)Since this intervention, I have a big problem with the gearbox (I will have to change it) ...
I hope this little experience (very painful) will benefit others ...
I make you the "short" version (short in Did67 mode
...):a) Considering the price of the kit at their place (> 1000 €!), a "nice" secretary (the boss's wife) suggests that I provide it and they only count the labor (300 € without invoice, 450 € with ...) ... Cool I say ok ... and obviously without invoice! But if I had known I would not have come! See the rest...
b) I manage to find the kit for less than 400 € delivered on the internet and I inquire about the gear oil, I might as well take the opportunity to change the oil: it's GM MTF-0063 equivalent to 75W90 ... there is still a slight doubt because I can only find information on forums and some shops (the MTF0063 is rather rare)
c) On D-day, at the beginning of August, I arrive with the LUK kit and 3L of Castrol 75W90 oil ... there already the mechanic and boss (whom I had not seen in a)) told me "yeah on the internet 1 time out of 2 it's not the right part, if it's not the right one your car will be immobilized ... and blah blah ..." (I took 3 hours to find the reference so yes I had checked well ...).
I have the workshop maintenance book, I want to assemble them but the mechanic takes me down "Yes it's good we know" ... Yeah yeah, not sure, read on ...
Before leaving, the mechanic tells me "if we find filings in the gear oil, we stop everything" Uh ... okay but I don't see why there would be ...
d) 2 hours after dropping off the car, phone call: "Sir, there was more oil in the box" less than 0.5L (according to them) and "the 75W90 oil you supplied is not the correct one ... you need Dexron 4"
d.1) I already had a BIG DOUBT about the absence of oil because I never noticed a leak (I have had the car for 50 km and I removed the protective sill covers engine precisely to quickly detect any leaks ... with old ladies it's common ... eh Macro!
). I never had any gear shifting problems, the gearbox was just a little hard before the clutch change. Then uh..a box without oil does not work for long ... (the box requires between 2.5 and 3L normally).
By cons I always had a slight noise in neutral (for 40km) but impossible to say if it was the clutch or the gearbox ...
d.2) GM MTF-0063 oil is indeed PINK but that does not mean that it is ATF (which is red by "normalization"?) especially as MTF (manual transmission fluid) does not does not mean ATF (automatic ...) ... nevertheless, we can read that we can put ATF in some manual gearboxes so I do not worry more than that.
d.3) I go around the part suppliers and I manage to find Dexron 6 ATF in an emergency ...
e) I pick up the car the next day, they show me what was left of oil (supposedly) in the box: a 5L can with 2 cm at the bottom (it's not 1/2 L already !!). ..yeah ok let's admit ... I kindly leave them the 3L of castrol oil (50 € ...) since I would do nothing ... as I thought ... (too good too stupid)
They tell me "the box sings"... and"too bad it was not well maintained"...
f) When I restart I see that the consumption. indicated is at 15L / 100km (battery disconnected during the intervention) ... I deduce that they hit it like pigs during the road test. I do not exceed 7 L / 100 km by "typing in" and 5.5 in normal times ...
Too bad I did not note the km (before / after ...) ...
The clutch is much more responsive and the gears change more easily when going uphill, but by downshifting from 6 to 5 it hangs several times !! :-( and this from the first km ... I put that on the "break-in" ..
I drive 400 km over 2 weeks ... and then I see jerks in the direction on the highway (see end of the message) ... I look a little at the front wheels and there I notice an oil leak in the middle of the engine ... a drip is not nothing.
f) The gearbox is leaking on the clutch side, it is red oil (there is no other red oil). I call the garage. I go there 2 days later: "Your gearbox is dead, it must be changed ..."
g) I watch the leak: it is not constant, it is only when the engine is hot but I do not know how much it loses when rolling ...
h) A few days later, the leak not stopping (there is no miracle in mechanics ...) I decide to top up ATF oil and to put a universal metal5 anti-leakage device "while waiting" to change the box ... without much conviction but I have for 40 € more (25 anti-leak + 2L ATF).
So I add 0.3L of anti-leak and 0.6L of ATF. There is no possibility to make the level on this F40 box, it is a total quantity to pour so I do not put too much.
And I see that the reverse gear plug was not reconnected... I had therefore driven without a reversing light for 3 weeks (no indicator light on the dashboard for that ...) not very serious in itself but it shows that they worked "like pigs" ...
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I call the garage to let them know that "Noting that you have not reconnected this plug, I questioned your professionalism"and there, the" nice "secretary becomes mean and gets carried away "You can't say that .... and blablabalblablabla"... obviously, the height she adds at the end "Neither you nor I know about mechanics, I trust my mechanic"
What does she know about my knowledge of mechanics? And run a garage saying this ... it's uh ... average !!
i) The km pass and the gearbox is more and more noisy (we hear the gears especially when it is not engaged ...) in 1, 2 and 3 ... after that goes ... difficult to say if it is the overall noise that hides the noise of the gearbox ... but the gears continue to shift well.
j) The leak is less important but still exists, I then decide to empty the gearbox myself and put 75W90 in it "to see" ... hoplà ... 45 € more ...
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The 2 screws are very hard to loosen ... and hey, strange, the aluminum seal had not been changed (0.1 € ...):
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Changing a seal is a bit the basis of mechanics "when you say you're professional" isn't it?
The quantity of oil is almost 4L so I had not lost that much:
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On the other hand I see bits of ... rubber in the oil ... an indication that they have forced an oil seal ???
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The bottom of the oil is not great ... I don't know what these black deposits are but it looks like gasket ...
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- vidange_huile4.jpg (96.24 KiB) Viewed 18603 times
k) Miracle that no longer leaks (or very little because it is imperceptible) !! It was therefore (in other) a problem of gearbox oil. ATF oil is much more fluid ...
Conclusion: I presume, without formal proof, that this mechanic is a crook, besides being incompetent.
He probably invented the lack of oil (if anyone has more experience with this ...) and can actually be driven without oil to damage the gearbox.
In all cases, there are proven errors of lack of professionalism (seal not changed, MA plug left unplugged, bad oil, etc.).
Obviously without an invoice I can not attempt anything and even with an invoice given their "professionalism", they would have blamed a previous problem ...
Then I don't waste my time with mediocre ones. I have already spent enough time on this file but I wanted to give visitors the benefit of this forum from this bad experience ... What is annoying is that, when you are not punished, you continue the nonsense ... So they will continue to work badly. It would still be interesting for others to try something ... But what? My damage is not that serious, a few hundred euros ... I'm not so venal!
So if you have any comments, ideas or suggestions ...
The following ? Change of gearbox, ordered second-hand on the internet (impossible to find a breakage in my area, I did all the breakages at 200 km). I'll take it up to another garage (yes, no kidding) ... for 300 € extra (with invoice this time) ....
A lot of wasted time, stress ... but I learned a lot, as much in mechanics (I know all the possible references of this box: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_F40_transmission !) than on human nature (well there I already knew)!
