Anyone had engine or trans replaced under warranty

[unixguru]

Hi I'm wondering if any of you had engine or transmission replaced while car was under warranty? Post your experience. Good? Bad? What car model? Any special tricks dealer made you do? Did you tech talk the dealer or simply said - 'it's kind of feels weird, take a look at it'? Did you sell or kept your car afterwards?

No particular reason for me asking - just wondering.

 

[Scienceman]

Thankfully no.

 

[Corvette Owner]

Both.

Camshaft and lifters replaced on a 2001 Impala. I complained about lifter noise at about 34,000 miles, Dealer said it was injector noise. I asked to see a supervisor, they also said it was normal injector noise. At about 38,000 miles (out of warranty) had severe drivability problems. They said $100 deductable (same as extended warranty) and they would fix. Good experience.

Had a remanufactored transmission replaced on a 1996 Chevy Express 1500 Van. Was a Chevy Remanufactored Transmission, was out of time but way under miles, they covered 100%. Great experience, wrote letter to GM about dealer (was in Florida, I live in Maryland).

Still have both cars.

 

[RTexasF]

Recently I had a transmission replaced in my 2008 RAV4 V-6 @ 6200 miles. I had griped about a high pitched whine between 40 & 50 MPH since I got the car both to the dealer and Toyota. Shifting was fine but the "gear whine" was maddening and getting louder. At long last the Toyota mother ship came out with a TSB concerning the whine. Step 1 was to isolate the noise with special bolts,if that didn't work a Toyota re-manufactured transmission with new beveled gears was authorized. Step 1 helped but did not stop the whine, step 2 cured it completely. All was in warranty along with a loaner car.

It took two years from reporting the noise to Toyota issuing the TSB. I found the TSB online two days after release and took it to the dealer. They confirmed it and ordered the parts. It all worked out to my satisfaction.

 

[cchase]

Transmission on my Chevy truck replaced under warranty. Excellent experience, zero cost to me even though it was nearing the end of three years, no hassle, even offered a loaner car while it was being swapped (on an at the time 15 yr old truck).

I went in and complained that it had been leaking transmission fluid. They diagnosed it as an imperfect casting and GM coughed up a new transmission.

 

[Johnny248]

Replace them all the time. The big thing about engine warranty is maint receipts. At least with my OEM. No more than 6 months or 7,500 between changes. Receipts MUST have VIN, mileage, and date.

 

[CBR.worm]

Transmission twice on an 87 ford aerostar, no special hoops to jump through. First one was at about 30k, second one was shortly thereafter. Ford dealer said they did a lot of them. The ones after that were not covered under warranty. Did AAmco lifetime rebuild, they did it about 6 times before 180k. When they refused to do it again we parked the van.

Transmission twice on a 93 chevy 1500 van in the first 40k, the second time they put in a 'bigger, heavy duty' transmission that is still working as far as I know. Sold it around 200k. Dealer was great.

Engine replaced in an '89 oldsmobile Touring Sedan. I don't remember the mileage but it was almost out of warranty - either 35k or 45k. 3800 V6, went in for hard starting and rough idle as well as the flywheel having missing teeth (dealer said due to hard starting) and intermittent SES light. Dealer found CEL was due to bad cam/lifter interface (I don't remember exactly - long time ago). Dealer had done all scheduled maintenance. They rebuilt the engine - it started clicking loudly shorty thereafter - it was attributed to a broken rocker arm. At that point they replaced it. Then the transmission started acting strangely so we traded it in with 48k in '91. The car had been troublesome from day one, so we were quick to dump it after the warranty expired.

In every case the dealer was easy to deal with.

We replaced the touring sedan with a Lexus LS400. It had a strange vibration at around 40k, the dealer came and picked the car up and replaced the transmission, driveshaft, rear end and all 4 tires. They said they could not pinpoint the source so they replaced everything. That was an impressive car and dealer network. I still miss that car.

 

[unixguru]

Interesting...

Some cars tend to have certain problems from the beginning, while others keep marching on without any issues. Third type is where you would have one major problem and afterwards runs like without problems forever.

 

[unixguru]

Originally Posted By: Troy_Built
Thankfully no.


I just love then people write such thoughtful, deep, interesting, and right on the topic posts...

 

[Hootbro]

Originally Posted By: unixguru
Originally Posted By: Troy_Built
Thankfully no.


I just love then people write such thoughtful, deep, interesting, and right on the topic posts...


I think you will get over it.

 

[mikiee]

Originally Posted By: Johnny248
Replace them all the time. The big thing about engine warranty is maint receipts. At least with my OEM. No more than 6 months or 7,500 between changes. Receipts MUST have VIN, mileage, and date.

So you can't do your own oil changes or would you just write the VIN on an oil receipt from WalMart?

 

[javacontour]

Years ago. My 1988 Beretta GT would pop out of gear and the transaxle was replaced under the 12mo/12k mile warranty.

No drama. They tried to adjust the linkage and the problem remained so they ordered a new transaxle and replaced it.

 

[SteveSRT8]

1998 Ram truck, went through three transmissions in two years!

No cost to us but lost time, lots and lots.

Make sure your replacements are FACTORY parts, not from an aftermarket company. Had we gotten the real Dodge trans the converter was updated and it would have been fixed in one time!

 

[VNTS]

Only one was the old junky Accord we had, replaced head gasket and the cams under warranty. Notorious problems on their junk CVCC engines.

Also got a set of front fenders after they rotted out in 1 year, only problem was the 2nds set only last about 18 months. As I recall the Feds forced Honda to replace the fenders, they werent going to do a darn thing about it. This was on a 79 Accord.

 

[refaller]

My CRV had the transmission replaced at 35,996 miles. I went in because I heard a slight shudder when starting from a stop. In a few minutes the tech came back and said it was a bearing. Honda doesn't replace bearings. They sent me to get a loaner and on my way. Between drop off and pick-up it took me about 45 minutes and I frequently forget it happened.

ref

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: unixguru
Hi I'm wondering if any of you had engine or transmission replaced while car was under warranty? Post your experience. Good? Bad? What car model? Any special tricks dealer made you do? Did you tech talk the dealer or simply said - 'it's kind of feels weird, take a look at it'? Did you sell or kept your car afterwards?

No particular reason for me asking - just wondering.


I have posted about this here before. My Sister bought a brand new 2006 Chevy Impala w/ 3.5L V6. Had an odd knocking noise when fully warmed up from day one( I actually had her go right back to the dealer after she picked it up to document it ). I have heard a lot of bad engines in my day but must confess I could not really ID it. It was there and sounded sort of like a rod knock but it seemed to travel and change in severity week to week. Gremlins?

A few things were tried by the dealer( engine flush, retorquing things, and some others I don't recall ). The cause of the noise could not be identified even after the engine was pulled and torn down.

There was ZERO hassle from GM. They only required that certain things be tried first. Once that was done and it didn't fix it they authorized the replacement engine. It was a NEW engine as well. Complete brand new engine( long block )vs a reman'd engine. The dealer and I both said since it was there from the very 1st second she had the vehicle she deserved a new engine. They agreed and did it. The dealer said it arrived as a 100% complete unit( pullies, alternator, etc... )and appeared to be an engine that was off the assembly line. I can't verify that part but it was a new engine and everything we could see was new. This is an honest dealer too and would not have lied to me.

Total time was approx 2 months from purchase to new engine replacement. They had it like 6 days to pull the engine, wait for the new one to arrive, and put it in. My Sister could not have been treated any betetr than she was by GM and the dealer.

 

[meep]

in 1987 we rebuilt the 283 in our 1957 chevy. We put the 2 spd powerglide in the trunk of our toyota corona and drove it to aamco for a rebuild with lifetime warranty. they told us the rebuilt kid used plastic parts, where as the original parts were metal, and suggested we stick with any metal part that didn't need replacing. We agreed.

For 6 years we drove that car into the neighboring city so aamco could check the AT to maintain that warranty. in year 7, the trans slid to a halt. towed it out-of-town to aamco, where it sat for over a year.

1. 3 mechanics quit that were assigned to the car
2. claimed they couldn't find a rebuild kit. I drove a parts catalog over their with the kit circled.
3. claimed they couldn't get the right kit
4. said they'd just install a th350
5. finally rebuilt a th350 they had in the shop, or I assume that's what they did. Told me they proudly "hand-built" me a trans... I know the TC was new, it was clean, shiny, and the bottom 3rd of it was completely exposed to the road below. Said it just needed a dust cover.... I'd never heard of such a thing-- the original bell housing completely encircled the TC. They weren't able to rig the kickdown cable-- as the oem setup was hard linkage. So it just sat there.

While I was pretty ----- with aamco, that 3 speed was worlds better than the 2spd that it started with. But I'll never go to another aamco.

M

 

[bigmike]

AT on my Silverado, under "extended warranty." Rather decent experience and received a GM reman. unit with a 3yr/100k warranty on it. The service dept. was easy to work with. Alot of sweating about the ext. warranty adjuster, but turned out it was all for not. Truck drives like new.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/transmission-failing-on-my-silverado.132955/

 

[CBR.worm]

Automatic transmissions must be filled with magic. I have had AAMCO and Mr. transmission both fail miserably on every rebuild I brought them. I finally found an independent guy who made them last longer than OEM.

It is wonderful that dealers just replace them as sealed units. A buddy of mine worked at an Acura dealer during their bad transmission period. He spent most of his time doing transmission swaps. He said there were never any questions asked.

 

[ekpolk]

My original gold 02 I-4 5-spd Camry transmission fragged itself. Sort of. Of all things, the speed sensor, which is a roughly cigar-sized (and shaped) device, which screws into a port on the side of the trans, came apart. The debris released was all plastic (probably has to do with why it came apart in the first place...), but out of an abundance of caution, Toyota decided to send in a totally new trans. The dealer himself, Bob Tyler of Bob Tyler Toyota, overrode the decision by simply offering my a totally new car. I accepted, of course. Hard to argue with that flavor of customer care.

EDIT: Yes, as I've described here several times before, I had a Buick dealer do the same thing for me several years before. Alas, in its infinite wisdom, GM decided to assassinate all of its stand-alone Buick dealers about ten years ago. If Jack Lee Buick had been permitted (by GM) to continue its existence, they'd still be high in my loyalty equation. GM killed them however -- how smart -- get rid of a dealer that had a rabid following of loyal customers...

But I digress. Yes, I've needed a new trans -- but ended up getting a new car instead. I can live with that.