Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 23:31:42 -0700
Reply-To: Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Subject: Re: Trans Noise with Redline MTL?
In-Reply-To: <390CD54B.62BD004E@cobaltgroup.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
On 30 Apr 2000, at 17:52, Stuart wrote:
> This happened to me after 5000 miles on my last rebuild, and I have used
> MTL long before that rebuild and continue to. I now have over 100,000
> on my last rebuild.
And I once again called Redline to confirm that either MTL or MT90 is correct
for the vanagon, but I still bought a jug of Castrol GL-5 75w90, to see if the
noise changes, but mainly to see what the condition of the Redline is... (ie:
how much metal... :-(
> I called AA Transaxle and Craig, who ran the place at that time, said
> bring it back in. It turned out the pinion bearing was improperly
> hardened and started to fail quickly. I had to drop the box again, but
> the repair was covered under warranty.
Does this mean the total repair was covered under warranty? What is the
standard warranty practice for something like a trans, where it could be 3-4
hrs labour just to determine what the problem is?
> Take it back to the guy who did the job and see if he will honor his
> warranty. I hope you have one, if the noise you describe is proportional
> to road speed only a bad pinion bearing, differential carrier bearings,
> or output shaft bearings can cause this.
I did today, and the news is not good. His warranty is one year, but the
bearings (pinion and mainshaft) are 6 months from his supplier. He was not
prepared to state that he would cover the labour up front, and I'm not
prepared to spend another $600 labour to have the job done right (ie: even
best case, assuming it was the cheaper pinion bearing is $40 + 600 labour,
which he might cut in half. Oh boy how generous.) He did concede that the
trans is leaking, and later agreed that he would pull it and fix the leak at no
cost under warranty. So why won't he cover the full labour for a defective
part... Part of the problem is there is not statement of warranty on the bill. (I
know, this was stupid on my part.)
He has some doubt about the Redline, as he's never used it, and started
talking about Hypoid gears and maybe the MTL is not a hypoid oil, etc. My
Bentley says quite clearly 80W or 80W90 GL-4, which is MTL, so I don't see
the problem. I could find no mention of hypoid in the Bentley, nor did Redline
think a hypoid oil was needed, hence they still recommend MTL or MT90.
> You could try Red Line MT-90 next time, but shifting will be harder.
> Don't blame the oil for this noise, something is not right inside your
> tranny and it needs attention.
Yes, I think you are right, but the question now is can I get it fixed without
spending more money, or did I just spend $1200 for a 6000km rebuild job?
The more I think of this, the more I am annoyed that he is expecting me to
pay more to fix something which failed at 6000km, when he gave a 12 month
24k km warranty (albeit verbally- this was before the repair, and I never
checked the bill for a warranty on pickup).
This guy is a highly respected mechanic in town, was voted best Mechanic in
Victoria, referred by others on the list, etc., so I am playing it cool hoping he
will come through and make good on this. Any advice on how to gently urge
him to do so? I just want to get this fixed, and can't afford another cent, nor do
I think I should have to pay one.
ps: The shop is AutoSpiel in Victoira, BC, owner's name is Russell Sherman.
Shawn & Janis Wright
swright@sls.bc.ca
http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
(Olympus List Archives)
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