PDA

View Full Version : Transmission issues continue...


Ms Grumpy
08-14-2012, 12:15 AM
How many of us have bought a transmission or other part, had it for over 90 days, the warranty ran out, and then had problems. Well I am one of those people. I bought my 200 4R tranmission in June 2011.

A LITTLE HISTORY:
I trailered the car to Chevellabration 2011, then drove the car to the ACES Northern Regional show where I had a major problem, so I thought, and had it trailered home. When we got home we called Lonny, the builder of the transmission and owner of Extreme Transmissions. Lonny talked us through how to fix the problem. Took a little while but it was working.

I have driven my car to many show and events this year. I have driven probably about 300 miles before the Ohio show this year.

Fast forward to the Ohio show this year. I drove my Malibu to the show, we had a small overheating problem on the way. We made it to the show but I thought that I heard this "wooshing" sound. During the show I had a new thermostat installed and talked about the "wooshing"sound, many of the guys thought that it was a loose header, even though the bolts were tight. Not something that we all agreed would be a problem until I got home. Well...

On my way home, we were about 40 miles from my home and after going through some construction on the e-way, the trans did not want to shift into 4th gear, and there was that "wooshing" sound again. So I pulled off the e-way and we checked the fluid level, just a little low, added some and limped my car home. Still having problems shifting into 4th and sometimes 2nd and 3rd.

Last night grumpy e-mailed Lonny (owner Extreme Transmissions) telling him about the problems and asked for suggestions. Lonny actually called grumpy today to discuss the problem. After discussing the problems, Lonny suggested that there may be a small metal shaving in the trans and causing these problems. He also stated that the "wooshing" noise sounds like maybe the pressure in the trans is too high. Since Lonny thinks that this problem has been there since the beginning he has offered to repair it, or if we were not happy he would refund our whole purchase price. He also offered to pay for shipping to and from his shop. The only issue we have is that our mechanic does not have the time to pull the trans for at least 3 weeks. So Lonny, who's shop is near Cincinnati, Ohio is going to bring a trailer and pick up my car, take it to his shop, pull the trans, fix it, and then install it and make sure it is performing correctly. All at no cost. He said he just wants us to be happy.

So later this week he should be picking up my car. The only bummer in all of this is that this weekend was going to be a big weekend for me. Friday night is the Berkley Parade and Saturday is the Woodward Dream Cruise. But, I will just have to deal with it and keep my fingers crossed that I will have my car back by the end of August.

Is it me, or does Ohio have something against me having a transmission that works properly ?

shadowgray396
08-14-2012, 07:47 AM
Nancy, I know not having the car this weekend is a bummer, but my hat is off to Lonny for going out of his way to get your car fix for you and at no charge. Not many people would do what is is doing. I have a question for you, are you running a separate transmission cooler rather then having it hooked up to your radiator transmission connections. If your car runs hot it may be running your transmission hot also if they are connected together. With all the heat you have been having keeping the transmission cool is a must.

Ray

fleming23
08-14-2012, 08:38 AM
Definitely better service than I got from the builder of my 200-4R.... I would be very happy he is offering to go to such extremes (no pun intended) to fix your issues! With these 200s the builder can so easily say that improper TV adjustment created the problem. You can definitely burn a band or clutch pack in one pretty fast....(as I can personally attest) especially if you are even a little low on fluid. Something to consider and/or discuss with Lonnie is swapping the 200 filter for a 700-R4 filter. Reason being, the 200 filter opening is on the top, front side and under hard acceleration can starve the pump and suck air especially if you are running an aluminum deep pan (fix for this is overfilling 1/2 to 1 quart.) The 700 filter is more traditional and has the pick up hole located on the bottom rear.

Just something to consider that I only learned AFTER it was too late and my trans was slipping 2nd gear.

Ms Grumpy
08-14-2012, 06:22 PM
Eric, thank you for the great suggestion. I will talk to Lonny about the filter change.

Ray, I do have a trans cooler in place. When we installed this trans we wanted to make sure that we didn't have any of the overheating problems that I had had in the past (prior to the restoration process on the car).

David (grumpy) is trying to talk me into doing the parade with the trans the way it is, that is if Lonny can't make it here by this weekend. His logic is that I am not going to go over 15-20 mph at the most. My heart says "Go for it", my head and wallet say "No".

flash
08-14-2012, 08:15 PM
Id go for it .

shadowgray396
08-14-2012, 08:31 PM
I would do the parade also, as long as you have fluid in it you won't hurt the trans at low speed. Go for it

flash
08-14-2012, 09:23 PM
And post some pics for those of us that cant be there.

Ms Grumpy
08-14-2012, 11:07 PM
You guys are really tempting me. :)

flash
08-15-2012, 10:33 PM
You know you want to and you know I would go for it.

Ms Grumpy
08-16-2012, 09:15 PM
OK OK So I have decided to go for it and do the parade. I have my grand daughter here from New York and grumpy has helped to talk me into it also. And I also made sure that I have my spot on Woodward for Saturday.

So I will do the parade Friday night. And barring any other problems, I figured that I should be able to drive my car up to Woodward on Saturday morning and park it for the day. It really seems ironic, but the parade on Friday starts at 12 & Woodward (we line up on the N/W side of 12 mile in the Cemetery) and my parking spot on Saturday is at 12 & Woodward. I will parked on the S/W corner of 12 and Woodward in front of Crispelli's Pizza.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that every thing will be OK.

flash
08-16-2012, 09:23 PM
Good for you ,you go girl.

shadowgray396
08-20-2012, 10:20 PM
So has your car gone to the transmission shop yet?

Ms Grumpy
08-21-2012, 09:56 PM
Not yet Ray. We have been so busy that we haven't set up a time yet with Lonny. Couldn't be soon enough for me.

Ms Grumpy
08-25-2012, 09:35 PM
So my car will be picked up on September 8th and returned one week later. Can't really complain, I can just hope that the weather stays nice through October to make up for the time I missed cruising.

Berg
08-28-2012, 12:54 PM
Sorry to hear about the transmission woes. At least you did manage to get some time logged behind the wheel. Look at it as you are still working the bugs out of a recently finished project.

Ms Grumpy
09-07-2012, 09:32 PM
Talked to Lonny today. He is on his way. He will be at my house tomorrow morning around 9am to get my car. I feel kinda weird about this. I have not let my car be taken by anyone that I didn't really know. To a place that is 5+ hours away. But, it will all be worth it when my baby is back, and in great working order.

shadowgray396
09-07-2012, 10:46 PM
It will be nice to have it fixed and ready to go soon.

flash
09-08-2012, 06:43 PM
You should be ready for some fall cruising .

Ms Grumpy
09-08-2012, 08:56 PM
So Lonny got here about 10, after taking a wrong turn in downtown Detroit. He asked me if I was ready to pull my car up onto his trailer and I looked at him and thought to myself, am I ? I hadn't done anything, not even wash my car, for almost a month. I got behind the wheel and she started right up. I was hoping that I would be able to put her in reverse, she had been giving me problems with reverse the last time I drove her. Shifted into reverse, and she was ready to go.

When I lined up with the trailer we were a little concerned that one of the headers would hit, so we jacked up the trailer and took it slow. Everything worked out and we strapped her down.

We stood in the street talking with Lonny for a while. He said that he knew that we had problems since day one with this transmission and he just wanted to make it right. He also asked me if I liked the way that if shifted and I told him that it still seemed a little stiffer than I liked, but it was growing on me. He said if I wanted a smoother shift, that now would be the time to change it. So I told him that if he could make it so that I still felt it, but it didn't jerk my head back that would be great. So he is going to take care of that for me.

About 6pm today I got a call from Lonny. He told me that the trip was uneventful, that the car made it to his shop safe and sound. He unloaded it off the trailer, and locked the car inside his shop which has a security system.

I was told that he plans on having my car back to me in a week, maybe sooner. If there are any delays he will call me. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get my car back next weekend.

shadowgray396
09-08-2012, 10:35 PM
Glad to hear you car made it. You don't want a Dr Phil event where they stole his 57 chevy convertable from the repair shop he had it at.

Musclenutz
09-09-2012, 10:34 AM
Hi,i was on this forum some months back...You could say i had Trnsmission problems too..Decided to play around one day and have some fun with my 69. Took off easy in first and then gave it some gas...Hit second ,wheels came three feet off the ground and wham! Tranny broke into pieces.Disentigrated it. While installing a new one,i found the pilot bearing had never been installed on the old resto. Luckily had a friend who found me a good Muncie Rockcrusher and on the road again. Whew! how could someone forget to put the pilot bearing in ? Anyway,good to be back on the road .

Ms Grumpy
09-09-2012, 06:57 PM
Glad to hear you car made it. You don't want a Dr Phil event where they stole his 57 chevy convertable from the repair shop he had it at.

I am gonna keep my fingers crossed that mine is safe. Funny thing, a couple of nights ago I was going thru some papers to file and I found my insurance policy on my car . (I had just renewed it)

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Ms Grumpy
09-09-2012, 07:16 PM
Hi,i was on this forum some months back...You could say i had Trnsmission problems too..Decided to play around one day and have some fun with my 69. Took off easy in first and then gave it some gas...Hit second ,wheels came three feet off the ground and wham! Tranny broke into pieces.Disentigrated it. While installing a new one,i found the pilot bearing had never been installed on the old resto. Luckily had a friend who found me a good Muncie Rockcrusher and on the road again. Whew! how could someone forget to put the pilot bearing in ? Anyway,good to be back on the road .

Sounds like that was a rough ride, fun maybe, but rough.

Glad you got your car back on the road, just sad that it was an unexpected expense because of a broken part.