AMC Eagle

[MIPS]

Never authorize a tear down of a transmission or something terribly major like that. Once they've taken it apart, they've got you by the balls and can charge you anything they like (like $3500 for a simple old fashioned transmission), because it's in their shop and it's in pieces. You gotta pay them to tear it down whether or not you OK'd the repair, and if you decide to take it somewhere else, it'll be in pieces and the next mechanic will charge you more because of it, plus the towing. A trans on that is maybe a $2000 job, perhaps up to $2500, but too late now.

I didn't tow it to their shop instead of my house just for them to admire it, did I? It's almost like I wanted them to repair it because there are no other practical options. I'll do body, electrical, brakes and the engine but I don't dare disturb the dragons and unspoken black magic that lives inside the transmission of every car. I'll leave that to a professional.

Good point, Dave!

Today a Canadian dollar is worth only 77 cents here in the U.S.

So MIPS' $3500CDN is only $2,700 in US dollars.

Correct. Your USD price may seem lower but after conversion it's a different number.
I know someone who recently paid $3500USD for a Mercedes. That sounds like a great deal until you convert to $CDN, then it's $4545.05 before taxes.

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by MIPS

I don't dare disturb the dragons and unspoken black magic that lives inside the transmission of every car. I'll leave that to a professional.

Heh. And that right there is why I make a living.

Also, I didn't realize the disparity between our currencies, last time I looked, they weren't that far off. :/

[MIPS]

An engine at least uses cheap specialty tools half the time, the other half you can make do with something as simple as a long breaker bar instead of a chain wrench. Transmissions are something where cleanliness and absolute tolerances are a bit more critical. I simply do not have the space or finances to afford most of the tools a transmission requires to service them, plus you try not to regularly drop and open your transmission for service when your life isn't drag racing.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by MIPS

An engine at least uses cheap specialty tools half the time, the other half you can make do with something as simple as a long breaker bar instead of a chain wrench. Transmissions are something where cleanliness and absolute tolerances are a bit more critical. I simply do not have the space or finances to afford most of the tools a transmission requires to service them, plus you try not to regularly drop and open your transmission for service when your life isn't drag racing.

I know of some manual trans nuts who have gotten too good at replacing clutches.

[MIPS]

Well the good news came in and with the transmission torn down the initial diagnoses is not as bad as it sounds. It wasn't a catastrophic failure. It's just old.
The particles and burned fluid were just from several bands and clutches finally giving out and not due to prolonged damage on other components. The pump itself is just worn and is being replaced entirely. More major components like the torque converter and planetary are fine. The parts are already in the city so I again authorized for the full rebuild to proceed and hopefully it will be ready before Friday.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I know of some manual trans nuts who have gotten too good at replacing clutches.

No doubt they're even better at tearing them up.

Originally Posted by MIPS

Well the good news came in and with the transmission torn down the initial diagnoses is not as bad as it sounds. It wasn't a catastrophic failure. It's just old.
The particles and burned fluid were just from several bands and clutches finally giving out and not due to prolonged damage on other components. The pump itself is just worn and is being replaced entirely. More major components like the torque converter and planetary are fine. The parts are already in the city so I again authorized for the full rebuild to proceed and hopefully it will be ready before Friday.

That's awesome, good on ya. You really dodged a bullet there.

[MIPS]

It lives.



Went out last night to put some fresh gas through the fuel system along with some line antifreeze before it is winterized and today the front seats were pulled out to clean everything and inspect why the power seats are so sluggish. The front seats are bolted from UNDERNEATH THE CAR which seems stupid but strange to AMC's record so far the bolts were not rusted tight. I found $4 in loose coins. Was not however able to figure out how to remove the back seat (I assume it too unbolts from under the car) so that stays in for now but both the front and back need to be shampoo'd. It's like there is soot or something embedded in the fabric. I'm just gonna pay someone else to deal with that and I can work on the grime that's caked into the texture of the trim plastics,

I tested both power seat assemblies and it seems there must be a lot of gummed up grease. I gave it a quick clean and oil but it's persistant so I'll probably have to regrease the gearhouses on both seats.
Also I have a lot of oil getting into the intake. The current filter is soaked and ruined. I verified the choke and heated air actuators and gates were working fine and verified the PCV was not stuck closed. Found nothing so I cleaned everything and reassembled it. Didn't find new oil in a test drive so not sure what happened there....