My freinds car(97 grand am) was making a knocking sound on the right side of the car. I was driving it to try and see what was wrong with it. It only made the funny sounds when it was in Drive, not reverse so I told him it is probably the transmission.

So he took it to a transmission shop for them to diagnos the problem. They called him back and told him they need to drop the tranny to figure it out. They dropped it and had to replace the gaskets and oil and charged him $75. He told him it was a bad wheel bearing, but he doesnt even repair those. He did say it was alright because every year you need to replace the fluid. I told him I havent done it once in 12 years and the car runs great. So we have to take it somewhere else.

You think this guy ripped us off? Cant a good mechanic figure out the sound without the tranny off?

 

wow, well, damn. the first problem was taking it to a trans shop.
You don't need to drop the trans pan to figure out if the bearings bad, its just a matter of jacking the car up, and checking the run out on that wheel. Or do what i do and grab both sides of the tires and wiggle, if its loose, and its not your lug nuts, you've most likely have loose of bad bearings.
The *** damn has front wheel drive, so it has sealed uni-t type bearings that usually run around $120 for the part itself, and an hours labor to install.
the mechanic, ripped you off. ALTHOUGH, it probably needed a trans fluid change, he forced it out of you, and thats bull****.

IMHO, take it to a gm dealer, have them look at it, they deal with those cars all day.
I would guess that its not the wheel bearing, but a cv joint thats gone bad.
Also, $75 for as filter and fluid change?
Ouch!

 

75 bux to drop a tranny? a front wheel drive tranny? Thats not a bad deal, considering you got a new gasket and fluid. Jiffy lube will charge 80 bux just to do a t-tech (machine which sucks out all the old tranny fluid and injects new fluid). As for the wheel bearing, if its a rear wheel bearing, that should cost like $10 from autozone, and its easy (though a bit messy with the bearing grease) to change.

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1983 Firebird
TH700R4 Auto
Small Block 400
LG4 ECM, Intake, Carb, Distributor, etc.
Soon to be non-computer.
Clarion Head Unit 45X4
2 Pioneer 400W 12" Subs
Third Gen Performance
"A four cylinder is half an engine."
"Ponies can run, but birds can fly..."

[This message has been edited by Ward (edited December 03, 2001).]

 

No way it's a ripoff...tell ya what, if you think it is, just take the car to be diagnosed (not fixed) at any dealer/repair shop and compare the price with the diag charge.

I think you'll see that paying 75 bucks to get the fluid/filter changed and the problem diagnosed, isn't too bad.

BTW, when I used to have a company car and took it in to Frod for trannyfluid/filter change, it was $90.00 and change as I recall.

 

FWIW, I charge $150.00 to do a trans service.

75 bucks wasn't bad.

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ASE Mechanic/Machinist/Smog Tech

1999 NBM Trans Am
1986 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up
1981 corvette
1995 Kawi ZX6R
and 2 POS commuters...

R.I.P. #3
"He can see air"

 

hah, do you think that guy dropped his trans and only charged him $75 bucks?
No way. He took the pan off, thats why he did the filter and seals.
besides, do you think this guy would drop a tranny before he drove the car, and figured out its the front wheel bearing?
doubt it. The guy at the shop is a screwball.

Take that car to a dealer, I bet its the cv joint going. I don't rember the bearings going in mine untill about 100k.

Also, if that guy at the tranny shop can drop a transmission, he can change a freakin wheel bearing.
I can, and I know I'm retarted.

[This message has been edited by blue91rs (edited December 03, 2001).]

 

Mike,

You didn't get "ripped off", but you didn't get what you expected. The price for the trans service is fair. And yes, a decent mechanic should have diagnostic skills that would cause him/her to do some more testing or investigation before removing the transmission to find a noise in an axle.

And the transmission oil should be changed regularly, or at least that's what the guys who designed the transmission suggest. My owners' manuals have varying intervals for the different vehicles and types of service, but the typical interval is 30,000 miles under "normal" service. Of course, most of us drive in a manner that would suggest the "severe" service schedules, but do what you want. I change out all the fluids on a new vehicle at 15,000 miles from the axles to the transmission to the power steering fluid (except the DexCool) and then start with the service schedule after that. That's why I have drain plugs in all my auto transmission pans.

If you have a lot of miles on your auto transmission and have never changed the fluid, don't start now. Just start collecting all the money you've saved on oil and strainer changes and save it for new clutches and bands. Once it starts to give you problems, make an appointment fast...

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Later,
Vader
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If you want to beat the World, it might reach up and pull you down...
Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

no way you got ripped off bro the other day i had my clutch serviced it cost me over 500 for a new assembly, they talkin bout how i burned it up, 6k clutch drops arent a good idea, but yeah you didnt get ripped off at all, just maybe mislead a scosche

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1976 mustang
4 cylinder 4 speed
soon to be twin turbo 351 cleveland.