[junctionjeepster]

I think I got swindled! Took the Hurst in for Transfercase work and got a rebuilt tranny. Question: How do the tranny rebuilts from "who knows where" compare to rebuilding my original TH400? Of course the mechanic didn't tell me he just swapped out my old one for a rebuilt. Help guy's.
Thanks
Doug

 

[Pack Rat]

Why did they replace the tranny? Assuming that it did need replacing, unless the price difference between a rebuilt vs rebuilding yours was excessive or there was physical, unrepairable damage to the case, it's usual to rebuild what you had. Could be they don't want to warranty their rebuilds. Most factory rebuilds have some kind of nation wide warranty that small shops can't offer on in-house rebuilds and rather than take a chance they'll install a factory rebuilt. I've dealt with some of the factory or aftermarket rebuild companies in the past. There's good and bad in all of them.Usually the longer they've been in buisness the better they are. Hope this helps.

 

[1967]

I would be very suspicious of the rebuilt transmission. I would doubt that a rebuild shop would have or could get a case for the jeepster that uses the adapter for the buick v-6.There just isn`t enough demand for a rebuilder to keep one on his shelf being as they only came on 6 years of jeep products.You could wash one off, paint it, and you would not know the difference.Then again maybe there was one. But for them to replace the transmission if I only wanted transfere case work, I would have a huge problem with that.


What was wrong with the t-case?

 

[GoldToyBox]

Well, I can't say if you were "swindled".
You should know your self in about 30-50K miles. If it lasts then you weren't: if it doesn't you were? Usually come with a 1 year/12K miles warrenty or you can purchace an extented warrenty 3-4yrs/50K miles. Most of the cost is in the removal & install. I will ask for my tranny to be rebuilt it I know it's in good shape & not in a hurry but if I know it's been abused (lots of low end torque, etc) I might just ask for a rebuild. But it's the shop norm to just get a rebuild to save time if they can find one (must be correct version) The cost diff between new and rebuild is quite large, so usually the rebuild is the best cost wise. I doubt that I've help you much but I've paid $1600 for a Chev 4x4 tranny blow-up on vacation: one shop town and in a rush! So good luck

 

[junctionjeepster]

Great response to my paranoia. Not knowing the truth from reality, it appears that I got a rebuilt unit. It looks to silvery new to be my own. I suppose these shops as you say find it easier to though in a renovated unit from mexico or who knows where, rather than rebuild what they have. I suppose if they are as strong, then I should be fine. What Irk's me is that the guy was a bit shifty in how he presented it to me. I would have been happier if he would have told me that he put in a rebuilt replacement instead of telling me that he rebuilt my pristine TH400. Thanks

 

[2493]

If it makes you feel any better,,,, I have seen alot of rebuild shops that will spraybomb their trannys after rebuilding them, that way when the customer crawls under and looks the case has that shinny new look to it. And they think "ayup I gots me a new one now". It all depends on how well the techs keep up there cleaning equipment as to how clean the case came look when they are done, if the chemicals are right the case comes out clean as new, if the cleaner is just hot water then the case looks like crap and they spraybomb the tranny when they are done. Aaron

 

[090]

I used to rebuild engines for customers. I was not cheap, and my engines always hold together. I can not compete with commercial rebuilding factories who hire cheap labor and buy large quantities of parts.
If you want an engine for your vehicle, i can give you the options of me rebuilding it, or buying a longblock for about 1/3 of what I will charge you. Guess which one always wins? Many rebuilders are producing crap from their sweatshops, but enough of their engines make it through the warrantee period to where they consider some failures to be an acceptable risk. That doesn't make it feel any better to the guy whose engine blew up, but you get what you pay for.
Most mechanics don't rebuild transmissions, but send them out to trans shops. Perhaps they too, are feeling the sweatshops competition, that plays the odds against quality.
That said, I have no idea how your mechanic presented the options to you, and the finish on the trans casing shows nothing about what was done inside. The best VW builders would never paint the block, but that didn't mean that all unpainted rebuilds were good, or that all painted blocks signified a crummy rebuild.

 

[SteveInColorado]

So what, exactly, was the part where you felt you got fleeced? Did they replace the tranny without your permission? If so, they can't just do that.
Did they charge you the price of a new tranny? Or labor for the rebuild? If I have downtime, I rebuild engines to be installed later. Still costs the same, but takes less of the customer's downtime.
I guess the equipment business is a little different, but we use plenty of rebuilt 3rd party stuff. We always give the customer the option, though. It's cheaper than new, quicker than us rebuilding, and takes some of the liability off of us.
I'd say there's no way to know the quality of the rebuild, just based on the fact that it was third party (if that's the case). The stuff I see at my dealership ranges from better than factory quality to how the hell's that thing staying together?
I can't speak for the place you went to, but if we installed something similar and it failed, we'd replace it no questions asked. If it failed twice, we'd go with a different vendor for the part, probably OEM.

Hope this helps,

Steve.

 

[645]

i'm still confused. why did they replace the tranny, if you brought it in for t-case work? what was it doing before you took it in? did they actually fix it?

 

[2392]

Who'd you take it to? My buddy took his th400 to one of the shops in town (GJ) because it kept spewing ATF all over the place.

They told him it needed to be rebuilt (that didn't fix the problem), then told him he needed a new torque converter (that didn't fix the problem)... finally we figured out on our own that the previous owner had put too long of a dipstick tube on it, so the dipstick wasn't getting down into the pan and he was overfilling it and the fluid was blowing out of the vent tube. $600 or $700 later we fixed it on our own for a $10 tube! They are the closest tranny shop to my house (1 mile), but I'll be taking my business elsewhere. Wierd thing is, he never seemed to think he got screwed. He just figured, at least now the tranny was rebuilt and he had a new tourque converter. I would not have been so understanding.

You can email the name of the shop to me if you don't wanna post in online.

Give us more details on the story.

P.S. - I powerwashed my tranny and it looks like a new tranny also.