Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Fifth gear went and I am seriously MAD!!!!!!

[Cowboy Medic]

Most of you probably remember my fiasco with JD truck service last summer and having to redo the clutch three times and I wound up replacing the transmission in the process. I bought it from Midwest transmissions in Zumbroda, MN. I specifically asked them if it was a fully splined main shaft and was assured it was. Today I am cruising along on the highway and fifth gear is gone. This should not have happened with a fully splined shaft right? I am gonna be calling them tomorrow and asking what the deal is. I was able to drive to my aunt and Uncles house in fourth gear just fine, but everything I own is boxed up and in a trailer because I am done with school and am supposed to be driving back to South Dakota Tomorrow. Worst of all is I have an interview for a Job along the way and it is a Job I want very badly and that will pay very well and I am going to be ****** if I miss it. I will probably have to rent a car or Try and borrow my aun't and drive over for it and then come back here and deal with this. Probably wouldn't bother me if it was the old transmission but when I forego repairing the old one and get a new one for the sole purpose of getting the fully splined shaft in order to avoid the fifth gear problem and then sit here and have to deal with it at a very bad point in time I am beyond a little frustrated. Thanks for letting me vent.



Jon

 

[Bill Lins]

Not all transmission problems are fifth-gear related. Let them check it before you go off on them- you don't want to say something you might have to eat later on.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Yeah, I realize that and that is part of the reason I needed to vent here, but I am sure confused on what else it could be. All the other gears seem to run fine

 

[gitchesum]

I had the snap ring that holds the 5th gear syncro assembly break on mine causing the entire assembly to slide back too far on the shaft. Since just a small portion of the teeth were in contact with the countershaft, it chewed the gears out of hte center of the assembly causing symptoms that were identical to a lost 5ht gear.



This is not a rare thing as Blumenthals specifically sent two snap rings to use in place of the single one Dodge used. THey'd had it happen before as well.

 

[SMorneau]

I'd talk to them at Midwest before venting too much. Things do fail and my experience with Midwest has always been good. They told me even the brand new NV4500 trannies they sell have been fitted with a fully splined mainshaft and the only trouble I had with one of the Midwest trannies was not the gear coming off. If you are real nice to them they may swap it out for you.

 

[John - K5AWO]

Originally posted by Bill Lins

you don't want to say something you might have to eat later on.

I've NEVER done that in my life!

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Well I did talk to Midwest this morning, I had a 12 month unlimited miles warranty on it and I bought the transmission 11 months and 2 weeks ago. They were very nice. I still have to pay to have someone drop the transmission and I have to get it to their shop, but total it should only cost me about $300. I know things can go wrong and that is part of the reason I sought to vent here before dealing with anyone else. Just very frustrating when you try and prevent stuff like this so it is not an inconvenince and then it happens at the worst possible moments. If you figure in the cost of an extra vehicle to follow me up to the shop which is an hour away and then the 2 hour drive to get to Zumbrota and back with the transmission after it is out and then the costs of the extra 400 miles I had to drive to go to the job interview today and back and all of that I am still sucking it up for over $600 not to mention the fact that all I own is sitting in a trailer while I wait for all of this to get done. Now if my luck continues as it has over the last year we will get it back together and I will be about halfway to the new house and it will crap out again. But that is probably just the frustrated side of me talking.



On the positive side I was told that it should have been a fully splined shaft and that if they get into it and it is not I will be given a new one right away. They also said to bring it right in tomorrow as soon as I can and that they will pull someone off of something else if they have to so that I can get headed back with a good transmission as soon as possible. So all in all I do have to say That Midwest has so far done everything they should in order to keep their customer happy.



I am having AAMCO in Mankato pull it and reinstall it since all my tools are packed and they did the work to get it right last summer after JD screwed it up. I was happy with them last time. Anyway they thought it it doesn't take too long in Zumbrota that they may be able to have it all back together tomorrow night or at the latest by friday noon. God willing I will be on the road for South Dakota by Saturday.



I'll post up another update when I get a chance tomorrow night.

Thanks again for the chance to vent.





Jon

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Thanks Dan. I should have everything ready by Saturday hopefully. I did my job interview and it sounds very positive. They said they would be letting me know on monday what they decide but were handing me a sheet with a list of realtors in the area so that i could start looking for a house. I am hoping it was a hint. Today is looking alot brighter than yesterday. Just gonna keep my fingers crossed and keep the faith.



We'll have to get together sometime after I get settled in.



Thanks again.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Well, we pulled the transmission this morning and took it to Midwest and they found that the snap ring had busted. Fifth gear was trashed as well as some of the bearings. They rebuilt it and I was on my way back about two hours later. I will say I was pleased with what I saw. very nice people who appear to take pride in their work and they had several diesel trucks (unfortunately mostly fords, but one nice 3rd gen dually). All in all it was the best that could come of the situation and that is really all a guy can expect. So I am happy with their part. They did confirm that it is a fully splined shaft which I was glad to hear. I will be still a little leery until it is in and running good for a while but I am also feeling like it should work out. Now it is just wait and see. We will finish putting it back in tomorrow and be road testing it in the afternoon. AAMCO in Mankato is taking care of that part and once again I am very pleased. Those guys have proven to me they know what it means to take care of a customer. I do feel I would not hesitate to do business with either place and plan to write thank you letters to both of them for working so quickly to get my truck back on the road. Anyway I'll post again once I am back in the saddle.



Jon

 

[SMorneau]

Glad to hear the people at Midwest satisfied you on this one. Too bad the logisistics ended up costing you so much. But if you can get a transmission R&R for $300 you did well. Most of the shops around here will want more than that.



If your truck is a standard cab you may want to investigate an improved snap ring or a "transfer case saver" or else you may get to watch the same transfer case rebuild I did.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

AAMCO checked over my transfer case and they said it looks good. I honestly wouldn't have thought about it. I got back from Zumbrota and they said they had checked all my u-joints (which I just redid not too long ago) and they said they all looked good , they had gone ahead and checked over anything they thought could have been affected or possible helped contribute and they felt the truck was ready to go back together. I felt that was very cool since I hadn't asked them. Like I said they cleaned up the mess from JD last summer and now again are proving they are an A+ place when it comes to customer service.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Well, Saturday I drove to Vermillion, SD. As I am pulling off the interstate I hear alot of grinding and squealing followed by some clanging and banging, followed by the stick jumping out of third gear and smashing my hand bad enough that I thought I had broken it. Once I get stopped I notice it seems awefully hot and sure enough the plastic center console is so hot that I cannot touch it. Needless to say I am very less than pleased. A whopping 187 miles on it. I will be calling Midwest on Monday. I really do not feel I should have to pay for another R&R on this. Hopefully they will continue to be stand up on their part and will take care of things. Given my experiences over the last year and a half that will not be the case but I will give the benefit of the doubt. Meanwhile I get stuck trying to start a new job without any transportation. I cannot wait till Jackie gets done with school and we can move back home where I have a shop that I can do this stuff myself and then have only myself to blame if it goes wrong. The nice consolation is I don't charge myself $60 bucks an hour for a half-ass job, and then tell myself that I am being unreasonable when it fails. I just get it working.



Sorry for the bad mood but this is really getting old. This brings the total to over $6000 dollars since May of last year. That is more than half of what I owe on the truck. Just shouldn't be costing this much especially when people on here have proven that if the work is done right the parts are generally very reliable. I still love the truck and will do what it takes to get it running but geez c'mon I need a break here.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

NO WAY would I mess around anymore with that transmission - too many problems and failed parts to attempt a reliable patchwork repair and expect a normal lifespan...

 

[John - K5AWO]

I think the case is warped which is putting a bind on the shafts/bearings.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I'm with John & Gary, if it wasn't totally right before, most likely this transmission isn't ever going to be right again. Sorry to hear of your troubles CM.



I wonder if was refilled with lube or if they assumed you were going to do that?



Vaughn

 

[MMoroney]

And I agree with Vaughn, but I wonder if they filled it with either nothing or possibly ATF? I would call your transmission a "core" and go from there. Actually, I feel your pain, as I broke an input shaft last month 600 miles from home. Mike

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Technically it is still under warranty until 7/15 so if it is bad then I guess they owe me a transmission.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

I called Midwest today and they seem to be willing to take care of it. They were checking on transmission shops in this area that they do business with to try and get me worked in and were trying to arrange a trailer to haul it. Last I had heard was around 3 and they said they would be calling me right back and that didn't happen but sometimes things come up so I will wait until tomorrow after some meetings I have and then see. Hopefully it will get taken care of. They at least seem to be nice about it so far and willing to take care of things. Here's to hoping it all works out.

 

[John - K5AWO]

The folks at Midwest can read TDR too. I am sure they will try to be fair about it. Sometimes, things just happen...

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Yep and I will continue to praise their honesty and their courtesy as long as they exhibit it. I am frustrated with the situation and what the overall mess since last year in May has cost me, and there is no doubt that has added to the frustration this time. I don't blame them, I understand that stuff happens. That is a big part why I continue to update this thread on what is happening so that someone doesn't just read the first post and think that is all that happened. I vented my frustration here and allowed things to be professional in dealing with them and so far I am very pleased. However my experiences over the last year and a half in dealing with drivetrain issues with this truck have caused me to be a bit cynical and to have to work on being optimistic. I wish it was different but I said before I picked up the truck on Friday that I just would not be fully trustworthy that it was fixed until it ran smoothly for a while and by preparing myself that things could still be wrong I was disappointed on Saturday when it started acting up but I don't think I was nearly as upset as I would have been if I had just blindly told myself everything is great again. I will trust these guys and I will deal respectufully with them but I don't just give out blind faith that all is correct. I want to see it actually perform before I go singing praises. If they take care of everything and make it right then I will feel they have done what they should have. The more they keep me informed and the more they do to correct it sooner the more I will praise their efforts. I guess I feel that is what this site is supposed to be about, honest feedback on all aspects. So yes I do understand they can read this and I do understand things just happen, I hope this clarifies for anyone reading this thread that my frustration is at the events and not the business. So far they are doing what they should and are being true professionals about it. If what I have posted earlier has not conveyed that then I apologize but I am just trying to put out my thoughts and feelings and this forum is where I can talk to others that have this truck and this transmision and have had similar experiences and can give me the feedback and perspective I need to be sure that my truck is taken care of and that I have the knowledge and understanding I need to present my side of things. Also I do not intend this to be taken as a heated response to John - K5AWO, it is just that what he posted made me see that perhaps I was not explaining myself fully and it was giving others the wrong impression. In the broad scheme of things this is just a small bump in the road and hopefully by next week it will be a memory. So like I said before here is to hoping and we shall just have to wait and see if the hopes are fulfilled.





Jon