Automatic Transmission repairs / service exchange box?

[Jen65]

I have a Toyota Vigo D4D in great condition but the transmission is giving me a "clunk" when I stop or start off so there seems to be movement in A/T box which is getting slowly worse . I have 200,000km on the clock and this is genuine because cars history was on Toyota's records when bought , although I tend not to use them now .

My mechanic , who is really only a basic mechanic , quote 30,000 baht for parts and 3000 baht for labour but I can't understand how a figure can be given until the box is opened up to see where the problem is .   Even then I am wary of of having a basic mechanic undertake the job as A/T boxes are really a specialized trade and best "repaired " by obtaining a service exchange unit - one that has been professionally rebuilt and guaranteed .

Does anyone have any knowledge of aa) where a service exchange box might be obtained / fitted  bb) a specialist/dedicated  A/T repair shop to undertake the job  ???

   

[stubuzz]

Try this guy. He speaks English.

 

http://www.bkg-garage.com/

 

[Jen65]

10 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

Try this guy. He speaks English.

 

http://www.bkg-garage.com/

 

Thank you , will give it a go !

[seedy]

And how do you know it is in the tranny ?

[Jen65]

4 minutes ago, seedy said:

And how do you know it is in the tranny ?

the mechanic put it on the lift and we checked the propshaft / diff for movement and we also checked the engine mounts - nothing there .    I do have the workshop manual and do have a fair bit of engineering /mechanical knowledge and that's why I wanted to check  under with the mechanic because I don't take their word as gospel !!! 

[KhaoYai]

I would have plumped for a U/J but if you've checked them it sounds like drag on the clutches (yes, autos have them). First port of call for most auto problems is to change the gearbox oil & filter. Also check the idle speed isn't too high.

 

By the way, when checking a U/J, do it on a flatbed ramp (wheels on the deck) with someone in the car selecting reverse & forward gears  - handbrake firmly on of course. You can't always see any movement unless the joints under load.

[Kildonan]

Get yourself one of these,, it will diagnose the fault. 

Did it on my Mazda Tribute, and came up with the same diagnosis as the Mazda dealer's mechanic! 

 

[pgrahmm]

Depending on location auto trans repair/rebuild....About 8 years ago I had an a/t problem.....We live in CM = no one - nothing here....In doing research I located what appears to actually rebuild a/it's & it was in BKK...Other than that exchanges for used salvaged boxes was about the only option....

 

[Jen65]

10 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

I would have plumped for a U/J but if you've checked them it sounds like drag on the clutches (yes, autos have them). First port of call for most auto problems is to change the gearbox oil & filter. Also check the idle speed isn't too high.

 

By the way, when checking a U/J, do it on a flatbed ramp (wheels on the deck) with someone in the car selecting reverse & forward gears  - handbrake firmly on of course. You can't always see any movement unless the joints under load.

thanks for that - will do that before plumping for what could be very expensive and unnecessary repairs 

[Nojohndoe]

Check for lateral backlash on the diff head too!

[transam]

Are you getting this noise when you start/stop when the ride is in gear or when you knock it out of drive or put into drive..?

 

Has your habit been to put it into neutral every time you stop in traffic...?

[Jen65]

Just now, transam said:

Are you getting this noise when you start/stop when the ride is in gear or when you knock it out of drive or put into drive..?

 

Has your habit been to put it into neutral every time you stop in traffic...?

The "clunk "  happens when in drive sometimes stopping ,sometimes starting off .   I have been inclined to knock it out of drive in neutral when stopped for more than a minute or so -  is this bad for transmission ?? as I would have thought it was better for the transmission rather than have it trying to drive the car forward with the brake on ??   

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Jen65 said:

The "clunk "  happens when in drive sometimes stopping ,sometimes starting off .   I have been inclined to knock it out of drive in neutral when stopped for more than a minute or so -  is this bad for transmission ?? as I would have thought it was better for the transmission rather than have it trying to drive the car forward with the brake on ??   

Is it a 4x4.....?

My 2007 Vigo auto was a 4x4, the only Vigo that could be bought with an auto at the time.

 

In gear and stationary, the internal parts of the converter are not doing much at that low idle rpm, the converter casing is continuously driving the box oil pump, which it will do in or out of gear. I have only ever put an auto into "N" if I want to take my foot off the brake and use the handbrake, perhaps a long traffic stop.

 

My personal thought is that continuously knocking in and out of gear puts unnecessary stress on the drive train, perhaps over a period of time it will show in the mechanicals. 

 

Your ride has a split drive shaft, it has a bearing in a rubber lined mounting, check it out, check the fixings, it maybe worth checking that the torque converter/flexplate (flywheel) fasteners are tight.

The other thought is the lock-up part of the converter, but I have had no dealings with those to comment.

I can't see how your garage can give you a job price unless he knows what the problem is..Unless he gets a box from a right-off, or he has a recondition-er contact...

  

[Ralf001]

Take it to Toyota and get them to diagnose the problem.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Take it to Toyota and get them to diagnose the problem.

But it's good to talk, sometimes we learn something...????

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, transam said:

But it's good to talk, sometimes we learn something...????

Yep, the Toyota techs will advise what the issue is and the OP comes back to tell us...

 

We learn something !!

[transam]

42 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Yep, the Toyota techs will advise what the issue is and the OP comes back to tell us...

 

We learn something !!

Not necessarily, our lad took his Honda for a service, they told him it has a problem that will cost 40,000bht to fix, I said what's the problem,

"Don't know, it drives OK".. That was about a year ago, we still don't know what the problem was...

The idea of this forum is to ask, a simple fix may be found, many simple fixes have been found here before taking the next step....????

[Ralf001]

4 minutes ago, transam said:

Not necessarily, our lad took his Honda for a service, they told him it has a problem that will cost 40,000bht to fix, I said what's the problem,

"Don't know, it drives OK".. That was about a year ago, we still don't know what the problem was...

The idea of this forum is to ask, a simple fix may be found, many simple fixes have been found here before taking the next step....????

Fair enough.

 

Me personally I prefer to have the experts diagnose potentially expensive repairs.

 

Unusual for an auto box to "clunk".... My money is on the rear axle.

 

Bizarre of Honda to come up with a 40k repair but not know what the issue is/was, even more surprising it was not in writing, good call to not have them "fix" it.

[pgrahmm]

13 minutes ago, transam said:

Not necessarily, our lad took his Honda for a service, they told him it has a problem that will cost 40,000bht to fix, I said what's the problem,

"Don't know, it drives OK".. That was about a year ago, we still don't know what the problem was...

The idea of this forum is to ask, a simple fix may be found, many simple fixes have been found here before taking the next step....????

Honda dealers seem very good at that stuff, based on our experience.....

[DavisH]

13 hours ago, Jen65 said:

the mechanic put it on the lift and we checked the propshaft / diff for movement and we also checked the engine mounts - nothing there .    I do have the workshop manual and do have a fair bit of engineering /mechanical knowledge and that's why I wanted to check  under with the mechanic because I don't take their word as gospel !!! 

Has the transmission fluid been changed regularly? 

[DavisH]

4 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

Honda dealers seem very good at that stuff, based on our experience.....

Dealers never repair anything (honda or otherwise) - they would just change an entire gearbox for 300K rather than make a 20K repair that can be done at an outside garage. 

[DavisH]

2 hours ago, Jen65 said:

The "clunk "  happens when in drive sometimes stopping ,sometimes starting off .   I have been inclined to knock it out of drive in neutral when stopped for more than a minute or so -  is this bad for transmission ?? as I would have thought it was better for the transmission rather than have it trying to drive the car forward with the brake on ??   

That won't be bd for the transmission. I used to do that in my honda civic that had 250K on it. Never had an issue with the gearbox. But you can also leave it in gear with no issues. 

[Denim]

13 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

Depending on location auto trans repair/rebuild....About 8 years ago I had an a/t problem.....We live in CM = no one - nothing here....In doing research I located what appears to actually rebuild a/it's & it was in BKK...Other than that exchanges for used salvaged boxes was about the only option....

 

When we lived in Bangkok there were plenty of places doing automatic transmission repairs. Have to be since almost every car is an automatic. 

 

When we moved to the boonies I was glad we had manual transmission since the local mechanics have more experience working on pick ups with manual gears and repairs are quicker and cheaper since parts are more readily available.

[jvs]

14 hours ago, Jen65 said:

I have a Toyota Vigo D4D in great condition but the transmission is giving me a "clunk" when I stop or start off so there seems to be movement in A/T box which is getting slowly worse . I have 200,000km on the clock and this is genuine because cars history was on Toyota's records when bought , although I tend not to use them now .

My mechanic , who is really only a basic mechanic , quote 30,000 baht for parts and 3000 baht for labour but I can't understand how a figure can be given until the box is opened up to see where the problem is .   Even then I am wary of of having a basic mechanic undertake the job as A/T boxes are really a specialized trade and best "repaired " by obtaining a service exchange unit - one that has been professionally rebuilt and guaranteed .

Does anyone have any knowledge of aa) where a service exchange box might be obtained / fitted  bb) a specialist/dedicated  A/T repair shop to undertake the job  ???

Could it be the mechanic quoted you a price to replace the gearbox?

It takes a specialist to fix an automatic gearbox,not many mechanics will want to

open one.

[DavisH]

Speed way52 rebuilds gearboxes for honda. I don't know a similar company for toyota, but that company may know. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/speedway52honda

 

http://speedway52.com/

[Jen65]

4 hours ago, transam said:

Is it a 4x4.....?

My 2007 Vigo auto was a 4x4, the only Vigo that could be bought with an auto at the time.

 

In gear and stationary, the internal parts of the converter are not doing much at that low idle rpm, the converter casing is continuously driving the box oil pump, which it will do in or out of gear. I have only ever put an auto into "N" if I want to take my foot off the brake and use the handbrake, perhaps a long traffic stop.

 

My personal thought is that continuously knocking in and out of gear puts unnecessary stress on the drive train, perhaps over a period of time it will show in the mechanicals. 

 

Your ride has a split drive shaft, it has a bearing in a rubber lined mounting, check it out, check the fixings, it maybe worth checking that the torque converter/flexplate (flywheel) fasteners are tight.

The other thought is the lock-up part of the converter, but I have had no dealings with those to comment.

I can't see how your garage can give you a job price unless he knows what the problem is..Unless he gets a box from a right-off, or he has a recondition-er contact...

  

many thanks for the info .  I did also have a 6.6ltr Pontiac Transam when I lived in Canada !!! some motor !!

[Jen65]

Just now, Jen65 said:

many thanks for the info .  I did also have a 6.6ltr Pontiac Transam when I lived in Canada !!! some motor !!

oh and yes it is a 4x4  1st registered 2005 This was special model then labelled as "Elegance" 

[transam]

4 minutes ago, Jen65 said:

oh and yes it is a 4x4  1st registered 2005 This was special model then labelled as "Elegance" 

Have you engaged 4x4 monthly to ensure lubrication of all moving parts..?

[pgrahmm]

3 minutes ago, Jen65 said:

oh and yes it is a 4x4  1st registered 2005 This was special model then labelled as "Elegance" 

I'd be surprised if it's an internal trans problem....Those things are pretty close to bullet proof....

[Jen65]

2 hours ago, jvs said:

Could it be the mechanic quoted you a price to replace the gearbox?

It takes a specialist to fix an automatic gearbox,not many mechanics will want to

open one.

agreed , that's what I stated in my post because I have had American Muscle cars before and transmissions could only be repaired or opened by specialists - not the average mechanic here !