Attention: TDR Forum Junkies I have a 97 12 valver with an auto that I use to tow a very heavy 37 ft. 5er trailer. It has 34,286 on the clock.
This road trip started like all other long trips I have taken with my trusty truck... full of excitement and noise with the dog and 3 children in the back and the 15,000 trailer in tow. All went fine on the leg of the trip from the SF bay area to Portland Or. <about 600 miles> Then, I started to experience some trouble with the transmission. Strange shifting and excessive heat as monitored in the pan. Eventually in northern Washington state, the problem became so profound that I was unable to pull a grade with the trailer without hitting 260 in the pan even with the TC locked. I found a spectacular KOA In Linden Washington and unhooked the trailer. I made a few calls and to my surprise BD / Valley Fuel Injection was only 20 miles away. I called Piers there and arranged for a look see.
I have ,over the last 3 years, come to rely on BD for their knowledge and their commitment in service to their customers. I have worked with Bill in the transmission shop and Piers at BD on many projects and have always found them to be reliable and committed to excellence and customer oriented almost to a fault. Bill has moved from BD and has started his own transmission shop. He can now be reached at 604-504-4002 and continues his tradition of excellence.
I was able to get to BD unaided but with much trepidation and ,upon my arrival, was happily greeted by Piers and after some initial laughs and hellos we set to work to find the source of the problems. Piers had juggled appointments and was able to get my truck on a lift that afternoon. The pan was pulled and the bottom of the pan was unusually dark and was covered in clutch material and even the synthetic 7176+3 was a little dark. Not Good! After some discussion I decided to have BD yank the transmission and install a new one that they had just rebuilt. I actually watched as this transmission was assembled at the transmission shop that morning. After all, I was on holiday with the family and I did not want a complete failure of the transmission somewhere 800 miles down the road where I could not decide my options. I then told Piers about an after market warranty that I had purchased and he promptly called them to get the appropriate conditions and authorizations.
The crew at BD checked the rebuilt transmission on the dyno before it was installed to assure top performance and by the end of the day the rebuilt transmission and a low stall torque converter was ready for installation. On the way back to the campground in Piers' fire breathing truck taxi, I asked Piers if he and Bill were still on good terms and if so, that I would like to meet him after so many calls between Bill and myself. Piers laughingly said that they were and drove me over to his new shop. I was finally able to meet Bill Kondolay and his wife and they offered me a ride back to the campground because it was out of the way for Piers. I liked them both immediately.
The next day I could do little more then relax in paradise fishing at the KOA and around noon I called Piers. He said all was proceeding well and once again offered to arrange a ride back to BD. Once back at BD, I was treated to a full tour of the facilities and was able to see the whole exhaust brake manufacturing process and was then treated to lunch at a nearby restaurant. Wow! By 4 pm the truck was finished and the transmission shop had disassembled my old transmission to find the cause of the failure. The forward clutches, which are engaged whenever you are moving forward, were burned beyond recognition. Apparently,there was not a good seal between the pump and the housing in the transmission causing hydraulic pressure to bleed off. No matter what I did to increase pressures and improve performance the internal cross leaks caused a drop in pressures at the forward clutches allowing them to slip. Hence, the high heat and burned clutches and fluid. All the seals had also been overheated and the torque converter was toast. The transmission shop said there was absolutely nothing I could have done to prevent the failure and it was a good decision to remove the transmission because it would have suffered a complete failure shortly. They further stated that, in their opinion, this problem was a manufacturing fault and that D/C should pay. The truck still was 200 miles within the warranty period. Piers made more calls to Warranty Gold and D/C.
Later, after I picked up the truck and had said all the fair wells I asked Piers about payment. He said not to worry about it and that they will work out the details with Warranty Gold and for me and my family to enjoy what was left of my vacation. I was stunned! They were actually willing to let me leave without paying in the hopes of getting paid from Warranty Gold. I stated that I wasn't sure about this and that it would be best if I paid them directly and worked with Warranty Gold to pay me later. Piers refused my offer and continued saying that he would work his magic with the warranty co. So, I left without paying and continued the trip.
I called Piers 1700 miles later <and the transmission performing flawlessly> from Yellowstone National Park and found that when Warranty Gold found the truck was still within the manufacturers warranty period, they refused payment saying that it was D/Cs responsibility. I also found that the credit card I gave them for other stuff I bought while there had refused payment. I called the credit co to find out why they refused payment and they said that they would not authorize a first time use of the credit card in a foreign country without talking to me directly first. Later I called Piers again and had them resubmit the bill and also paid them for the transmission rebuild.
I contacted D/C on the 1-800 # and started a claim for payment of the transmission rebuild. I really did not hold much hope of getting a check from D/C but I thought that it was worth a try.
I can not say enough about BDs hospitality and customer service. It's not often that you find a company committed to customer service to the extent they are and I still am flabbergasted by their willingness to let me leave without payment. I think, if all were reversed, I would not be so willing to let the customer leave with a 3000 dollar bill hanging in limbo and I probably would have sent out the proverbial sphincter police when the credit card bounced. But that is just me. When I called Piers and apologized to him for the credit card snafu he simply said ,"I thought it was something like that. " Because of BD and their employees' commitment, I actually enjoyed an automobile breakdown and the day and a half of being around enthusiastic diesel fanatics. BD in general, Piers in particular, and all the people in the transmission shop and in service deserve my thanks and this lists' support. It was an adventure.
-Paul R. Haller-
P. S. I got a call from Lynn Beck D/Cs customer service rep. She advised me that she had authorized payment in full for the breakdown ,after speaking with BD, and that I should see a check from D/C within 10 days. <I received the check today> I guess my faith in D/C is not misplaced after all or... Piers really did work his magic.
-Paul R. Haller-
This road trip started like all other long trips I have taken with my trusty truck... full of excitement and noise with the dog and 3 children in the back and the 15,000 trailer in tow. All went fine on the leg of the trip from the SF bay area to Portland Or. <about 600 miles> Then, I started to experience some trouble with the transmission. Strange shifting and excessive heat as monitored in the pan. Eventually in northern Washington state, the problem became so profound that I was unable to pull a grade with the trailer without hitting 260 in the pan even with the TC locked. I found a spectacular KOA In Linden Washington and unhooked the trailer. I made a few calls and to my surprise BD / Valley Fuel Injection was only 20 miles away. I called Piers there and arranged for a look see.
I have ,over the last 3 years, come to rely on BD for their knowledge and their commitment in service to their customers. I have worked with Bill in the transmission shop and Piers at BD on many projects and have always found them to be reliable and committed to excellence and customer oriented almost to a fault. Bill has moved from BD and has started his own transmission shop. He can now be reached at 604-504-4002 and continues his tradition of excellence.
I was able to get to BD unaided but with much trepidation and ,upon my arrival, was happily greeted by Piers and after some initial laughs and hellos we set to work to find the source of the problems. Piers had juggled appointments and was able to get my truck on a lift that afternoon. The pan was pulled and the bottom of the pan was unusually dark and was covered in clutch material and even the synthetic 7176+3 was a little dark. Not Good! After some discussion I decided to have BD yank the transmission and install a new one that they had just rebuilt. I actually watched as this transmission was assembled at the transmission shop that morning. After all, I was on holiday with the family and I did not want a complete failure of the transmission somewhere 800 miles down the road where I could not decide my options. I then told Piers about an after market warranty that I had purchased and he promptly called them to get the appropriate conditions and authorizations.
The crew at BD checked the rebuilt transmission on the dyno before it was installed to assure top performance and by the end of the day the rebuilt transmission and a low stall torque converter was ready for installation. On the way back to the campground in Piers' fire breathing truck taxi, I asked Piers if he and Bill were still on good terms and if so, that I would like to meet him after so many calls between Bill and myself. Piers laughingly said that they were and drove me over to his new shop. I was finally able to meet Bill Kondolay and his wife and they offered me a ride back to the campground because it was out of the way for Piers. I liked them both immediately.
The next day I could do little more then relax in paradise fishing at the KOA and around noon I called Piers. He said all was proceeding well and once again offered to arrange a ride back to BD. Once back at BD, I was treated to a full tour of the facilities and was able to see the whole exhaust brake manufacturing process and was then treated to lunch at a nearby restaurant. Wow! By 4 pm the truck was finished and the transmission shop had disassembled my old transmission to find the cause of the failure. The forward clutches, which are engaged whenever you are moving forward, were burned beyond recognition. Apparently,there was not a good seal between the pump and the housing in the transmission causing hydraulic pressure to bleed off. No matter what I did to increase pressures and improve performance the internal cross leaks caused a drop in pressures at the forward clutches allowing them to slip. Hence, the high heat and burned clutches and fluid. All the seals had also been overheated and the torque converter was toast. The transmission shop said there was absolutely nothing I could have done to prevent the failure and it was a good decision to remove the transmission because it would have suffered a complete failure shortly. They further stated that, in their opinion, this problem was a manufacturing fault and that D/C should pay. The truck still was 200 miles within the warranty period. Piers made more calls to Warranty Gold and D/C.
Later, after I picked up the truck and had said all the fair wells I asked Piers about payment. He said not to worry about it and that they will work out the details with Warranty Gold and for me and my family to enjoy what was left of my vacation. I was stunned! They were actually willing to let me leave without paying in the hopes of getting paid from Warranty Gold. I stated that I wasn't sure about this and that it would be best if I paid them directly and worked with Warranty Gold to pay me later. Piers refused my offer and continued saying that he would work his magic with the warranty co. So, I left without paying and continued the trip.
I called Piers 1700 miles later <and the transmission performing flawlessly> from Yellowstone National Park and found that when Warranty Gold found the truck was still within the manufacturers warranty period, they refused payment saying that it was D/Cs responsibility. I also found that the credit card I gave them for other stuff I bought while there had refused payment. I called the credit co to find out why they refused payment and they said that they would not authorize a first time use of the credit card in a foreign country without talking to me directly first. Later I called Piers again and had them resubmit the bill and also paid them for the transmission rebuild.
I contacted D/C on the 1-800 # and started a claim for payment of the transmission rebuild. I really did not hold much hope of getting a check from D/C but I thought that it was worth a try.
I can not say enough about BDs hospitality and customer service. It's not often that you find a company committed to customer service to the extent they are and I still am flabbergasted by their willingness to let me leave without payment. I think, if all were reversed, I would not be so willing to let the customer leave with a 3000 dollar bill hanging in limbo and I probably would have sent out the proverbial sphincter police when the credit card bounced. But that is just me. When I called Piers and apologized to him for the credit card snafu he simply said ,"I thought it was something like that. " Because of BD and their employees' commitment, I actually enjoyed an automobile breakdown and the day and a half of being around enthusiastic diesel fanatics. BD in general, Piers in particular, and all the people in the transmission shop and in service deserve my thanks and this lists' support. It was an adventure.
-Paul R. Haller-
P. S. I got a call from Lynn Beck D/Cs customer service rep. She advised me that she had authorized payment in full for the breakdown ,after speaking with BD, and that I should see a check from D/C within 10 days. <I received the check today> I guess my faith in D/C is not misplaced after all or... Piers really did work his magic.
-Paul R. Haller-
