so 2 weeks ago my aw4 wouldnt shift back to 1st & i get cel w/ 2 codes atc unit & shift solenoid b ,i search here & all points to needing soleniod replacemt in the tranny. i discuss this w/a friend who is a real general mechanic he suggests i go see a shop he sends AT work to who he considered honest & fair. so i give it a go because they would do a free diagnostic. i tell the guy at the tranny shop my problem & my hopes it not major because tranny works fine when i shift manually, i even mention maybe its just solenoids. then he gets defensive w/ well it could be that or this or blah , blah ,blah. next day he calls me w/ his findings that all electrical is good to the tranny so its in the tranny, then he says you need a complete rebuild. that will be $2200 parts & labor.thanks i'll come get my jeep & think it over. i buy & install the 3 solenoids , a filter & 4 qts of atf. total cost $275 for parts, my 2 hrs labor. now it shifts perfectly thru all gears up & down, cel went off, all is good. for all i know they may have done the same thing @ the tranny shop & charged me $2200.thanks agian for the info, these place is great.

 

Hey..far out maaan. It sort of sounds like tranny shops must have allot of overhead or something! The PO of my Jeep spent thousands on mine...and I can clearly see one of the torque converter bolts is in at an angle! (guess they had air tools.)

 

That sucks... Did you call the shop that did the work?

 

Nice. People on here are extremely helpful.

 

how you gonna just scam that shop out of 1900$....



lol, good deal man, when you see a mechanic get defensive about something its usually because he has something to hide...or is scamming you

 

Wow, nice savings. I sincerely hope that the $2200 was a FULL rebuild. Obviously not necessary as you proved but I doubt they were trying to rip you off quite that much lol. Remember, lots of markup on all those new parts!

Glad you like the forum

 

yes it was for a complete rebuild, but i never thought it needed that done since the jeep only has 128 k miles, i think his approach to the problem was just, if i do a rebuild then i know i fixed whatever the problem is. at the very least he could have offered to drop the pan & check a little bit into my theory of the problem, which i would have gladly paid for this work.

 

I would mail them a copy of your receipts, for your parts. (Write on it your labor time.) Stapled to their estimate. And write across the bottom. A big thank you. Due to your estimate, I tackled the problem my self. You folks saved me $1900. Would I recommend your place of business to any Friends or family. No! No! No! No! Have a good day!

 

I love happy endings.

 

Or go back and have them diagnose again and when they ask what you had done tell them you fixed it yourself for 15% of what they wanted to charge you

 

Here is a big secret:
95%-99% of car mechanics don't know anything about transmissions except how to replace them.
They don't even know how to adjust bands in some Chrysler transmissions.
Most owners of Chrysler vans with 3 speed transmissions pay for transmission rebuild/replacement when solenoids go bad (20 min replacement, solenoid pack is outside transmission, $90 from ebay)
Chrysler did great job designing transmission with solenoid pack outside.
Honda is smarter, Honda has solenoids outside transmission and it takes 5 min to replace bad one, they are not all together like Chrysler solenoid pack.

 

Naw..they did that in the late 90's, (for/to the PO), and I just spotted it a few years ago. It's held for over 150K, I don't even want to breathe on it!

Yea, ^. No harm in politely pointing out to them that all you needed was a solenoid, on the slim chance they might do better next time.

 

Mechanics have kids!!!!