[TDamon]

Dear Kevin,
Back in October, my wife and I bought a used truck. About 3 weeks after we got it, we found that there was a leak in the radiator. We called the dealership up where we'd bought it, and he sent a tow truck down to get it. While it was at the mechanic getting the radiator repaired, we got a call that the tranny was slipping. The dealer informed us that since we'd bought the extended warranty, the tranny was covered. He supposedly had his mechanic put in a replacement tranny. You can clearly tell that the transmission has been separated from the engine. Here're the questions: On a 1996 Chevy s-10, is there any way to tell if it's the original tranny? Is there a way to decypher the VIN and casting numbers?
The reason I ask, before they took the truck to the shop, we'd not noticed any problems with thetranny, and it'd ran well. After they dropped it off, it was clearly screwed up. In fact, there was so much wrong with it, we had to take it to a different mechanic just to straighten out the mess the first guy made. We later found out that the dealer's mechanic was actually a backyard body guy, who didn't know much about transmissions, and had bit off more than he could chew. Do you know if autobody techs inOH need to be licenced? Have you ever encountered anything like this, and if so, do you have any tips or suggestions? We tried talking to the warrenty company, and they were no help. we tried the dealership, and he just brushed us off. We also tried the body guy, and he claimed it worked when it left. Our problem is that he didn't fix it correctly. Hope you can help, and thanks,
TDamon

[Kevin Tetz]

Sorry for your trouble.... its hard to armchair quarterback this one... having said that, I've seen tow truck drivers take out a transmillion by improperly towing or moving one up to the deck of a rollback. I dont know if there's any way to cross reference part numbers, and I dont thing th VIN is on the trans... I may be wrong. What I do know is that any mechanic worth his salt will show you the replaced parts and give oyu a rundown of what he did with no question. It sounds like these guys are trying to cover something up.... Id hold their feet to the fire... get a lawyer if there's any further shenannigans.

what are they doing having a backyard paint and body guy do transmission work in the first place? I know how to paint a car, I know how to restore a car, I know how to paint a transmission, I even know how to replace a transmission....but I clearly know that Ive got NO BUSINESS overhauling one even for a handfull of cash.

watch yourself on this one, it stinks bad.


K..
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Thanks for your help on the forum! I hope this helps!

Kevin Tetz
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