Torque Converter Mystery

[Krank88]

Humor is good right now. You were joking, right. Anyway you are right, a new tranny and I will forget about this. Thanks for your help by the way, it got me studying converters and transmissions and it will be invaluable down the line.

[Kidhauler]

wow because the judge doesnt understand something he rules against you. I would apeal to the higher level. The judge made a mistake his ignorance is not law. he could have easily reserved judgement to a later time and had one of his assistants do some research on the subject or talk to another GM mechanic. Just pick up the phone and call the nearest dealer they would probably be only too glad to help.

In the mean time I would just chuck that whole trans and get the factory one with the warrenty. Once the old trans is out you will have time to pull it apart and bring the bad converter and hopefully good clutch pack to court to show the judge.

It is stories like this that make me do my own repairs. That way if something goes bang I know exactly who the big dumb ape is that screwed it up.

[Krank88]

I agree with you. Up until the very end when I showed the judge Daaco's Torque Converter Catalog, and it clearly stated in all caps that they are not to install a different stall speed converter for other than what was originally called for, I thought I had proved my case way beyond a doubt. I don't know what I could have done different. I even provided copies of part stores price sheets, showing the correct converter. What really concerned me was that the mechanics stood there and lied under oath like it was nothing.

Another reason we all do our own repairs is that warm fuzzy feeling, not only that we saved money and got to get dirty, but the feeling that we screwed the mechanic(sorry to all the good mechanics).

To appeal the case, I have to go to the next court up, for which I would have to have a lawyer.
A lawyer would not take this on a contingency, I don't think. But I may just look to keeping the old tranny. Once its out, who knows what I'll find.

[Kidhauler]

If its going to be that expensive then yup count it as a crappy lesson in life and cut your losses. You could always try selling the old trans for a few hundred bucks on craigslist. Just be sure to say as is where is needs a rebuild.

[Krank88]

The problem is this. I'm not sure the transmission is the problem. I believe it is entirely the torque converter. I may be wrong. It shifts from gear to gear flawlessly. When it gets warmed up, it still shifts ok if I accelerate very slowly(0-60 in 5 minutes). If I try to accelerate faster, it feels as if I have a clutch in halfway(in all gears). I'm not sure if I am burning a clutch or its the torque converter causing this. When it gets to 40 and shifts to O.D., it locks up immediately and bogs down. So, maybe I can get by a little longer and get a better tranny. At least the leak is fixed for now.

The mechanic said he estimated that I was leaking a quart of fluid a mile. He said he did this by looking at the clearance between the bushing and the torque converter snout. Pretty impressive huh? The judge bought it. I wasn't loosing but a 1/2 pint every week. Several drops per day.

[Kidhauler]

A pint a mile you would be empty in 15 miles and burnt up plus you would have a trail of oil behind you every where especially in the rain. Sorry to here your bad luck

[Krank88]

Thanks. It is going to be one of life's hard knocks for me. I can have the converter replaced or tranny replaced. That is not what bothers me. It was not about the money. The hard part of this was that they got away with it in spite of the evidence. Its the injustice that hurts. But, that's life. I gave it all I had.

[Krank88]

Also, there is something I didn't tell you. While I was in the court room, my apartment manager came in and sat down in front of us. When she asked what I was doing there, I picked up my touchpad and showed her a picture of my van which was parked in front of my apartment and her apartment 40ft in the background. She comes out everyday and see's my van in the same place. I was presenting the picture to show that my apartment manager, who cites people for car leaks, has never cited me for having a profuse leak. The picture is damaging. The maintenance man lives behind me and walks past that spot 2 times everyday in addition to driving by in a golf cart. Never a complaint.
Neither the apartment manager or the maintenance man ever saw a profuse leak, especially one with a quart a mile leak. I asked her to testify on the spot and she did. Beautiful, smiling, charming and shooting one great big hole in the xmechanics story. Xmechanic was sitting 10 ft away like a dear in the headlights. He was horrified. What luck I thought. She stated she came out every morning to go to work and was about 30 ft from my van. She drives withing 5 ft of my vehicle when leaving. We have concrete driveways so fluid would show up. She stated that neither of the 2 maintenance men ever noted a leak or she would have sent me a letter. You see why I have trouble letting this go.

[Kidhauler]

Small claims court is seldom about the money it is always about the principle of the matter. Just don't let it consume you the idiot isn't worth stressing out and hurting your health.

[Krank88]

Point taken. And yes, it has at times been stressful. Especially in court when I was acting as my own lawyer and confronting 2 master mechanics and its my first time in court. I bit off a little more than I could chew. A lawyer wants about $800-$1000 for the case, so... I think I'm gonna go wash my van and change the oil. Relax a little.

Edit: A lawyer told me that the judge does not even have a law degree. He believes he only has a high school diploma. YIKES.