Oh boy.
I think I was just taken really bad by a transmission shop. Yesterday, my car was slipping. I was driving and the car kept feeling like it was in neutral. I stopped checked the transmission level and there was next to no fluid. I put some in, in the proper place and it worked fine for about 4-5 minutes before the problem happened again.
I stopped at the nearest Speedy, I told them I think I had a loose or broken hose and my trans fluid was leaking out. They couldn’t find the problem, so they gave me the name of a transmission shop and tow service and I had my car towed to this shop.
Anyhow, the transmission shop told me my radiator had an interior break or problem…. and it had leaked radiator fluid into my transmission. They said I might need a rebuilt or new transmission cause that was a bad problem.
After calling my exhusband who is a mechanic, he told me not to get work done on the trans, to tell the shop to fix my car up in the cheapest fashion so that I could drive it to his house so he could look it over. He even spoke on the phone with the mechanic.
I relayed to them that I just wanted them to do the cheapest thing possible so that my car would be safe to drive to my ex husbands house 20 miles away, so I could have him look at it.
They put in a transmission cooler to the tune of $350 and then told me the good news is, there was no damage to the trans and that I didn’t need a new trans. BUT, i would need a radiator ASAP.
When I called my ex up this morning he was floored. He said they should have put a new or rebuilt radiator in and that I didn’t need a Transmission Cooler at all. That the radiator wouldn’t have been much more than the Cooler and if I needed a radiator, they should have put THAT in, not this cooler thing.
I just lost my 20 year old son this past July and have NO extra money at all. I live paycheck to paycheck, literally, because it was VERY difficult for me to work after losing him and I worked as much as i could, but it wasn’t enough to sustain my living expenses.
Therefore, i used my savings to cover what I didn’t make working. I have NO savings left now and barely can afford to make ends meet and now I just spent $350 on a transmission cooler, yet I STILL need the radiator.
My ex feels that this shop should have put in the radiator not some cooler as a band aid, because if (according to them) I STILL need the radiator, THAT would have solved the whole problem. The problem WASN’T the transmission cooler !!!! Or better yet, they should have put some hoses together so I could drive it 20 miles.
I am sure without seeing the vehicle, you can’t give much as far as answers go, but, from what I have told you I am hoping you can give me an idea of whether or not this shop did the right thing by putting in a Transmission Cooler for $350.
I told them I wanted to be able to get it 20 miles away so my exhusband could look at it. I can’t help but feel I was taken advantage of and now I am left needing a radiator ON TOP of what I just spent yesterday. I have NO extra money at all !!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for listening, I do appreciate it.
Cathy
Hi there Cathy,
I do agree with you about the shop installing the radiator instead of the cooler IF your vehicle is equipped with the transmission cooler inside the radiator.
Some vehicles have an external transmission cooler separate from the radiator, and some coolers are part of the radiator itself. I don’t recall if this model has a separate cooler or an internal radiator cooler or not, you will have to ask someone who can look and see for me.
You might want to take the vehicle to a radiator shop or another mechanic in your area and have them inspect the radiator and see if it really does need to be replaced, because you did not mention anything about the engine overheating….and I would expect that to be happening if you in deed do need a new radiator.
I can only assume they told you about needing a new radiator because the internal transmission cooler inside your radiator is bad BUT since they added an external transmission cooler…I don’t think you have to worry about it unless your engine is overheating. I would get clarification from the transmission shop….but you might be OK just the way things are.
Blessings,
Austin Davis