[kiwi29]

If you guys have been reading about my transmission problems, you'll know that my tranny was busted and it was replaced with a "refurbished" transmission certified by AAMCO. So recently got the car out (about 2 days ago) and I was driving completely normal babying the car more than even on the first month. I drove my car on the streets going no more than 45 and shifted under 3k every time. At the end of the night on my way home, I hear this horrible rattling sounds as I did when my tranny first broke. This time, it is only when under 20 mph and appears both in accelerating and decelerating. The sound finally disappeared today on my way driving to the tranny shop... but the place turns out to be closed.. the website lied to me; I probably should've called though so really its my fault. But in place of the noise rattling noise, it trades off now to a shaving noise. Kinda like how it is when you sand something down. It for sure isn't my throw out bearing. Why? Because I replaced it as well. My old one turned out to be shot too
The noise doesn't stop with clutch in or out so I'm kinda confused, the sounds seems to be coming from the driveshaft closest to the tranny and travels back toward the rear seats as I accelerate. After 20 mph, it disappears a little and sounds quiet then comes again...
Does anyone have an idea of what it is?

[rorkor]

Possibly a bad install of the replacement. If the shaft is not aligned, the tranny and rear end could be shot. Is the replacement as-is or did it have a warranty?

[shazzy04]

i'm sorry :/ but is it as-is or does it have warranty like rorkor said

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by rorkor

Possibly a bad install of the replacement. If the shaft is not aligned, the tranny and rear end could be shot. Is the replacement as-is or did it have a warranty?

Originally Posted by shazzy04

i'm sorry :/ but is it as-is or does it have warranty like rorkor said

It has warranty, the only problem is I still owe 1200 and I already paid 4k in cash and they said that the warranty isn't active until the remaining balance is paid for. Do you think its fair? I paid more than 75 % already and they sold me a busted tranny or something like that. I hope its just something simple like the drive shaft needs to be realigned or something. If the drive shaft is off alignment, would it be bad to drive it to the shop or should I tow it ? It doesn't seem to have an effect except the noise it makes

[rorkor]

I personally think any shop that wont enforce the hardware warranty and back their labor is total crap. I suggest you go to any of the recommended maintenance shops and pay for a visual inspection so you can get a better idea of what is wrong.

If the trans shop sticks to their guns about the install, I would file a complaint with the BBB and pursue the owner. If it is a chain/franchise, I would contact the corporate office as well.

You are close to me, maybe we can get together and look at it. PM me if you want to.

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by rorkor

I personally think any shop that wont enforce the hardware warranty and back their labor is total crap. I suggest you go to any of the recommended maintenance shops and pay for a visual inspection so you can get a better idea of what is wrong.

If the trans shop sticks to their guns about the install, I would file a complaint with the BBB and pursue the owner. If it is a chain/franchise, I would contact the corporate office as well.

You are close to me, maybe we can get together and look at it. PM me if you want to.

Its actually at AAMCO and from my understanding, its a nation-wide company and they back their parts and labor for a month. I would love to meet up but I'm scared to drive anymore unless its to the shop. The shaving sounds scary as hell but doesn't sound threatening unless it hit a bump. When I do, it makes the rattling sound hard and disappears again. Unfortunately, I no longer have the basic necessary tools such as jack, jack stands and tools. It was stolen from me along with my tool box :'(
Thanks for your help! Ill try to post a video asap

[shazzy04]

Originally Posted by kiwi29

Its actually at AAMCO and from my understanding, its a nation-wide company and they back their parts and labor for a month. I would love to meet up but I'm scared to drive anymore unless its to the shop. The shaving sounds scary as hell but doesn't sound threatening unless it hit a bump. When I do, it makes the rattling sound hard and disappears again. Unfortunately, I no longer have the basic necessary tools such as jack, jack stands and tools. It was stolen from me along with my tool box :'(
Thanks for your help! Ill try to post a video asap

Thats weird, I wouldn't just pay the remaining balance for something that I already know is messing up. They should be able to tell that something is wrong, why would they make you pay the rest to fix something that isn't fixed yet.

Try to meet up with the above poster, can't really tell much from not being there

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by shazzy04

Thats weird, I wouldn't just pay the remaining balance for something that I already know is messing up. They should be able to tell that something is wrong, why would they make you pay the rest to fix something that isn't fixed yet.

Try to meet up with the above poster, can't really tell much from not being there

I just called AAMCO and they said to bring the car in. My buddy told me it could be the U bolts that are connecting the tranny to the drive shaft that is loose or it isn't in the housing all the way. If all else fails, ill meet up with rokor (above poster) and try to troubleshoot it.

[kiwi29]

UPDATE: I guess AAMCO forgot to torque everything down to correct specs. I brought it in and they said the center mount (?) Wasn't on correctly or something and it caused both the knocking and shaving sound. Free fix
Btw, if anyone decides to go to AAMCO... DON'T DO IT! They're worst than a mom and pop shop honestly. I would rather have a student at wyotech do it than have them touch my car again.

[shazzy04]

Originally Posted by kiwi29

UPDATE: I guess AAMCO forgot to torque everything down to correct specs. I brought it in and they said the center mount (?) Wasn't on correctly or something and it caused both the knocking and shaving sound. Free fix
Btw, if anyone decides to go to AAMCO... DON'T DO IT! They're worst than a mom and pop shop honestly. I would rather have a student at wyotech do it than have them touch my car again.

keep us posted! its hard to find people that care about other peoples properties

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by shazzy04

keep us posted! its hard to find people that care about other peoples properties

The best policy is learning how to diy so you can be more cautious. Most mechanic shops don't give a flying fck about us and I'm NEVER going to AAMCO again. Id rather chance it with myself because I paid 1500 for fckn labor -.- I'm gonna start buying tools again and try to get floor lift so that way, they can't screw me twice or any shop for that matter. The main tools anyone would need id say have to be a floor lift and a tq wrench. Everything else, most people have it laying around in their house.
I have yet to find a place that babies your car when doing work on it unless its a friend's or family's shop, you're basically left to guess their "quality"

[rorkor]

Well, at least you found out they did a lousy job, I hope they offered to discount the remaining balance. I would definitely send word up their chain management. Also, due to the faulty work, you should be entitled to an additional warranty as knocking and shaving sounds are never made without some damage, and likely to a part of the car they wont cover under the original repair. Either way, I have a jack and some tools if you want to look at something, and a credible shop for repairs if you ever need it so let me know.

[shazzy04]

Originally Posted by kiwi29

The best policy is learning how to diy so you can be more cautious. Most mechanic shops don't give a flying fck about us and I'm NEVER going to AAMCO again. Id rather chance it with myself because I paid 1500 for fckn labor -.- I'm gonna start buying tools again and try to get floor lift so that way, they can't screw me twice or any shop for that matter. The main tools anyone would need id say have to be a floor lift and a tq wrench. Everything else, most people have it laying around in their house.
I have yet to find a place that babies your car when doing work on it unless its a friend's or family's shop, you're basically left to guess their "quality"

yeah.. thats why I try to watch as best as I can because I already know that most places don't care about your car because to them you're just money

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by rorkor

Well, at least you found out they did a lousy job, I hope they offered to discount the remaining balance. I would definitely send word up their chain management. Also, due to the faulty work, you should be entitled to an additional warranty as knocking and shaving sounds are never made without some damage, and likely to a part of the car they wont cover under the original repair. Either way, I have a jack and some tools if you want to look at something, and a credible shop for repairs if you ever need it so let me know.

They didn't offer a penny in discounting, they just offered to fix it and they said the drive shaft was shaving against the bracket but since I didnt drive it for more than 2 miles when the shaving started, it wasn't damaged. It was a slight circle on the actual bar itself(drive shaft) ill definitely be sending a letter after I pay for everything or maybe before hand and thank you for the offer

Originally Posted by shazzy04

yeah.. thats why I try to watch as best as I can because I already know that most places don't care about your car because to them you're just money

I wasn't able to look at everything being done because it was in the shop for 2 weeks, I'm definitely looking on yelp and BBB next time I go searching for anything!

[kiwi29]

New update... so I replaced the throw out bearing when the tranny was installed and now whenever I dip the clutch it clicks 3 times (when done slowly) and clicks twice when I release. From the outside, you can hear a kinda springy noise... throw out bearing breaking in? Or clutch/ pressure plate going bad? Or even better, did AAMCO mess something else up yet again? O.o
It doesn't seem to be anything more than just noise, it seems to just be as if there's something wrong with a spring but hey, I was HORRIBLY wrong before? What do you guys think it is? And yes, I know the obvious of bringing it back into the shop but I don't want to do it just yet because I need it for school and work

[3002 tii]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Yea, I don't think I'd ever take my BMW to AAMCO. That's like the Meineke of transmissions.

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by DSC_OFF

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Yea, I don't think I'd ever take my BMW to AAMCO. That's like the Meineke of transmissions.

Tell me about it! I wish I had more options at the time. Now looking back on it, I probably should've just ordered a new tranny from tischer and fluids. If I had a floor lift, this would've been done at home lol

[Wrngway]

It's a bit early for this, but if you keep having problems with the shop you can use an executive e-mail carpet bomb as a last resort.

Here's a description:
http://consumerist.com/2007/05/11/ho...l-carpet-bomb/

Senior executives generally have a staff that monitors their public e-mail accounts. I personally used this with Verizon wireless and received a call from executive customer support within a day. They were able to do go around usual lines of communication to get my problem resolved quickly.

If you go this route, write the e-mail professionally. State the facts and don't get emotional. Let them know how the situation effected you and, above all, communicate how tried to get it resolved through every available means.

Again....last resort. Give the shop enough line to hang themselves and pull the trigger if push comes to shove.

Here are some names to start you out:
http://www.aamcofranchises.com/team.html

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by Wrngway

It's a bit early for this, but if you keep having problems with the shop you can use an executive e-mail carpet bomb as a last resort.

Here's a description:
http://consumerist.com/2007/05/11/ho...l-carpet-bomb/

Senior executives generally have a staff that monitors their public e-mail accounts. I personally used this with Verizon wireless and received a call from executive customer support within a day. They were able to do go around usual lines of communication to get my problem resolved quickly.

If you go this route, write the e-mail professionally. State the facts and don't get emotional. Let them know how the situation effected you and, above all, communicate how tried to get it resolved through every available means.

Again....last resort. Give the shop enough line to hang themselves and pull the trigger if push comes to shove.

Here are some names to start you out:
http://www.aamcofranchises.com/team.html

Thank you very much for this information. I will definitely use it as a last resort even though I don't want to. As far as the others in AAMCO, they seem friendly. The main guy, or so I assume, is very pushy when trying to make the sale and what not. For example, I told them since the tranny is shot, I'm gonna buy my own and have them install it since I don't have the tools and he responded to me with what I felt was a bit rude. He kept telling me multiple times the tranny and labor isn't gonna be under warranty and this and that and how I can't find it and how he searched everywhere for a price under 6k. Apparently he doesn't know too much on searching across the internet because tischer sells them for 3k + shipping. He convinced my dad to just go thru them since it has warranty and I had no say because I was borrowing money from them. And since then, I've had this vibe from him that he's just trying to swindle me into buying more stuff from them. Sucks to say but a job that would've been only 4k installed turned into 5200 because I bought a transmission thru them. If problems persists, I'm going to definitely report them if they don't try to ease up and be honest people. When I brought my car into the shop that following Monday (tranny started acting up on Friday and they were closed sat) they thought it was my fault when it was clearly theirs. Glad they fixed it for free though