Okay, I'll try to make it short:
I would like not to have the mechanic's name mentioned here (some of you know who did this work and lots of you know him) - he is a nice guy and I do not want to harm his reputation!
I had the tranny of my 1965 Giulia 1600 Ti rebuild and since have had 3 issues of which 2 are not solved.
BACKGROUND:
I had my clutch replaced. The mechanic noticed the tranny was leaking significantly (which I also noticed before) and suggested to rebuild it. I asked if it were better to replace it with a rebuilt one. He said, it would be much better if he did it, so we would know what was in it.
I had an issue with first anyhow (grinding when shifting into first from neutral after a full stop), so I said yes. I did notice that the tranny must have been rebuild not too long ago - there was fresh Curl-T at the seams.
FIRST ISSUE:
I pick up the car, drive it home on the freeway, and notice the next morning that there is still a major leak from the tranny. I took it back- they found the inner shift boot being completely ripped apart. They did not check this when they rebuild the tranny obviously. This definitely was a source of leakage before - I mentioned this, but he said it was leaking from other areas and needed the re-seal.
SECOND ISSUE:
As soon as the car warms up I noticed a significant grinding shifting into first from neutral after a full stop. I went to the mechanic, he changed the gear oil which did not help. At my second visit for this issue he told me that this is normal for this tranny. I asked if people bought the car with this flaw in 65 right off the showroom - he said yes.
I know it is a typical 5-gear Alfa issue. But from the beginning on ? I have my doubts (how about Road and Track not mentioning it in their review - and I am sure they would have!).
Now I felt completely sad for my money
Well, I got used to the tapping into second before going into first (funny enough, I do it on my VW bus now as well ).
THIRD ISSUE:
From the beginning on I noticed and mentioned a clonking sound and feel (!) sometimes when shifting. Now that I got used to the car and drive it more spirited, I could isolate it:
When I downshift and normal shifting speed from 3rd into neutral and then into 2nd (and also shifting directly from 3rd into 2nd), I get a major awful clonking sound and a feeling like the drivetrain gets hit hard (I can avoid it only by shifting very carefully into second). I don't think I had that issue before. Again to the mechanic - he looked at the drive shaft and diagnosed that the sound comes from the shaft being to loose in that mid-way rubber/steel mount. He also suggested to make that more tight. I did with zero success - no change at all.
At this point I cannot tolerate these flaws. The clunking sound (issue 3) is something major mechanical that cannot be ignored.
What should I do?
- Insists that he fixes the tranny (he offered that I could "come back" if I were not happy, but I kinda get the feeling he doesn't really want to have anything to do with this - the problem seems to be always somewhere else).
- Ask for a refund of the money I paid for the rebuild.
- other ?
Any ideas what this clunking sound when down-shifting is?
Thank you all for reading and your input!
I would like not to have the mechanic's name mentioned here (some of you know who did this work and lots of you know him) - he is a nice guy and I do not want to harm his reputation!
I had the tranny of my 1965 Giulia 1600 Ti rebuild and since have had 3 issues of which 2 are not solved.
BACKGROUND:
I had my clutch replaced. The mechanic noticed the tranny was leaking significantly (which I also noticed before) and suggested to rebuild it. I asked if it were better to replace it with a rebuilt one. He said, it would be much better if he did it, so we would know what was in it.
I had an issue with first anyhow (grinding when shifting into first from neutral after a full stop), so I said yes. I did notice that the tranny must have been rebuild not too long ago - there was fresh Curl-T at the seams.
FIRST ISSUE:
I pick up the car, drive it home on the freeway, and notice the next morning that there is still a major leak from the tranny. I took it back- they found the inner shift boot being completely ripped apart. They did not check this when they rebuild the tranny obviously. This definitely was a source of leakage before - I mentioned this, but he said it was leaking from other areas and needed the re-seal.
SECOND ISSUE:
As soon as the car warms up I noticed a significant grinding shifting into first from neutral after a full stop. I went to the mechanic, he changed the gear oil which did not help. At my second visit for this issue he told me that this is normal for this tranny. I asked if people bought the car with this flaw in 65 right off the showroom - he said yes.
I know it is a typical 5-gear Alfa issue. But from the beginning on ? I have my doubts (how about Road and Track not mentioning it in their review - and I am sure they would have!).
Now I felt completely sad for my money
Well, I got used to the tapping into second before going into first (funny enough, I do it on my VW bus now as well ).
THIRD ISSUE:
From the beginning on I noticed and mentioned a clonking sound and feel (!) sometimes when shifting. Now that I got used to the car and drive it more spirited, I could isolate it:
When I downshift and normal shifting speed from 3rd into neutral and then into 2nd (and also shifting directly from 3rd into 2nd), I get a major awful clonking sound and a feeling like the drivetrain gets hit hard (I can avoid it only by shifting very carefully into second). I don't think I had that issue before. Again to the mechanic - he looked at the drive shaft and diagnosed that the sound comes from the shaft being to loose in that mid-way rubber/steel mount. He also suggested to make that more tight. I did with zero success - no change at all.
At this point I cannot tolerate these flaws. The clunking sound (issue 3) is something major mechanical that cannot be ignored.
What should I do?
- Insists that he fixes the tranny (he offered that I could "come back" if I were not happy, but I kinda get the feeling he doesn't really want to have anything to do with this - the problem seems to be always somewhere else).
- Ask for a refund of the money I paid for the rebuild.
- other ?
Any ideas what this clunking sound when down-shifting is?
Thank you all for reading and your input!