Any opinion is welcome here, but I am in particularly seeking the advice =
of Lawrie, Ed, and any other listers who make a living repairing LBCs.
You will recall the thread of a few days ago concerning transmission =
lubrication. In May of last year I installed a used overdrive =
transmission in my 77B. The donor car was a early 70's B (mileage =
unknown). When I installed the tranny, it was filled to spec with =
Castrol 20W50. Shortly after completing the installation (about 250 =
miles of driving or so), the second gear synchro very suddenly stopped =
functioning. =20
Since transmission rebuilds are a bit out of my league, I opted to have =
the transmission rebuilt by a local LBC shop, with whom I have had good =
experience with, as have many others in our local club. Upon =
disassembly, the mecahnic found that the coating applied to the gear =
taper on which the synchro rides, had become "unbonded". A large amount =
of this coating was found in the tranny oil, it had literally fallen off =
the gear, as opposed to wearing out.
The following parts were replaced: 2nd gear, reverse idler bushing, =
mainshaft bearing, (4) synchros, and of course, all gaskets and seals. =
Parts totalled slightly less than $300, and labor was $710. As =
discussed in the previous thread, the mechanic used 90 wt gear oil for =
lubrication.
I put about 3,000 or so miles on the car since the rebuild, and stored =
the car for the winter. Upon bringing the car out of storage last week, =
I took it for a spin, and noticed that third gear was acting up in a =
manner similar to 2nd gear had previously. Based on advice given by =
many of you, it went ahead and changed the tranny oil. By now you =
probably have guessed that the oil was again full of the same type of =
coating - obviously from 3rd gear, which was not replaced.
Now to my question: What now? Faced with the above situation, should =
the mechanic repair the problem under warranty? Anyone ever encounter a =
situation like this? How did you handle it. I haven't been in to talk =
to the mechanic yet, but would like some advice on how to approach it. =
I generally don't think a confrontational approach is a good way to go. =
Is it reasonable for me to pay for the faulty parts that weren't =
replaced the first time around, and to expect him to suck up the labor? =
Please advise.
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