Dealer wants to replace 6.7 transmission case

[Cosmo]

Not all dealers and/or techs suck.

It is a shame that there have been so many negative experiences with Dodge dealers, there are some very good ones out there.

Mike.

Oh, I agree completely.

I've heard some pretty horrible things about our VW/Audi franchise. A friend of mine used to take his A4 there, now I work on it. They couldn't be bothered to tell him about major oil leaks from his engine or rear differential. The differential axle seals call for about 4 hours - but I did them both in 2 hours, never having done an Audi rear end before so you know an Audi tech could get them done even faster. Why wouldn't a tech want to sell that job? I'd love to do those all day long - say I get 4 cars, 2 seals each, that's 16 billed hours a day.

The engine oil leak was from the valve cover breather system. The corrugated plastic hose had broken in several places, and instead of trying to sell the $130 part, someone duct taped the pieces together. Duct tape isn't oil resistant, BTW... It's also a stupid easy fix. I'm not sure what it pays, I did it for 5/10ths and threw in fixing the secondary air pump for free. I also only billed him for 2 hours on the axle seals, saving him a couple of hours.


We have some excellent techs at our Dodge franchise, but we also have some hacks. One guy who (finally) got fired a while back used to take a die grinder and cut a hole in the side of evaporator cases and then re-seal them with dum-dum, instead of removing the case like he was supposed to. The owner of the Viper he did that to wasn't all that impressed.

In a company with somewhere between 400-500 employees, there are bound to be a few exceptional technicians, but there are also bound to be a few real zeros.


I would like to note that every single interaction I had with Kirkland Chrysler as a customer was outstanding.

 

[sag2]

First let me say I would take a rebuild at the dealer or any large shop over anybody's reman transmission. With rebuilding your own unit you know what you have. With any reman you take the chance that there was/is a problem someone overlooked or was not tested for.

To change the case on a RFE about the only special tool you will need is the pump seal installer. And just as Bob said, most good technicians have their own tools if they are good at making money. They don't waste time looking for tools in some tool room when they can just do it with their own and not waste any time.

Also if you have never been in a large shop, they generally have a transmission apart every day.

 

[Barry]

How long does DC warranty the 68RE?

 

[Cosmo]

My point was in the truck business if they sent the tools to the dealer there is at least one tech certified in the use of those tools at that dealership or they would not have been sent.
I am hoping that Dodge has come to or is coming around to that way of thinking.

Mike.

:-laf:-laf
I have been in this industry for 3 decades... ..... it is in deed generally true good techs have the special tools they need in their tool box.
Your particular delaership may indeed be a hole in the wall with no customers so they would not need any tools either.

I just wanted to get back to this...

My co-worker used to be the trans tech for our Dodge franchise. No less than three of the nearest competing dealerships used to send their transmission jobs to him because they didn't/don't have transmission techs worth a damn.

I think you guys don't really realize the reality of "factory trained" technicians...

Dealerships send techs to school, where they spend one, two, maybe three days between classroom with a textbook and a powerpoint presentation and the lab where a group of 4-5 techs take turns dismantling and re-assembling whatever it is they're studying.

Dealerships are sent special tools because they're required to have them, as part of their franchise agreement.

Most techs are not transmission techs. Most techs don't have transmission special tools in their box, because they hardly ever, if ever at all, crack open a trans case.

I'd take a unit rebuilt in a facility where that's all they do, versus having mine rebuilt by someone who hasn't seen an overdrive clutch pack since he took his last transmission course two years ago.


I haven't received my transmission certification yet - because I haven't taken the manual trans courses - but if someone came in with an issue with their automatic trans I could, in theory, do the job. I'm pretty sure it would take me twice as long as book time and the customer probably wouldn't like hearing that they're my first paying transmission job, but that's dealership life.

 

[Bob4x4]

How long does DC warranty the 68RE?

It is covered by the powertrain warranty. Most are 7/70

 

[Hoefler]

It is covered by the powertrain warranty. Most are 7/70

08 only had 3/36 on them. That is all mine had any ways.

 

[HBarlow]

The Aisin is/was warranted for 36/150k. Mine has timed out now even though I haven't reached 150k miles.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I haven't received my transmission certification yet - because I haven't taken the manual trans courses - but if someone came in with an issue with their automatic trans I could, in theory, do the job. I'm pretty sure it would take me twice as long as book time and the customer probably wouldn't like hearing that they're my first paying transmission job, but that's dealership life.

The customer should have to pay only the flat rate. He shouldn't have to pay for your inexperience.



Bill

 

[mwilson]

The customer should have to pay only the flat rate. He shouldn't have to pay for your inexperience.



Bill

The labor would adjusted down here as well, balance of time would be booked to training.



Mike.

 

[Cosmo]

The customer should have to pay only the flat rate. He shouldn't have to pay for your inexperience.



Bill

Seriously?



THAT'S what you took from everything I said?









I think the big picture, that you're apparently missing completely, is that the VAST majority of dealership techs don't know jack about tearing into transmissions.



A 727-based transmission that's been around, basically, since the early 1960s, so there should be plenty of guys who have spent more than an hour or two elbows-deep inside of them. Perhaps they might even have the special tools in their toolbox.



However, the 68rfe is based on the 45/545rfe which has been around since 1999, and for several years after it was released, dealer techs weren't allowed to crack open the trans to attempt to repair them - Daimler wanted to dissect and improve the product and didn't want dealership hacks tampering with the evidence.



I'm sure that there are a few dealers out there in really high diesel truck volume areas who have trained trans techs and I'm sure some of them actually have the special tools in their own toolboxes, but they are few and far between.

 

[RVTRKN]

Back to the OP, If you have the documentation of all the repairs of the same issue, then I would seek an attorney and try to get a new trans. If that didn't work then have your attorney file a lemon law suit if he thinks you can win.



Some dealers scare the crap out of me, but the dealer I used to use, I would not hesitate to have their trany guy repair it. I wonder why it took them sooooooo many repairs to finally see the real cause, or is it the real cause?

If the dealer is a small volume dealer, I would refuse the repair and seek legal advise.

 

[HBarlow]

Dealers do not have an obligation to replace the entire transmission any more than they have an obligation to replace the entire truck when a part wears out or fails during the warranty period.

Attorneys and lawsuits are a big part of the reason why warranty issues and dealer attitudes are often difficult.

 

[NIsaacs]

A friend of mine bought one of the first Cummins powered Dodges in the area (1990 W250 w/Getrag 5spd). He had the transmission replaced twice early on. At the time no parts were available or they didn't have anyone trained in that transmission, so any warranty work, the answer was to replace it.



I always figured he was just inexperienced in diesel power and was lugging it in 5th and was hearing the growl they naturally make. I am sure the transmission's were just fine.



Nick

 

[RVTRKN]

Dealers do not have an obligation to replace the entire transmission any more than they have an obligation to replace the entire truck when a part wears out or fails during the warranty period.



Attorneys and lawsuits are a big part of the reason why warranty issues and dealer attitudes are often difficult.

Depends on the State laws, and your a fool if you don't maximise the law to your benefit. I don't give a hoot about frivolous law suits, but 50K for a truck they can't fix and and then want to charge you for, after the warranty is expired. In my book, the OP has every right to sue. Same problem over and over without a fix, then want to charge you. If his documentation proves he's given Dodge several chances to repair something that is a manufacture defect, then he should pursue Dodge for a new trany. Dodge has the upper hand in bulling the OP with all their money and attorneys (and now the government) in their pocket. It is why the Lemon Law exists.

 

[HBarlow]

I have a 2008 2500 45k on it. the transmission has leaked from day one from the selector shaft. Its been replaced several times and even the shaft itself. Now the dealer wants to replace the transmission cases they say their is probably a problem with the machining on mine. I'm concerned for this seems like it is probably to big of a task for the dealer a transmission is a complex thing.
Any thoughts.
Thanks.

Lawsuit? For what? Against who? A judge would laugh you out of his courtroom.

This is the original poster's statement. He never said a word about out of warranty or the dealer refusing to repair it. To the contrary, the dealer wanted to replace the transmission case with a new one.

Where do you get your facts?

 

[Bill Stockard]

A friend of mine bought one of the first Cummins powered Dodges in the area (1990 W250 w/Getrag 5spd). He had the transmission replaced twice early on. At the time no parts were available or they didn't have anyone trained in that transmission, so any warranty work, the answer was to replace it.

Nick

Many times when a newly designed and produced vehicle is on the market and a major component fails, the manufacturer doesn't want anyone working on it and that's sometimes the reason there are no parts and the component is replaced instead of repaired. The manufacturer wants the component back in same the non-repaired condition when it failed. They will check why it failed and/or send it to the vendor for failure analysis. I witnessed this many times on a major component failure in the medium and heavy truck business.



Bill

 

[JesseMiller]

well i decided not to have it done my mechanic said to get a seal and he would install it for me . And it wouldnt leak

 

[HBarlow]

How much does it actually leak? Is it a little seepage that traps dirt or does it actually run down the side of the case and require adding replacement ATF-4?

 

[RVTRKN]

well i decided not to have it done my mechanic said to get a seal and he would install it for me . And it wouldnt leak

I hope it all works out for you, unfortunitly there are lemons in every make.

Lawsuit? For what? Lemon Law! Against who? Dodge! A judge would laugh you out of his courtroom.



This is the original poster's statement. He never said a word about out of warranty or the dealer refusing to repair it. To the contrary, the dealer wanted to replace the transmission case with a new one.



Where do you get your facts?

Read the OP statement again. "has leaked from day one", "its been replaced several times"

I have a 2008 2500 45k on it. the transmission has leaked from day one from the selector shaft. Its been replaced several times and even the shaft itself. Now the dealer wants to replace the transmission cases they say their is probably a problem with the machining on mine. I'm concerned for this seems like it is probably to big of a task for the dealer a transmission is a complex thing.

Any thoughts.

Thanks.

 

[AABEN]

I have a 2008 2500 45k on it. the transmission has leaked from day one from the selector shaft. Its been replaced several times and even the shaft itself. Now the dealer wants to replace the transmission cases they say their is probably a problem with the machining on mine. I'm concerned for this seems like it is probably to big of a task for the dealer a transmission is a complex thing.

Any thoughts.

Thanks.

If they are paying the bill WHY NOT they will give you a warranty on it. I would ask them to replace the bands even if I had to pay for them.