Don, what was wrong with the first rebuild was the rebuilder. Plain and simple, the first shop lacked either familiarity or competence to do my transmission -or any transmission. The owner of the tranny shop that saved my butt told me he knows the guys from my shop -that they had sent him their tranny work for years. He knew all of the mechanics and he looked surprised when I told him the name of the guy who worked on my truck. And while he did not say anything personally denigrating about any individual there, I had the distinct feeling that this was only because he was being polite. He ran down a litany of what was wrong with my PG, everything from the torque converter being crapped out, to the fluid pump needing work. He said every piece needed work. He said the filter he found was juryrigged. I do not have enough familiarity with transmissions to explain perfectly what he said, but it was clear that whoever worked on my tranny simply did not know what he was doing. He said I would not have even been able to get 10 miles on the tranny I brought him. He told me to go and get my money back. Later on in the day, I was back in the area, visiting another shop to chat about some mods I have in mind for the truck. They had seen my truck at the tranny shop and said guys had gone over to have a look, take some photos, whatever. They said, "Yeah, we heard that some shoemaker had tried to play mechanic with your tranny." I had not even mentioned yet anything about the tranny.

So the answer to the question of what was wrong with my tranny is simply: the guy who worked on it.

I spent most of my life on bikes. I know the best shops in NYC for anything that has to do with bikes. When it comes to cars, I don't know anyone. The area where the tranny shop is situated is an area with many auto repair places- specialty shops, where each deals with specific parts of a vehicle. It is an industrial zone that I never really paid attention to over the years. There is a lot of talent over there. This is where you take a vehicle if you want things done right. Not a neighborhood shop where the guys are apt to be more affable than experienced. -Alden

Last edited by Alden B.; 08/01/2014 2:51 PM.