Well, when I bought the elephant chaser I knew the auto was slipping a bit and knew it would eventually come to this...it did
About a week ago the truck started slipping real badly so I took it to someone here in the area. His family has been in the transmission business for decades, has a great reputation and has owned a Landcruiser himself in the past
He came highly recommended by numerous people including several close friends and Toyota enthusiasts.
He does a ton of high performance, off road, diesel and custom/race work for area rodders, off roaders and rebulders.
When I spoke with him about the problem he took a lets wait and see attitude. Instead of just offering up a rebuild, he told me all the things that "could" be happening to cause the problems, and said it was best to check those first. Trust me, he doens't nickle and dime you to death...he's here for the long term
I dropped it off on Monday morning (his shop runner gave me a ride home) and he called me later that afternoon with a diagnosis. About what I figured too, it was not good news.
He started the process on tuesday and after getting the wrong T/C from the supplier on Wednesday, finsihed it up on Thursday.
Picked her up on Friday and WOW!!! Drove great! Nice crisp clean shifts, smooth transitions and a real kickdown
This lasted about an hour
He had mentioned that I might experience some slightly erratic pattern (early/late shift points) over the next few days or a week while it breaks in and said if I wasn't comfortable, just bring it back and he'll take care of it.
Like I said. In about an hour, I noticed that I was not getting OD?? Then 3rd starded coming in later and later??
Called him and he gave me some quick solutions and some road tests to do while I was on the road (headed to Orlando with my son and a back end full of Buick Grand National motor!).
Stayed on the phone with me until both he and I were comfortable that this was not going to correct itself.
He offered to send his wrecker for me (they take care of all that)
but I declined and we nursed the chaser back to his Lutz shop at a whopping 40< mph in 1st & 2nd gear. At least me son and I had time for some good father & son conversation
When I arrived, he got it in IMMEDIATELY, took it out for a test run (with my son) and got her right up on the rack.
After dropping the pan and the valve body, he found something had gotten into the body and clogged it (even after the hot flush). He dissassembled everything, cleaned it and put it back together. Took it out again and again, not right!
FOrtunately, there was no debris, shavings or parts inthe pan whe he dropped it and everything else was correct and performing properly. It's obviously a valve body issue
Back on the rack and apart again. He did this 4-5 times that I know of and by the end of the afternoon, has almost got the situation corrected. He is pretty sure he knows the problem and should have it done by Monday
We discussed the possibillity of ordering one of Rodney's Extreme VB's and this may still happen.
To sum it up, no, the trucks not fixed yet, but I'm confident that it will be by monday.
He and his crew worked dilligently on my truck for 4+ hours, 2 of which were after thier normal closing time. All of this without another nickle out of pocket!
IMO, you can't ask for better service than that! Frankly, the original cost of the repair was not at all unreasonable IMO.
I'll keep you updated on the progess and as soon as it's done, assuming it stays together, I'll post his name and shop information for those of us in the Tampa and surrounding areas that may need his services.
If it doesn't turn out so well, I'll let you know that too....my gut tells me it's goona be fine
About a week ago the truck started slipping real badly so I took it to someone here in the area. His family has been in the transmission business for decades, has a great reputation and has owned a Landcruiser himself in the past
He came highly recommended by numerous people including several close friends and Toyota enthusiasts.
He does a ton of high performance, off road, diesel and custom/race work for area rodders, off roaders and rebulders.
When I spoke with him about the problem he took a lets wait and see attitude. Instead of just offering up a rebuild, he told me all the things that "could" be happening to cause the problems, and said it was best to check those first. Trust me, he doens't nickle and dime you to death...he's here for the long term
I dropped it off on Monday morning (his shop runner gave me a ride home) and he called me later that afternoon with a diagnosis. About what I figured too, it was not good news
.He started the process on tuesday and after getting the wrong T/C from the supplier on Wednesday, finsihed it up on Thursday.
Picked her up on Friday and WOW!!! Drove great! Nice crisp clean shifts, smooth transitions and a real kickdown
This lasted about an hour
He had mentioned that I might experience some slightly erratic pattern (early/late shift points) over the next few days or a week while it breaks in and said if I wasn't comfortable, just bring it back and he'll take care of it.
Like I said. In about an hour, I noticed that I was not getting OD?? Then 3rd starded coming in later and later??
Called him and he gave me some quick solutions and some road tests to do while I was on the road (headed to Orlando with my son and a back end full of Buick Grand National motor!).
Stayed on the phone with me until both he and I were comfortable that this was not going to correct itself.
He offered to send his wrecker for me (they take care of all that)
but I declined and we nursed the chaser back to his Lutz shop at a whopping 40< mph in 1st & 2nd gear. At least me son and I had time for some good father & son conversation
When I arrived, he got it in IMMEDIATELY, took it out for a test run (with my son) and got her right up on the rack.
After dropping the pan and the valve body, he found something had gotten into the body and clogged it (even after the hot flush). He dissassembled everything, cleaned it and put it back together. Took it out again and again, not right!
FOrtunately, there was no debris, shavings or parts inthe pan whe he dropped it and everything else was correct and performing properly. It's obviously a valve body issue
Back on the rack and apart again. He did this 4-5 times that I know of and by the end of the afternoon, has almost got the situation corrected. He is pretty sure he knows the problem and should have it done by Monday
We discussed the possibillity of ordering one of Rodney's Extreme VB's and this may still happen.
To sum it up, no, the trucks not fixed yet, but I'm confident that it will be by monday.
He and his crew worked dilligently on my truck for 4+ hours, 2 of which were after thier normal closing time. All of this without another nickle out of pocket!
IMO, you can't ask for better service than that! Frankly, the original cost of the repair was not at all unreasonable IMO.
I'll keep you updated on the progess and as soon as it's done, assuming it stays together, I'll post his name and shop information for those of us in the Tampa and surrounding areas that may need his services.
If it doesn't turn out so well, I'll let you know that too....my gut tells me it's goona be fine
Damn nice to be back in the saddle!
