LaserblueSS

iTrader: (1)

wait, so it only has 29K MILES on it, and there are metal chunks in the tranny?! sweet jesus someone drove that thing hard, or the dealership is really trying to screw you over. not saying that it isnt possible, but you would have to drive the hell out of that tranny for those 29K miles for it to be that bad.

Sully20

Yes. I would definitley replace the clutch with a GMPP while its apart like e said, That GMPP clutch is freakin awesome and can handle just about anything you can throw at it and for the price its totally worth it!

CrazyInvader

iTrader: (1)

Yep, when I bought the car, it had 29k miles on it and has 37k miles on it now. As I got it from a used car dealer, I have no idea how badly it was used/abused before I got it. I guess I'm finding out now.

soundjunky

iTrader: (4)

A good/easy thing to do, is to ask around the office if anyone has a regular mechanic or shop they send their cars to;
That shop I recommended on FB-GMToC might be quite out of the way for you, so maybe you can find something closer.

JapEatr

iTrader: (9)

im not sure how far you are fom Powell Race Shop, but that would be my first choice if i lived in Canada

CrazyInvader

iTrader: (1)

Good idea, although I work in a fairly small place. I live in north Calgary, so Lake Bonavista is a little far. At this point, it's still an option though.

JapEatr, Powell is very close to Toronto. Calgary is over 2000 miles away. I'm jealous of people on CSS who live close to Powell and ZZP.

alleycat58

My first thought too. Look for a torn boot or grease/dirt on the outside of the boot.

The tech said he also heard a noise on shifting, a CV *can* make a less severe noise on accel and decel, including gear changes. My work car has the same issue right now, even in an automatic there's a slight clunk on gear changes.

If there were truly CHUNKS in the transmission fluid, unless you pay zero attention to the car, you would know there was something wrong. I'd definitely get a second opinion before shelling out money on anything.

CrazyInvader

iTrader: (1)

Hi alleycat, when I arrived at work on Friday evening I checked the right front CV boot (as well as looking for fluid or anything dangling). It was clean and intact. The mechanic also checked the boot.

I just got off the phone with the service advisor. She said that the mechanic took it for a drive, heard abnormal noise too, checked under the car and didn't see anything unusual. He then systematically went through the engine. When he pulled the tranny drain plug, he saw "pieces of gear metal". At that point the 1 hour diagnosis was up, so he didn't check the tranny further.

I do pay close attention to the car, so I'm amazed this has happened so quickly. Up until Friday morning, the car was running perfectly. I've never had a CEL and the car has run quietly.

I don't want to give the dealership any more of my money, so I'm going to have the car towed to a different shop and get them to open up the tranny and then I'll know for sure.

alleycat58

That's odd. I know on my beater car I had to check all 4, I knew my problem was on the right side, but it was the inner CV rather than the outer.

I think you're being smart by taking it to another shop. I really think if it was something on the magnitude of needing a new transmission you would have heard or felt something yourself.

soundjunky

iTrader: (4)

I concur;
and add to that the fact that he would have probably had shifting issues, or gears he couldn't get into...

alleycat58

Yep, excess metal shavings tend to do that.

mongorat427

iTrader: (82)

Most of Car-Part.com dealers offer a warranty

Sharkey

iTrader: (1)

as a transmission builder, i run into this sort of belief from enthusiests. forums seem to think their vehicles are something special, something completely different from everything else on the market and that only certain people can work on them. when you build transmissions day in day out you start realizing how similar things really are. the basics of how to build a manual transmission/transaxle are all the same, you just need the know how, tools, and information to do the job. a great example of this is the mk 4 supra tranny i did last year. everyone thinks they are so complex, really it was nothing, just took reading the directions and doing it. the f35 is no different, its just a transaxle, it takes gear pullers and a press, but its nothing outside the realm of a transmission shop, they are trained specifically to built transmissions and transaxles. just dont go to a general repair shop and expect them to fix the transmission, they will either make a mess of it, or just sub the job out to a transmission shop and mark it up more.

soundjunky

iTrader: (4)

If I've added to misinformation, I'll appologize;
I had heard that the F35 requires something akin to two tons of pressure to R&R gears from the mainshaft - is this correct?

I had also been told that many shops simply couldn't do that - and that several shops have wrecked equipment trying to rebuild F35's.

I also realize that every shop is different - but admittedly, in our city, skilled/competent shops are few & far between.
I hear time and again of horror stories about local machine (and similar) shops - and know for a fact that many local enthusiasts simply opt to take their work several hours out of town...
It's one thing to find a shop willing to do the work;
It's another thing to find a shop that can do the work;
It's still another thing to find a shop which can do the work properly.

I have dabbled in the automotive industry - so where I don't have first hand experience, I have seen, and heard of many of the long term shops around town;

• I have only one service shop I recommend people go to - everyone I've sent there has gone out of their way to come back to me, and thank me for the recommendation...
• There's only one place I recommend people send cylinder heads to - again, those whom I've sent there have thanked me for the recommendation...
• I currently have no machine shop to recommend people go to - the shop I used to go to apparently of late the proprietor has suggested to people I know, that he has the best machine shop in the city, if not western Canada - too bad he royally screwed up the last engine I sent him... and it was just for basic short block work. (and even though he knew he screwed up, i was till on the hook.)
• There are only two transmission shops which I know do good work - and neither specialize in FWD transmissions ~ and one of those two is a Corvette specialty shop... (I have never sent work to either shop)
• The last local fabrication shop I used, which was highly recommended by almost everyone (in the car hobby locally) - did an absolute $h1t job - and gave me nothing but headache...

Maybe my bar is set too high - but in this city, a good shop is indeed hard to find;
I think it has to do with too many people with too much money, who are all too willing to accept sub-par work as being fantastic... even when this means they have to redo it again - and in short order.
But hey, the shop has hype about it, and the customer lobby is nice.

soundjunky

iTrader: (4)

I just noticed you're in abbotsford - if you can do F35's, maybe i need to keep this in mind.

Sharkey

iTrader: (1)

ill be honest, ive never had an f35 apart. i have looked at the instructions in the gm service manual, doesnt look very complex or special to me. yes, the average enthusiest isnt going to be able to do it. princess auto gear pullers and bearing splitters dont cut it, ive got over $1k in pullers and splitters in my tool box for doing such jobs. 2 tons of force to press the shafts apart isnt that much in the grand sceme of things, ive got a 20 ton press in my shop and ive had shafts i cant press apart (granted it was a dodge diesel 6 speed).

my point is, any reputable transmission shop can handle it. when you have a shop you trust for general work, talk to the service manager, see what transmission shop they deal with or refer people to. a reputable shop is only going to recommend a shop they trust as doing so puts their name on the line.

soundjunky

iTrader: (4)

If I could "like" a post - I would have liked that one - there is so much "win" in it....