77R4 question

[bigd65]

as you may know, christmas morning my truck out me in the ditch. well the tranny guy called and said the tranny case was cracked across the bell housing and the tail shaft. he is also saying that it may have been caused from the U-JOINT. i have never heard of a U-JOINT cracking a tranny case. anyway the U-JOINTS are new. is it possible, because if it is so, then i am going to have him write me a letter and im gonna send it to the company that makes the U-JOINT and make them pay for it. about a year ago, i paid 1300.00 bucks to have this tranny rebuilt. i cant pay it again, i have the money, i just cant pay that again, especially when it aint my fault.

[bigd65]

WHOOPS THAT SHOULD BE TITLED 700R4

[1FaastC10]

the tranny guy that has it now, is it the same tranny guy that rebuilt it? if so, you may be in for a ride. 90% of those guys will try to pin the blame on someone or something else, NOT their work that caused the problem. working in a dealership, i have no idea how many times i saw that happen "find something else wrong with it" too many crooked people in that business...

[ElGracho]

Ugghh, another tranny shop ripping people off! I can't stand them and I've never had a good experience. In 96, my rear axle grenaded in my 84 and I needed my truck back quick. I went against my better instincts of just getting a junkyard axle and putting it in so I went to my towns local tranny shop. $1300 later, I ended up with a junkyard axle under my truck.

This summer, I had a 700R4 rebuilt for my 84 when the 350 grenaded. I put it in but was pissed when it would not shift. I had adjusted the TV cable and that wasn't the problem but the tranny shop went back and forth with me for a week saying my TV cable bracket (Holley carb) would not work. One day I left it there over night and they did something where they pulled the pan and the governor cover. Anyhow, the next day when I brought them a different TV cable bracket, that "fixed it". What a bunch of BS. If the guy would have just done whatever he ended up doing to the governor in the first place, it would have worked a week sooner but the dude was too petty to admit that they might have (gasp) made a mistake.

This is why I bought the tools to rebuild my rear axle myself. Even if it only lasts 20k miles, I'll feel better than I would giving those crooks any more of my money!

By the way, I will never recommend going to Cottman Transmission in Poulsbo, Washington.

[swervin ervin]

Jeff,

this sucks big time. I would have bet money the guy would find something else wrong and not be his work. It happens all the time. Jerks always trying to get out the responsiblity of saying, yes, it's my fault and I'll fix it no charge.

Now, after saying this, yes, it's possible the u-joint could cause this. Even logical. I don't know of anything inside the tranny that would lock up like yours did, without some outside help. It makes sense to me if the u-joint locked up, it would pop like you said and most of the time will break and the driveshaft hits the ground. If it's the rear joint, it will only cause a lot of sparks and noise. If it's the front joint, a lot of times it will pole vault you into the air. This is the very reason all the drag racing sanctioning bodys require a driveshaft loop.

The big question is, have you seen the u-joint in question, or was it destroyed?

I have never heard of a auto tranny or manual breaking like this when a u-joint locked up. I think something smells fishy. Looks like you are in for a fun ride with this guy. And good luck with the u-joint maker accepting responsibility for this. It ain't going to happen.

One thing which I remember is you saying you turned the driveshaft around because you put the u-joints in backwards. Is this correct? Do you think this may have caused this?

[bigd65]

well that never stopped the vibration, so i really didnt think there was a difference in the direction of the driveshaft. and besides that , everyone i asked about the drive shaft said it dont matter because the shaft is balanced and it does matter and there is no front and rear. i changed it back, like you said Mike, for piece of mind. when i looked through the windows of the shop the other night the drive shaft was laying on the ground and the yoke was still attached. i still that it is BULL S#!T , pardon the french, that the U-JOINT caused this. i am told by everyone, including my buddy that owns the wrecking , they are friends, not to worry about it, he will take care of it. well i will find out tomarrow, because you know i am going straight up there and talk to him. IT MIGHT GET A LITTLE LOUD.
oh well i'll post the results tomarrow

[swervin ervin]

I remember you telling me you turned it back around now. Did you flip the u-joints around too? Have you not seen the driveshaft up close. If it did what he said, it looks like it would be messed up or loose joints. I'm guessing he is saying the rear joint broke and the shaft came loose and while still spinning, broke the tranny when it was flopping around under the truck. If the front joint broke, the tranny wouldn't be affected I'm thinking.

Good luck tomorrow.

[bigd65]

well i went and looked at it yesterday and man it was bad. the area on the front where the tranny bolts to the block was broken off. the inner part of the main case where the out-put shaft is all chewed up. as far as the u-joint, there is one cap missing but the u-joint aint broken. about a week before this happened i had the drive shaft out to grease the yoke and all the u-joints were just fine. i dont think we will ever be able to find out what or who is actually at fault. i ask what this was going to cost and he said he will work with me on it. well i can get a new case pretty cheap if not free, so that will help. it also needs a pump and a new torque converter. all that was changed when it was new. i will keep yall posted as to what is up with it

[PHOENIX]

I do not think you will be able to get the U-Joint company to pay for any damages at all. They might replace the U-Joints, but thats about it. Most mfg's only warranty their part and will not warranty other parts damaged due to their defective part. Some states have a law which restricts warranties from doing this. Just thought I'd let you know.