warmblood58
Full Access Member
So after nearly a year of a non op e350 van ('94 e350 idi) I have my van towed to St. Helena Ford where it sits for three weeks. The lazy ass service manager, who did not bother to take notes from me regarding what happened when trans died was clueless and demonstrated this when I stopped by to find out status of diagnostic. Ford has remaned updated e40d transmissions for 1900 uninstalled which have a three year unlimited mileage warranty . . . I thought that this was great as Ford stealerships are everywhere so if I had a problem, another 1,000.00 to install. So I swing by and he said, "Oh, so there you are - your trans is shot, there is burnt clutch material in the sump, your fluid is burned and there is no pump pressure, and burnt clutch material on the dip stick as well". Unknown to Ford, when I first experienced this problem, I had van towed to a friend's shop- he is a master tech vw/subaru mechanic but cuts gears for tractors, works on all cars and trucks - does it all. He and I verify that filter was dirty, old fluid was not burned -in fact, it looked good - I dropped sump after draining and find no catastrophic bits in the pan, just usual stuff at the pan magnet. I completely clean sump and overfull slightly with NEW atf and install new gasket and filter . . . . still no movement so van sits this way for months and then gets towed to St. Helena Ford. So I say to the service idiot, "interesting, because there is nothing but new atf in that pan, and torque converter was not drained but atf is not circulating so can you explain to me how new fluid smells burnt and full of clutch material?" He stammers and then says I can talk to the tech who is actually a good trans buider from those I know. I explain the same to him who then upon being asked two questions by me, blows up and walks away and say "I have no time for this" I say, "that's ok pal, I am just the ******* customer who was going to spend three thousand dollars with you guys but not now as apparently you guys decided upfront to just sell me a remaned trans vs a good diagnostic" I then left the shop and tracked down the owner/gm and relayed all to him . . . . He listened calmly and validated my concerns and waived the 7/10's of an hour charge.
The above is why I prefer to do my own work and had I been a woman or less knowledgeable, they would have ripped me off. When the service manager said, "your pump is shot", I said "so how would dirty TC atf (I did not drain TC)blend with all that fresh atf in sump?" He just stared at me with that busted look in his eyes ... so, back to square one again. Not so sure I even want to deal with a Ford product/personnel at this point and E40d transmissions seem like they are more trouble than they are worth - my rant is over, thanks! Another tech at an indi shop believes that it is a bad TC as he has rarely seen a pump go on these diesel transmissions -
The above is why I prefer to do my own work and had I been a woman or less knowledgeable, they would have ripped me off. When the service manager said, "your pump is shot", I said "so how would dirty TC atf (I did not drain TC)blend with all that fresh atf in sump?" He just stared at me with that busted look in his eyes ... so, back to square one again. Not so sure I even want to deal with a Ford product/personnel at this point and E40d transmissions seem like they are more trouble than they are worth - my rant is over, thanks! Another tech at an indi shop believes that it is a bad TC as he has rarely seen a pump go on these diesel transmissions -
