Adelaide based car with a dead transmission near Melbourne - Options?

[BlackVXGTS]

Just to clarify, from 4L60e transmission common problems, your transmission problem is as below:

21. No movement in any gear: pump failure, or total loss of fluid. Remove & Repair/Replace, or refill pan and find the leak. If out of fluid, avoid running the engine until the trans is refilled to avoid pump damage. To check for pump failure, check fluid level with the engine off, then start the engine and recheck fluid level. If level does not go down when engine is running, the pump is broken.

That doesn't help you with finding transport for the car to Adelaide.

 

[Anthony .]

I think OP has the 5l40e

 

[carcollector]

I think OP has the 5l40e

Yeah. At the moment, I have a 0L40e .

Still working on options. I'll post an update tomorrow.

 

[Skylarking]

Yeah. At the moment, I have a 0L40e .

Still working on options. I'll post an update tomorrow.

That made me laugh…

Hope you get to the bottom of it and it ain’t exy

 

[Anthony .]

I’d strongly suggest trying a service, not flush, first. May be a blocked filter depending on the k’s and service history

 

[someguy360]

Is she with the RAA. I have heard that in instances like this of major failure they will arrange to get the car home, even if interstate.

Theres a caveat to that, which I found out the hard way.

I have RAA premium which gets my car home from anywhere in Australia.....IF it can't be repaired locally within 2-3 days.

And this is based off of whether the parts can be sourced and replaced within this time, not if the customer can afford it or not.

So for example they'd be able to find a trans in Melbourne in probably an hour and it's say 6 hours labour to do the work. RAA will deem it repairable locally and say you either cough up the cash, or tough luck.

It's only in the situation that the cars dead in the water and it can't be repaired quickly that they'll arrange freight home. They unfortunatley don't care if it's a $10k+ repair, just whether it CAN be repaired.

It's in the fine print in the PDS unfortunately. Same as in the fine print on how the RAA wouldn't tow my car home after fire damage in the engine bay, as thats not classed as a breakdown.

 

[losh1971]

Theres a caveat to that, which I found out the hard way.

I have RAA premium which gets my car home from anywhere in Australia.....IF it can't be repaired locally within 2-3 days.

And this is based off of whether the parts can be sourced and replaced within this time, not if the customer can afford it or not.

So for example they'd be able to find a trans in Melbourne in probably an hour and it's say 6 hours labour to do the work. RAA will deem it repairable locally and say you either cough up the cash, or tough luck.

It's only in the situation that the cars dead in the water and it can't be repaired quickly that they'll arrange freight home. They unfortunatley don't care if it's a $10k+ repair, just whether it CAN be repaired.

It's in the fine print in the PDS unfortunately. Same as in the fine print on how the RAA wouldn't tow my vehicle after fire damage in the engine bay, as thats not classed as a breakdown.

Then I think the OP might be in luck if he has RAA. I seriously doubt it could be repaired in three days. Over here it's a minimum three months to have a trans rebuilt. I imagine it would be a few weeks in Melbourne not three days. Plus if it is the five speed then the likelihood of getting it repaired will be months regardless of the state. Heck I don't reckon the car could even be assessed in three days. Garages across the country are normally booked out at least one - two weeks from what I understand.

 

[someguy360]

Then I think the OP might be in luck if he has RAA. I seriously doubt it could be repaired in three days. Over here it's a minimum three months to have a trans rebuilt. I imagine it would be a few weeks in Melbourne not three days. Plus if it is the five speed then the likelihood of getting it repaired will be months regardless of the state.

Their argument would be that the workshop of choice could source a 2nd hand one from just about anywhere.

It's the quickest path to repair the vehicle they will ask you to use, not the best way.

Same as aftermarket warranty on a 2nd hand car, they'll always source a 2nd hand unit over rebuilding one (they did the same with our Kia when the transmission died, the Kia dealer sourced a 2nd hand trans of unknown km because they are under no obligation to rebuild/repair it as that takes longer and costs more).

The only time it would be a rebuild job or outside of that scope is if the car was still under factory warranty or if there wasn't an abundance of 2nd hand parts available. Which in melbourne you'd be able to find just about any commodore transmission within 20 mins of ringing around.

Like an insurance company, any way they can use red tape/fine print to get out of a big payout they'll take.

Like you said, the exception would likely be if it can't get in anywhere, but in Melbourne there'd be 1000's of RAA/RACV approved repairers and any old mechanic can swap out a transmission, it won't go to a trans specialist for a 2nd hand swapover job.

 

[losh1971]

Their argument would be that the workshop of choice could source a 2nd hand one from just about anywhere.

It's the quickest path to repair the vehicle they will ask you to use, not the best way. Same as aftermarket warranty on a 2nd hand car, they'll always source a 2nd hand unit over rebuilding one (they did the same with our Kia when the transmission died, the Kia dealer sourced a 2nd hand trans of unknown km because they are under no obligation to rebuild/repair it as that takes longer and costs more).

The only time it would be a rebuild job or outside of that scope is if the car was still under factory warranty or if there wasn't an abundance of 2nd hand parts available. Which in melbourne you'd be able to find just about any commodore transmission within 20 mins of ringing around.

Like an insurance company, any way they can use red tape/fine print to get out of a big payout they'll take.

If its the five speed, then I think even in Melbourne chances of finding one that works are slim at best.

Are you saying that if the total time to do the job is less than three days then it will be a no? Or are you saying that if the time to get in is less than three days it will be a no? If the latter then I'd be surprised if it could be fixed within a week.

 

[someguy360]

If its the five speed, then I think even in Melbourne chances of finding one that works are slim at best.

Are you saying that if the total time to do the job is less than three days then it will be a no? Or are you saying that if the time to get in is less than three days it will be a no? If the latter then I'd be surprised if it could be fixed within a week.

I believe it's the total time to do the job. Good point though about the 5 speed.

For example if the LLT in my VE, did the normal LLT thing and spun a bearing. RAA would tow it to the nearest RAA approved workshop, if they can find any wrecker in melbourne with an LLT even with 400,000km, that will be the path forward as that job can be easily done in a day and you need to have the money available to do it. If you can't afford the repairs thats not their problem, the 3 day clause doesn't include whether you can find the funds in that time or not....which I know I wouldn't.

Same as if my LLT also did it's timing chains to the point the engine wouldn't run, if the car could get into an RAA approved workshop, the chains can be sourced in an hour from any parts dealer and is about a 5-6 hour job. If the job was $2500 I'd be forced to either go ahead with the job, or RAA wouldn't tow the car home just because I couldn't afford the repair.


It won't be an option of "well if you want it rebuilt then we'll tow it home so you can arrange that", they'd give an option of them arranging the tow/freight but at your cost.

All I'm sharing is my experiences with RAA in the past few years. 15 years ago I'd have bent over backwards recommending them, these days.....they are happy to take your premiums each year but reluctant to really help when called upon.

Same as how even though my fire damage in my car was purely a mechanical fault, that happened while I was driving (aka a breakdown), thats an insurance issue according to RAA, not a breakdown so they refused to tow it.