tbmcclain

Hi all,

I am first time poster, but long time reader of this forum and have found it extremely valuable. Now, to my issue:

I recently purchased a 2011 with a 2.5 inch lift. I run 35s on it and changed out the mud crawlers to KOA2's for better road drive-ability and to address a shudder thatI was told by the dealership was due to the tires. In the course of putting on the new tires, the tech noticed a transmission leak. The dealer agreed to change the lines (and eventually the pan after I complained.) It was within the 30 days of purchase so they were required to fix the vehicle without charging me. They did the work, and still the shudder persists. I tell the service manager that the vehicle is still not performing well and has a significant shudder. I take a tech on a test ride and sure enough the shudder comes up in our ride. He diagnoses the issue as a torque converter issue.

The dealership has now offered to pay the cost for me to have this replaced at the garage of my choice. My concern is that i am unsure if the bad TC has damaged the transmission which they are currently on the hook for ensuring is in proper working order. Taking the Jeep to an outside garage transfers the liability to that garage and away from the dealership. So, does a bad TC cause damage to the transmission? It has had the two transmission leaks, (in the lines and pans) and I do not trust the dealership to shoot straight with me. The only benefit for them not doing the work themselves is that the transmission becomes someone else's problem once they work on it.

Would love thoughts / opinions from people in the know here. Thanks!

EHarris

I have an 08 and had my torque converter rebuilt by dealer under lifetime warranty. Drives great now. I'm surprised they would say they will pay for someone else to fix it. Why wouldn't they just fix it if it's a Jeep dealer?

The dealer does the worst work possible. My JK ends up missing hardware every time I have to get warranty work. The service manager says we are a team but I tell him he should be embarrassed to say that.

Do you have a local Jeep speciality shop by you? That's where I would go. They will tell y my exactly what's wrong and then you can send the bill to dealer.

Otherwise it shouldn't be an issue because they rebuild other components when the torque converter is done.

Hopefully some experts with trannys can give you some more advice. I'd steer clear of the dealer.

tbmcclain

I certainly want someone else to do the work, but they are offering me only $800 to have another shop do the work on the TC with a strong likelihood that the transmission is also damaged. But since we don't know for certain, they won't agree to pay for that part of it. And having another shop work on it voids the dealer-required warranty from when I purchased the truck. So if someone drops the tranny to get to the TC and notices damage, I am on the hook for the rebuild / replacement. I called another Jeep dealer and they said it was a 50/50 shot.

EHarris

It's such a crazy situation. If they were on the hook for the 30 day period for the lines and pan why wouldn't they be for the rest of it? Maybe I missed it but can you get them to do the work or how much would they charge you? It can't be full price? Then maybe you can keep your warranty?

I don't know what your percentages are really but I'm pretty sure to fix the torque converter you would still want the rest of the transmission rebuilt properly anyway and if 'ts a 2011 you should be close to 100k if not maybe 150k.

I've never rebuilt my transmission but I would much rather have the jeep specialty or transmission specialty shop do the work over the dealer. So if you can only get $800 back I would say if it were me, I'd match or pay a little more to have the entire transmission rebuilt at that time and tack it on as a loss.

Maybe get a quote from local transmission shop first to see how much for a full rebuild?