Hello,
I am resurrecting a 1985 Jaguar and was having trouble with the GM TH400 transmission not shifting, it seemed to be stuck in first. I had reverse, park, neutral, and drive, but it always stayed in first gear. I bought another transmission from another Jaguar, swapped the two, and the second trans worked but began slipping extremely badly. I researched various trans shops, I read some of the reports here, but after speaking to the people there, I decided Cottman had the best reputation, so I took the original non-shifting trans to them. This was in December.
I was told they would call me when they had determined what it needed. Almost a month later, I called to see why they had not called. They said they "had not heard from" me, and I went to get my transmission, pay the $65 inspection fee, and leave. I wish I had done just that. My plan was to buy the parts and assemble the transmission myself. Doug convinced me to have them rebuild the transmission, "it will have a warranty, and you know it will be done right."
Since I was upset, the manager of the store, Doug, said he would have it done in a week, quoted $950 and change, and I allowed him to smooth things over. A couple of weeks went by, and I had to call again. I was told they would get on it in the next week, they had been swamped, etc. Finally in mid February, I found out it was done, assembled, and ready to go, I said I had a slight financial issue, and would pick it up in the next couple weeks. "No problem", Doug says. I picked the transmission up around the end of February, first of March, and specifically said I didn't know when I would be able to install it, but Doug wrote down April 1 saying he had to put something down, but not to worry, when I eventually got it installed, to bring it in and the warranty would start then. No time limit was mentioned.
I was not able to install the transmission for about 4 months. Finally in July, I got started, and realized I had been given the wrong torque convertor, so I called and arranged for a replacement. While picking up the torque convertor, another customer was told the exact thing I had been, he was building a car, and "might not get the trans installed for a year"."No problem", the new manager, Todd, said, "bring it in when you do, we will inspect it and start the warranty."
After getting the job done, I found the trans refused to shift, just as it had originally. I called Cottman, and was told to check the linkage, downshift switch, and maybe the governor. While checking the linkage, the rod the linkage was attached to slid out of the transmission about a quarter of an inch. I pushed it back in, checked the car, and now only had forward, regardless of where I put the shifter, no reverse or neutral. I called Cottman and was told get it to them, it was towed pending determination of something done incorrectly, then the tow would be paid by them.
After getting the car to them, it refused to start, so I spent several weeks working on it in their lot. I described the symptoms to the "builder" Danny, who said they could just drop the pan and see if a "pin" was missing in the internal linkage which keeps things in place. Sure enough, the pin was missing inside preventing engagement of the shift piston which allowed changing gears. I was told to come pick up the car, it was done. I asked if it shifted, and was told it needed to run to test.
Finally, I found the trouble, got the engine to run, and Todd test drove the car. It would still not auto shift. Danny drove the car and it bagan running rough, then died. I pushed it back to their shop, and was told they "would not touch the car unless it ran". I got the car running again and it was again test driven, again without shifting properly. The upshift was delayed until very high RPM (5000) and speed (70) is reached. I was called by Daniel, the GM in Central Texas, who said they dropped the pan and found there is a part of the case inside which is broken, preventing the transmission from shifting. They say it could have been broken by "over torquing" something.
Cottman now claims I do not have a warranty, since it took too long to install the transmission, (apparently the written part of the paperwork which Doug assured me wasn't an issue is the only thing which matters) and that the original tow is also my responsibility, since it was not under warranty. I have been told that any verbal statements made by Cottman Transmissions are null and void, and only the written paperwork is valid.
Daniel the GM says they will be happy to rebuild the GM TH400 tranny again, swapping the fresh parts in the "rebuilt" but broken transmission, into the spare transmission case I have for the same price as the original rebuild $950 plus change, plus R&R for $357.
Daniel claims to have been "extremely accomodating" with me, "allowing" me to "tinker" with the car on their lot. Todd stated all of this was a problem because I "decided to do it cheap" by installing myself. At every turn, everything I have done or told them has caused roadblocks and barriers to go up, in an apparent attempt to avoid warranty work on my transmission. Daniel claims aluminum weakens over time, and breakages like this are to be expected.
Funny that, the engine in the Jag is aluminum, and so are 30 and 40 year old transmissions, which have not broken. If the internal case is broken, which I did not touch, and had no access to, and was not seen while they had the pan off to install the "pin" (Danny actually called it a "nail"), how and when did it break? I asked this, and was told by Daniel it is "further up inside, and is just hanging by a couple of parts".
The question of when it broke is still not clear. This was the original issue with this specific transmission, and if it was broken before, was it deemed unimportant? Or was it broken during the rebuild, by "over-torquing" something and ignored or missed in final assembly?
Warning to everyone: Do not believe anything told to you, make sure you get all verbal conversations in writing, and read the fine print with your team of lawyers. These people do not honor their word, and will find an excuse to NOT honor a warranty. They will claim to accomodate, yet will make it difficult to get anything done.
Daniel the GM will likely look for this post, and post a rebuttal. I fully expect him to gainsay everything I have put in here. However, if you look closely, you will see that I have told both sides, and have allowed for some responsibility on myself. No the car did not run when they wanted it to. Yes, it took longer to get it installed. No, I did not drive the car, except for the short test drives up and down the street (he claims there were over 1000 miles put on the car, it wasn't driveable, so HOW?)
I will say this, I intend to take my car home, and do what I should have done in the first place, rebuild the transmission myself. I will carefully check every part in the transmission, and I am going to be very curious to see what exactly they used inside. I will after all have another one sitting right next to it to compare part with. Anyone who wants to know just what parts Cottman uses might find the results interesting, to say the least.
At this point, I am out a thousand dollars on a non-working transmission, plus at least one more tow charge to get it back home. I should have never gone to
Burt
Round Rock, Texas
U.S.A.
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