Am I getting played?

[S4evr]

My tranny needs a rebuildin' and i was planning on buying the jhm rebuild kit, and having ESP, a local shop, do the installation for me. I've got a friend here at boston VW, and his boss is an expert with audi/vw trannys so i figured i'd give him a call to see if he could offer me a cheaper price if he did an after-hours kind of thing. he asked me to describe the symptoms the tranny was having and what not, how many miles, etc. I told him i just went past 100,000 and he said at this point, a typical tranny rebuild kit would not do it. he said bearings and shims would need to replaced throughout the tranny because once installed the new syncros and slider the tolerances from the new parts would be different because the old ones were worn down (i believe that) and that if i didnt replace the bearings and shims and what not my tranny might not live much longer. He told me there's a good chance i would need to replace second gear as well, but because second is part of an attatched assembly, i would need to replace the whole spindle which costs alot. Am i getting played here or what? i've never heard of gears going bad, or bearings needing to be replaced. The tranny shifts good now more or less unless i start shifting real fast, so i think the only real problems are syncros and a slider... I've also never seen Jason Harbinson (jhm) replace any of these so i'm not sure what to think. am i getting played, or is this audi expert tech telling me the truth?

[tike0rz]

I wouldn't go to your friend's boss if I were you. Ask ESP, if they say the same thing as your bosses friend then I'd go to JHM and see what they think about your situation. I wish I could get more technical but it really comes down to getting separate opinions.

[S4evr]

ESP just gave me a quote on installing the rebuild kit, and clutch. They didnt get into any specifics about possibly replacing bearings, or even gears which is why i though this audi guy was bs'ing me. I'll be talking with Jason more in depth to find out what the lifespan is typically for the bearings and what not in the tranny.

[RogueStatus]

whats ESP gonna charge you? theyre usually pretty reasonable. if not go to this guy Glenn in Auburn,he throw out real good prices along with quality work.

[1997gtx]

IMO, Jason is a respectful and honest guy. While the other parts will naturally be more worn, if Jason doesn't feel that parts will go anytime soon, then I wouldn't waste the money.

Jason knows these transmissions very very well, so I would go with his suggestion personally.
--Adam

[Kievskiy]

friend's boss is trying to make money, i don't think he really give a damn about you. my 2 cents

[J-tec]

[Rated S]

I loled.

[1997gtx]

I giggled.

[Rated S]

I giggled.

No way.
Pics or ban.

[pdq 5oh]

I don't think the guy is trying to play you. He's looking at a trans with 100K mi of how much abuse? For the cost of the bearings, it seems dumb NOT to replace them while you're in there. How would you like to have to pull the trans in 5K mi to replace bearings? As for shimming to get clearances right, that's generally done by people that know what they're doing. I don't know how many trans and rear ends I've seen rebuilt with old bearings and re-using original shims that ended up on the bench, again. Setting things up at the right clearances extends life, and reduces noise and vibration.

[AMC]

my trans had 101k when i did the rebuild and the inside of the tranny looked pretty clean shims and bearing looked/were fine had to replace one though but its because i broke it *doh* but i couldnt believe having to replace them doesnt make sence. and i dont think noone has had them replaced either. ..i told you once before grab a friend buy the video JHM offers and do it yourself labor is free and you can see for yourself whats needs to be changed. Just do it

[S4evr]

^ i would, but getting the tranny in and out without having access to a lift would be impossible.

[AMC]

car lift or engine lift ....engine lift are like 80bucks on ebay .. or if your talking about car lift, me and my brother did it on jack stands, cuz thats how we roll

[1997gtx]

No way.
Pics or ban.

LoL. Sorry. After giggling, I punched myself in the face for being gay ang giggling. I am too swollen for pics
--Adam

[Das General]

^ i would, but getting the tranny in and out without having access to a lift would be impossible.

Nah its not too bad. We got my engine/tranny out with a couple of jack stands.

[S4evr]

hmm, it sure would be nice to save 1500. ill look into it thoroughly during work tomorrow. i'm having my clutch replaced while im down there too, is that something that i can do?

anyone have writeups for a tranny pull, and clutch installation that i can look at?

[Das General]

with the tranny off, putting a clutch in takes about 5 minutes.

[Das General]

and if you want...I have an extra JHM shifter linkage upgrade that would be ideal to install at that time.

I'll give you a hot deal!

[SoEvoL]

Generally the rebuild kits for trans cover the basic updates/worn items. If anything else needs to be replaced that would be made note of during the teardown. Then the shop would let you know if there is a problem and further parts are needed.