guy who was absolutely thrilled with his purchase??
It's an interesting dynamic that so many people try to INVALIDATE someone else's experience based on their own. Person A says that a vendor could have done better, and suddenly Person B will chime in to say Person A is wrong? What's up with that? We each set our own standards for customer satisfaction, so how is someone's else's standard relevant to OUR own?
It's almost like the blind men arguing over what an elephant feels like. The one man feels the trunk and contends that elephants are rough and scaly. Another feels the tusks and argues that elephants are cool and smooth. Another feels the tail and says that elephants are soft and a little hairy. Who's right??
My dealings with the vendor in question have been minimal, limited only to their big to-dos each year. But I HAVE met Clint and Mike, and Renee and a lot of the ATS crew. I was given a tour of their facility and I was impressed. If my clutch goes out before I move from this area, I will drive down to them to have the work done.
Our capitalistic system is nothing more than free people engaging in mutually beneficial transactions. If a vendor thinks someone's expectations are unreasonable, they aren't obligated to sell to them. Likewise, a customer isn't obligated to a certain vendor if they don't like the terms and conditions of the warrantee/sale.
Though we as TDR members take into account posts like this when choosing a vendor, we should keep in mind that most vendors on here have 10 quietly satisfied customers for every dissatisfied one, and that we need to place the evidence we find in its proper context before rendering a decision.
JM5C
jlh
When I read about transmission problem with an aftermarket auto trans, the first phrase I expect to see is: " I have dealt repeatedly with (insert vendor) and they were given multiple chances to solve my problem before I posted this. "
Though the lead poster didn't say the above, the story seems to bear out that he gave ATS first crack at problem solving before coming on TDR. In light of that fact, I have a hard time seeing how someone is "trashing" a vendor. He's simply posting about his experiences with a certain vendor.
Note: someone ELSE'S experience with a certain vendor is completely IRRELEVANT to any individual customer. If a vendor has a 99% satisfaction rate with 100 customers, how do you think the 1% guy feels? Any differently? If you're not satisfied, you're not satisfied-- and thousands of OTHER happy customers won't change that.
Conversely, what if someone is supremely happy with a product that is often bashed? What if the tables were turned and 99% of the customers were UNhappy? Do you think that would rain on the parade of the 1 guy who was absolutely thrilled with his purchase??
It's an interesting dynamic that so many people try to INVALIDATE someone else's experience based on their own. Person A says that a vendor could have done better, and suddenly Person B will chime in to say Person A is wrong? What's up with that? We each set our own standards for customer satisfaction, so how is someone's else's standard relevant to OUR own?
It's almost like the blind men arguing over what an elephant feels like. The one man feels the trunk and contends that elephants are rough and scaly. Another feels the tusks and argues that elephants are cool and smooth. Another feels the tail and says that elephants are soft and a little hairy. Who's right??
My dealings with the vendor in question have been minimal, limited only to their big to-dos each year. But I HAVE met Clint and Mike, and Renee and a lot of the ATS crew. I was given a tour of their facility and I was impressed. If my clutch goes out before I move from this area, I will drive down to them to have the work done.
Our capitalistic system is nothing more than free people engaging in mutually beneficial transactions. If a vendor thinks someone's expectations are unreasonable, they aren't obligated to sell to them. Likewise, a customer isn't obligated to a certain vendor if they don't like the terms and conditions of the warrantee/sale.
Though we as TDR members take into account posts like this when choosing a vendor, we should keep in mind that most vendors on here have 10 quietly satisfied customers for every dissatisfied one, and that we need to place the evidence we find in its proper context before rendering a decision.
JM5C
jlh
Last edited:
I just want to reiterate that I in no way am saying that ATS has bad products or service. I just have stated my opinion on BillZ's unfortunate situation. FWIW I still will consider ATS' products a little bit down the road when I shop for my trans upgrades.
While this may have been a trying example of their service, many folks will remember the guy recently who had an ATS TC fail due to a bad installation, and ATS bent over backwards sending a new TC to the guy's local dealer to be installed, etc.
Whats up macdaddy, good to see you posting, it's been a while
While this may have been a trying example of their service, many folks will remember the guy recently who had an ATS TC fail due to a bad installation, and ATS bent over backwards sending a new TC to the guy's local dealer to be installed, etc.
Whats up macdaddy, good to see you posting, it's been a while
Hey Bill. Glad to see I'm not the only one with ATS transmission problems. Since you shared your timeline I guess I'll share mine.
Mar 04: Purchased ATS stg V transmission $6K.
Mar 04: Truck is down for 4 days because ATS forgot to send the valve body assist resistor. I was in training on Ft. Hood so no big deal on down time.
Dec 04: transmission completely failed,cause is still unknown. Called ATS for guidance. Their reply was to return to the installation shop in Houston (an authorised ATS dealer) Vehicle towed to this shop versus the local ATS shop($450 towing)
Jan 05: Its been three weeks since the transmission failure and the truck is still down. ATS at this point decided to send the Houston shop a new TC/ transmission.
Feb 05: The new transmission and TC arrived and was installed. Shuddering and 3rd gear starts keep the truck down for another 3 weeks.
Mar 05: My deployment date for overseas duty in Iraq are two weeks away and my truck is still down. Decided to pick up the truck from the Houston shop whether it was fixed or not(1400. 00 labor and diagnostics fee). Drove in limp mode for 4 hours from Houston to Ft. Hood. I'm having the transmission looked at by the local transmission shop in hopes that they can get the truck driveable before I place it in storage for deployment.
With my timeline shared you may note the truck has been down for 3 months. I'm not going to bad mouth anyone at this time but I sure hope that having a truck down for 3 months is not what anyone would consider good customer service. By GOD's good graces should I return from my 2nd tour of duty in Iraq rest assured this problem will be resolved over the phone or in person.
SSG Nate Sarabia
US Army (E. O. D)
Ft. Hood, TX
Mar 04: Purchased ATS stg V transmission $6K.
Mar 04: Truck is down for 4 days because ATS forgot to send the valve body assist resistor. I was in training on Ft. Hood so no big deal on down time.
Dec 04: transmission completely failed,cause is still unknown. Called ATS for guidance. Their reply was to return to the installation shop in Houston (an authorised ATS dealer) Vehicle towed to this shop versus the local ATS shop($450 towing)
Jan 05: Its been three weeks since the transmission failure and the truck is still down. ATS at this point decided to send the Houston shop a new TC/ transmission.
Feb 05: The new transmission and TC arrived and was installed. Shuddering and 3rd gear starts keep the truck down for another 3 weeks.
Mar 05: My deployment date for overseas duty in Iraq are two weeks away and my truck is still down. Decided to pick up the truck from the Houston shop whether it was fixed or not(1400. 00 labor and diagnostics fee). Drove in limp mode for 4 hours from Houston to Ft. Hood. I'm having the transmission looked at by the local transmission shop in hopes that they can get the truck driveable before I place it in storage for deployment.
With my timeline shared you may note the truck has been down for 3 months. I'm not going to bad mouth anyone at this time but I sure hope that having a truck down for 3 months is not what anyone would consider good customer service. By GOD's good graces should I return from my 2nd tour of duty in Iraq rest assured this problem will be resolved over the phone or in person.
SSG Nate Sarabia
US Army (E. O. D)
Ft. Hood, TX
Last edited:
My personal experience (if you look back - search the archives - just a few years - here and on other sites like Diesel Central and such ) with ATS will open your eyes to how fabulous their customer support really is and remains to this day.
In my personal opinion Clint bends over backwards and then some to ensure his product is professionally assembled, tested, delivered and supported - as I witnessed first hand . . if; by some chance there is a problem he and his team are on top of the situation.
My 95 (485 HP @ over 1200 TQ - ATS equipped) is abused, used, tows, drag races, sled pulls, plays off road, abused some more, smokes ( My wife even darkens those in mischief on the road ) ... turning the driveshafts now for almost 80,000 miles, three years worth of severe service ----- and looks nearly as good inside as the day I installed the mighty (before they were painted purple ) power transfer unit. Did I mention this unit is still going strong!! - I personally know of many, many more.
As far as other units, such as DTT, Goerend, Suncoast, BD and whomever has taken the initiative (with much research, development and not to mention cost) to better the propulsion of our beloved trucks, I salute you … Although I don't own any of these, I have personally seen, driven and discussed these units with the owner/owners of those products (which do not need to be mentioned) on many occasions - there are plenty of loyal followers - with failures - some don't want to publically air shortcomings of the product purchased.
I just wonder who has more of their product on the road pulling various trailers-farm equipment-and who knows what else, racing, sled pulling, daily drivers, running the kids around town, anyone know? Ever seen what they do at ATS?? ... My bet is they are the lead diesel performance transmission (not just Dodge) provider and growing.
Footnote: my comments above are based on personal "private party retail consumer" (yup you guessed it "customer") interaction with the crew at ATS prior to my now committed business affiliation with the ATS team.
In my personal opinion Clint bends over backwards and then some to ensure his product is professionally assembled, tested, delivered and supported - as I witnessed first hand . . if; by some chance there is a problem he and his team are on top of the situation.
My 95 (485 HP @ over 1200 TQ - ATS equipped) is abused, used, tows, drag races, sled pulls, plays off road, abused some more, smokes ( My wife even darkens those in mischief on the road ) ... turning the driveshafts now for almost 80,000 miles, three years worth of severe service ----- and looks nearly as good inside as the day I installed the mighty (before they were painted purple ) power transfer unit. Did I mention this unit is still going strong!! - I personally know of many, many more.
As far as other units, such as DTT, Goerend, Suncoast, BD and whomever has taken the initiative (with much research, development and not to mention cost) to better the propulsion of our beloved trucks, I salute you … Although I don't own any of these, I have personally seen, driven and discussed these units with the owner/owners of those products (which do not need to be mentioned) on many occasions - there are plenty of loyal followers - with failures - some don't want to publically air shortcomings of the product purchased.
I just wonder who has more of their product on the road pulling various trailers-farm equipment-and who knows what else, racing, sled pulling, daily drivers, running the kids around town, anyone know? Ever seen what they do at ATS?? ... My bet is they are the lead diesel performance transmission (not just Dodge) provider and growing.
Footnote: my comments above are based on personal "private party retail consumer" (yup you guessed it "customer") interaction with the crew at ATS prior to my now committed business affiliation with the ATS team.
I actually tried to buy a ATS transmission twice. I called ATS and got a answering machine message to leave a message that they return all calls. I left three messages over four days time none of which were answered. Finally, they answered their phone and I found out that they would not let me install the transmission myself and they gave me the name of a local installer. I went to the business and had them price out what I wanted. When I asked about warranty the owner said that they would not warranty it if the truck had been chipped. I said that was impossible as my truck is a 95'. He then said that if my truck had been modified it would void the warranty. I came home and again contacted ATS wanting to know why in the heck would I spend six thousand dollars on a product that had no warranty if the truck had been modified? At that point they said that that business had only installed two of their product. I decided that if that was how knowlegable their authorized dealer is I would spend my $ somewhere else. They, ATS, were all business, not friendly at all. I am going with the JL method and going to save about 3 grand.
I believe Richard Madson ( Maddog) 800+ with ATS trans, Cummin Dragster ATS trans.
Last I talked to Richard he changed over to ATS about 6 months ago, maybe he will chime in here.
snowracer:
"wilddiesel" is right!! "MADDOG" now has a full ATS Transmission in
his truck now. If you still doubt it, go to the ATS website and you
will see his truck on their Mustang Dyno at the recent ATS Summit
Rally in February 05. ' (www.atsdiesel.com). And yes, he is over
800 H. P.
------------------
BillZ and N. Sarabia:
Let me start off by saying I am sorry you have had problems with
your ATS trannies. I want to let you know that I have been dealing
with ATS since they released their "TripleLok" TC and Transmissions
(over four years ago) and their customer service to me has been
excellent!! IMO, Clint, Ranee, Mike, Will, Sean, Joel and their entire
staff are great people to deal with! I know that they will help you
get your units working right. I have two (2) Dodge CTD trucks, a
1996 and a 2002. Both of my trucks have the ATS Stage V and IV
units respectively. The unit in the 1996 has over 90,000 miles on it
and is an early "Gen 1 ATS "TripleLok" Converter. " The truck's engine
was just completely built for performance by Scheid Diesel and dynoed
at 674 RWHP. About one month ago, I took out the older ATS TC and
sent it out to Clint to get the newer ATS Converter with the updated
"Mixed Flow" Stator. Upon disassembly, Sean found that the unit looked
great inside with very minimal wear! They are in the process of putting
some photos together for everyone to see. I run these trucks very, very
hard including heavy towing (12,000lb+) in mountains of N. C. , Va. and
W. Va. , drag racing and some street racing. The unit in the 2002 has
over 50,000 troublefree miles on it also.
-----------
"HOHN" I commend you for your post on all of this! Good job buddy!
"Rammin On" related to all of you his experience with ATS and I was
with him when all of that happened! Clint definitely went above and
beyond what a normal person would have done!
------
John_P
"wilddiesel" is right!! "MADDOG" now has a full ATS Transmission in
his truck now. If you still doubt it, go to the ATS website and you
will see his truck on their Mustang Dyno at the recent ATS Summit
Rally in February 05. ' (www.atsdiesel.com). And yes, he is over
800 H. P.
------------------
BillZ and N. Sarabia:
Let me start off by saying I am sorry you have had problems with
your ATS trannies. I want to let you know that I have been dealing
with ATS since they released their "TripleLok" TC and Transmissions
(over four years ago) and their customer service to me has been
excellent!! IMO, Clint, Ranee, Mike, Will, Sean, Joel and their entire
staff are great people to deal with! I know that they will help you
get your units working right. I have two (2) Dodge CTD trucks, a
1996 and a 2002. Both of my trucks have the ATS Stage V and IV
units respectively. The unit in the 1996 has over 90,000 miles on it
and is an early "Gen 1 ATS "TripleLok" Converter. " The truck's engine
was just completely built for performance by Scheid Diesel and dynoed
at 674 RWHP. About one month ago, I took out the older ATS TC and
sent it out to Clint to get the newer ATS Converter with the updated
"Mixed Flow" Stator. Upon disassembly, Sean found that the unit looked
great inside with very minimal wear! They are in the process of putting
some photos together for everyone to see. I run these trucks very, very
hard including heavy towing (12,000lb+) in mountains of N. C. , Va. and
W. Va. , drag racing and some street racing. The unit in the 2002 has
over 50,000 troublefree miles on it also.
-----------
"HOHN" I commend you for your post on all of this! Good job buddy!
"Rammin On" related to all of you his experience with ATS and I was
with him when all of that happened! Clint definitely went above and
beyond what a normal person would have done!
------
John_P
Issue 128 – Digital Version
Digital Magazines
FREE!
TDR Test Drive - Digital Edition
Renew
Subscribe
Gift Subscriptions
Back Issues
Subscription Status
Address Change Form
Buyer's Guides
Ram Diagnostic Trouble Codes
The Perfect Collection
The Perfect Collection Vol. II
TSB Updates
Dodge/Cummins Historical Overview
Cameron Collection
What Makes Us Tick?
Product Showcase
Advertising
Turbo Diesel Register
Issue 128 – Digital Version
Digital Magazines
FREE!
TDR Test Drive - Digital Edition
Renew
Subscribe
Gift Subscriptions
Back Issues
Subscription Status
Address Change Form
Buyer's Guides
Ram Diagnostic Trouble Codes
The Perfect Collection
The Perfect Collection Vol. II
TSB Updates
Dodge/Cummins Historical Overview
Cameron Collection
What Makes Us Tick?
Product Showcase
Advertising
