Here's the long story:
I had my transmission rebuilt last summer with the though of my engine swap in mind after I busted the sun shell.
Bench Job, $900 for the works including a 2500 stall, lockup converter. This is in an '88 700r4 trans am. The warranty was dated 7/26/10, good for one year or 12,000 miles.

The car sat over the winter, and then my 383 went in and got about 500 miles put on it. Of course, most of the fluid drained out when the engine was out, and then some more leaked cuz the dipstick tube wasn't seated properly. I filled it and fixed the minor problems. The car drove great and shifted fine, it took me a couple weeks to get it to lock up due to a bad brake switch, but that was fixed early on in the summer.

One week ago (the 23rd) I was driving to work and lost my muffler, so I turned around and went to drive home, and noticed the transmission was behaving weird, slipping in 3rd. I thought it was low on fluid, questioning whether my dipstick tube was right this time or not. Unfortunately, since I couldn't find the muffler, I couldn't drive it anymore to test it further, so I bought a bottle of fluid, and it sat for a week until earlier today. I was so convinced that it was low, that I just opened up the bottle and poured in 2 quarts without checking. Took it for a drive to get it up to temp (new muffler, new wideband AFR gauge, the trans was only in the back of my mind), and it worked beautifully. Til it got warm..... Started slipping in 3rd and 4th, and then wouldn't shift into 3rd after a bit. classic clutch pack problem? so I limped home, left it idling and checked the fluid. it appears to be 2 quarts overfilled..... Low fluid wasn't the problem. It also smells *slightly* burnt.

Could I have made the slipping worse by overfilling it?

Of course today is the 30th, 4 days after the warranty expired. What's my best bet for getting this thing serviced under warranty? Should I tell him the whole story? or leave out the part about me overfilling it? I called and left a message on the shop's voicemail, to get the ball rolling.

 

first clue that there is a problem was you killed 4rd gear. That will be impossible to replace!

 

That was supposed to say third and fourth .

There's plenty of clues that there's a problem lol. What I'm wondering is if I wrecked it more by overfilling it, to the point that the transmission guy is gonna deny my warranty because it was over filled (even if only for like 5 miles).

 

Leave out the overfill part... and all the other lock-up/brake switch details.
Start your story where you lost the muffler.

 

I'm thinking that's prolly best. I'll have to draw off the excess fluid...

Do you think the overfilling actually contributed to its failure? I thought that the worst thing that could happen with it overfilled is a seal blowing out...

 

If you overfill a 700R4 too much, it'll just bleed out the vent.
It began to fail before you filled it. By the time you added anything, the damage was already done.

But you definitely want to remove the excess.
The transmission guy will use ANY excuse to turn you away.

 

I just got off the phone with the transmission shop.

Of course he blamed it on the fact that I've done the 383 swap since, and didn't adjust the TV cable right (The usual BS)

He says he has to see the car, so I will be trailering it there within the next couple of days....

 

you paid $900 for a bench rebuild of a 700R including a new sunshell and a new upgraded torque converter, not rebuilt???

You got yourself a basic stock rebuild kit slapped in it probably because you were price shopping. If you back out the TC and sun shell you got yourself a $500-$600 bench rebuild, depending on what tc you received. That is dirt cheap and not even close to what you would pay for a PERFORMANCE rebuild.

I suggest an upgrade and do it correctly this time or you will be doing this all over again.

I did a basic rebuild on my 4L60E on my 95Z. It grenaded after mods and I had the pleasure of yanking it out again, using stronger hard parts and rebuild kit. I didn't even bother asking the tranny guy because i knew that it was my own fault. I didn't think I would be modding as soon as I did.

For my 89RS, a basic rebuild was done to the functional 700R but I also had a new sprag and bought a rebuilt tc . All I added were headers and open air element so I wasn't worried about grenading the tranny with the 305 TBI.

As they say, your hands are not clean on this. You should be hoping for some type of arrangement with the tranny shop. Allow them to use upgraded parts so they can make a few $$$ but try and negotiate free labor. The idea is to reach a compromise where both of you have a bad taste in your mouths. They are not at fault on this. The may however be willing to work with you.

 

I told the transmission shop exactly what I wanted to accomplish with the transmission. I am no expert on transmissions, so I left it to him to decide what would hold up, him knowing full well that that there would be a 383 in front of it before the warranty was up. This is what you pay these guys for. I wasn't under the illusion that I would get a vigalante TC or anything like that, but I know I got a Transgo stage 2 shift kit, and a beast sunshell, and a TC that would stall around 2500rpm, he mentioned a couple other things, but since I didn't quite know their benefit, I've forgotten what they are.

Maybe he took a gamble that I was blowing smoke about putting a 383 in, and built me a stock trans, but then its his fault that it didn't hold up to the 383.

Maybe he built the trans he thought would work, and it just didn't hold up, sometimes that happens too.

Maybe an upgrade is in order, and if that's the case, I'll pay for the new, better parts, but not the full rebuild, since I already paid him for that.

 

In my opinion, that is the best you could hope for. The tranny guy could play the "out of warranty" card. I would not go in with my guns blazing, I'd go in thinking as a partner on this and see his reaction.

With respect to what was told to the tranny guy, or thought was told to him, it's what is on the sales agreement and work order that matters. Everything else is pure conjecture. If the work order states to build tranny to withstand 400 ft pounds of torque or even to build a street/strip tranny then there are assumptions made with those terms. If you have no such clear written documentation then hope for a compromise

good luck


ps- that's why we old timers always say, "if it isn't in writing, then it doesn't exist"

 

He didn't play the out of warranty card, thankfully. If I screwed up the TV cable adjustment (Hard to do IMO) then I guess I'll have to eat the wrecked trans. The bracket I made followed the TPI geometry exactly though.

I never ran the transmission low on fluid, and I didn't drive it when the shifting seemed way out of whack. (Although come to think of it, it recently had seemed to need a lot of throttle input to unlock TCC and downshift from OD, but I chalked it up to the TCC lockup settings in the PROM. Maybe I did screw up the TV cable adjustment...

 

Just got back from the transmission shop. Of course, he still tried to blame it on the TV cable setup, but then after looking at it for a bit, he didn't seem so sure. He also said the sprag might have rolled over. Whatever that means.
He kept grilling me about how it was shifting, whether it was jumping back and forth between third and fourth, or if I had the TCC locking up in 2nd and stuff like that. Asked me what the shift points were, and couldn't say anything bad when I told him. 18, 35, and 48 on slow accel.

He told me to pull the trans out, and he wanted me to stick around while he tore it apart. He wouldn't even give me a rough estimate of what it was gonna cost me if it was because of my TV brackets.

He says my trans was set up exactly the same way as the one in his Monte except for the manual valve body and 3000 stall converter, and he's got 600hp at the crank.

I'll get the trans torn out and I guess we'll go from there...

 

Good, he's talking and not just pushing back; that's a good sign. When you bring the tranny to him bring a cold 6-pack of coke or whatever you think he drinks. You will tear down his barricade and you and he will be tackilng a problem together. Yes, it is probably going to cost you some $$$ but I doubt as much as a total rebuild.

Honestly, most of us are hard working folk who just want to do right by each other. Most people aren't out to screw the other guy because we don't like having it done to us. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when you are "in the soup" but if you work on the relationship first, and then the problem second, it goes a long way toward a mutually acceptable resolution.

 

Transmission is out. I found a melted spot on the TV cable where it touched my headers, the failure was my fault entirely.

I have a feeling though that the owner of the shop is sorta counting this as my one "freebie". Depending on if he charges me for new clutches or not I'll have him put in a full manual valve body, just to throw some cash his way.

I also found out from a couple of sources that my TV bracket geometry is a *little* off from what it was at the factory. I'll machine a few extra brackets with minor changes, and when we set up the transmission, I'll go prepared with several different brackets to test with the pressure gauge attached.

 

You have just become even more valuable to the shop owner.

You are an informed and reasonable customer. And, by your willingness to admit what wasn't his fault, he gets to roll up his sleeves and work with you on getting you back on the road. You in turn are tossing him some cash in appreciation.

You will now recommend him to others and probably work with him in the future because you now have a relationship built on respect which is invaluable in this day and age.

 

Well I finally took the transmission in on Tuesday, and I got a call on Thursday saying it was done.
I got the full manual VB installed and the smoked clutches and band replaced for less than the price of a new valve body.

I don't have the cash for it quite yet since I have to pay tuition soon, but it will sit on the shelf until I'm ready for it. Shouldn't be more than a week or two.

 

Getting the transmission back tomorrow! Hopefully she'll be up and running by Monday.
Gonna be shifting with the stock shifter for a while, which will suck...

 

When you get your new shifter you should go back to the trans shop and have him test it to make shure its right.. That will also help your "bond" with the guy and if anything should go wrong he would know that you and HIM both said the car was "correct" when leaveing his shop... that way incase a clutch berns up or a band brakes he knows it was a bad part, not bad workmanship or incorrectly installed "mod"

I have a friend in the transmission business, if i have small issues he fixes them for the price of the part, or sometimes free. (speed sensors and what not) In retern I bring him EVERY Dodge truck I've owned for a full trans rebuild, and tell others about how he can build a dodge trans that will NEVER die.. my old 92 cummins was highly hopped up, and used for pulling trailers and pulling sleds.. the trans now has 276,000+ miles on it, and still shifting strong! So keep that in minde that when small issues happen you got a friend in the transmission biz

 

Transmission is in!
Driveshaft and fluid, however, are not... Stupid work interfering with my wrenching time

 

Well, she drives. I killed it the first time I put it in drive, cuz I put it in 4th instead of first

Gonna take some getting used to the manual valve body.