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

[Cowboy Medic]

Yep sitting at my Fiancee's apartment. She is at work so i am just kinda bumming it. I got word on the job I interviewed for and they want to hire me I am going up to Brandon tomorrow to talk salary and other particulars. What are you up to?

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Jackie is living in Saracen court for right now and they are letting us put the trailer over by the laundry area. There is some space along the drive area it will fit for a few days. We emptied it out except for some misc. stuff and it is locked so I doubt it will get messed with and if it does it isn't anything i will miss too terribly.



I appreciate ya asking though. I was coming off I-29 at Exit 26 when it all went to hell. I was able to limp it the rest of the way here. The truck can be moved if it has too. Realistically you probably wouldn't notice a problem if all you were doing was moving it around a parking lot it isn't until you get up to speed that it starts grinding and bucking.



I am hoping that it will get fixed before the weekend. If it does then I will be taking the trailer up to Sioux Falls. Jackie's brother is buying some new furniture and some building supplies for adding onto their house and taking it back to Pierre. Worst case scenario is he will hae to drive all the way down here and get it. Then since I am getting this job up in Brandon we will probably be looking to move up to Beresford or some other town that is kind of in between. So the I will be turning around and heading back that way to meet him to get it back again in a few weeks. I will need to be within a 45 minute response window to the Sioux falls hospitals for on call for critical care transfers and I really don't want to be pushing it by trying to be all the way down here. Someplace in between will ease that for me and still allow Jackie an easy commute to school down here.

 

[Charliegeis]

Does Midwest Transmissions in Zumbrota work on Automatics? My truck is sitting in Minnesota and the Dodge dealer says it needs a new torque converter. I really don't want to put in another Dodge/Crysler torque converter. I am not convinced that the torque converter is the complete problem. Right now the torque converter does not stay locked up. It intermittently locks and unlocks.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

It sounded to me today like Midwest does business with at least one of the transmission shops in Yankton and that is likely to be where it is going to go. Like I say I just want it fixed right and hopefully they can get it done before the weekend.





Charliegeis I am not sure if they do automatics or not. You can try giving them a call (507) 824-2012. So far the people themselves are very nice to deal with. If they don't I remember there being a shop in Mankato that had a real good reputation for their work on Auto's but it would take me a while to get a hold of My cousins there to get the name and get back to ya.

 

[John - K5AWO]

Originally posted by Charliegeis

I am not convinced that the torque converter is the complete problem. Right now the torque converter does not stay locked up. It intermittently locks and unlocks.

I was just talking to a diesel mechanic today and he told me about a transmission on a 98 12V he had that was doing that exact same thing. It was the temperature sensor on the rear of the transmission housing. It is supposed to have +8 volts across it, his measured 12 volts. He solved the problem by adding a resistor in series with it. This same transmission had been in the DC shops 15 times for the same problem. They changed just about everything except for the sensors.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Ok, sorry for the long delay in updating this. I started a new job and have only been home a few days in the past few weeks. BG&S transmissions in Yankton pulled the transmission and sent it to Midwest. Midwest sent it back saying they could find nothing wrong with it. They stated they tore it down rebuilt it and dynoed it up to 5600 RPM's without a problem. So BG&S went into the Transfer case where the input bearings, some of the seals and the planetary gear were shot. So a week and a half later and another $900 bucks I finally get my truck back. I got it back on a Tuesday evening just before 5pm. I drove from Vermillion to Sioux Falls and along the way I am feeling a vibration. Now I know the U-joints are good, the driveshaft has been inspected and all the weights appear in place, there is no vibration in the steering wheel only in the shift lever. So, as a precaution I figure I better pull over and check things out. Out of Habit I flip on the exhaust brake expecting to slow down for the upcoming exit from the interstate. All of a sudden BANG! it kicks out of fifth gear. I am trying to stay optimistic so I get pulled over on the exit and am crawlingaround underneath. No leaks, no signs of anything wrong with the u-joints, etc. so i figure I need to get to work so I am just gonna try driving it up and will call the shop in the morning. I get on the interstate and am curious as to whether having it kick out of gear was a real transmission problem or if I had just failed to get it into gear. So when I shift into fifth I make real sure I can feel it do the little pop you get from the synchros and it feels like it is solidly in gear. Drive along for a while and no problem, let of the gas, and bang it is out of gear. Now I am seriously mad, but what can I do at that hour. I get to Sioux Falls and swing into a convenience store grab a nice ice cold Dr. Pepper. I get in the truck set the soda in the cup holder and get going out to where I am working which is about another Ten Miles. Go to get out of the truck and grab my soda and it is not just warm but actually HOT. I feel the console and it is hot, the stick is so hot you can't touch the shaft. I called Midwest right away the next day and they state that they cannot believe there is a transmission problem cause everything checked out and I assure them there is one. So they give me the name of a shop in Sioux Falls that they do alot of business with and I take it in there and have them test drive it. The owner is very nice and we go out and right away before he is even through 3rd gear he is telling me there is way too much slop in the transmission, agrees with me that the synchros appear to be working properly and it feels like it should be locking into gear but you let off the pedal above 75 or use the E-brake and Bang it drops right out of gear. He tells me he thinks there is too much endplay. I am no expert but I do know that it is definitely not right. So we get back to his shop and he immediately calls Midwest and tells them that I need a new transmission. A couple of hours later I get word that they will be shipping a new one to his shop and he will install it on Wednesday 7- 21. So I thank the guys at Midwest for taking care of it. Then I get a call from the transmission shop stating that Midwest gave him the impression that I would be paying for the install. I told him that this would be the third R&R on this in the last month and I did not feel I should have to pay for another. C'mon $2,000 dollars to fix a $1200 transmission that is supposed to be under warranty is ridiculous. SO I told him I would be calling Midwest and stating how I felt and that I feel they should be covering this. I haven't made that call yet as I felt I was still too PO'd to speak diplomatically. From what he described of the endplay problem I am also feeling like that may have been a cause of my Transfer case problems but I am no expert so I am not sure and will probably avoid making it an issue if they will just take care of getting me back on the road. Needless to say I am very far from being happy at the moment. Overall I can't complain too much about Midwest in reality they have been very professional and did agree to the new transmission, but I still feel strongly I shouldn't have to pay anymore money right now either. The other side is that I don't have a definitive word that they were not going to pay for the install so it may be just a short phone call that clarifies things. I am hoping that to be the case. I know their warranty states labor and parts on the transmission only and not on R&R, but I feel that the consecutive R&R's are because of them not fixing it completely. I realize that things can get missed or whatever and I am willing to believe that is what happened, but at the same time how much do I have to pay for something that still isn't working right. My other concern is with all the vibrating that has been going on do I have to worry about new damage to the transfer case, do I have to worry about damage to the clutch or the pilot bearing. I am down to living paycheck to paycheck because this has wiped out the $3,000 I had in savings between the repair bills and rental vehicles and all that. If I am forced to pay this R&R I will be having to borrow money and I am sick of doing that as well. Anyway, enough complaining, once more I am left to hoping.



If you guys have any info I need to consider if they try and fight me on this will you please let me know, I would welcome some other perspectives. Technically the 12 months of Warrany I had were up today but all these problems surfaced before then but I am guessing I will not get much if anything to cover this new one. If they did put a warranty on it, then maybe I would not feel quite so bad, but I still do not want to pay the labor again.



Jon

 

[John - K5AWO]

The warranty game is a slippery one. Depends on how they wrote it up and how they want to play the game.



with a lot of the things I have had to deal with, when a item quit working, the replacement part came with a new warranty not related to the original item.



Then again, I had a transmission rebuilt by AAMCO. Same experience you are having. After the 3rd rebuild in 5 months, they canceled my warranty claiming I was not properly paying attention to maintenance??? I had purchased a 3 year parts and labor warranty and they cancel it? I sold the car and p**s on AAMCO.



I feel you are going to have to get over the wrongness of it, cool down, and put on your most diplomatic composure and try to just very carefully word your conversation with them.



On their side of the fence, it has been a loosing proposition all the way, but still... . you have a right to having it done right the first time. Sloppy end play is not "Quality Job One" to quote ferdinand...