Excella Motorhome - Transmission repair advice??

[ShaneJi]

Hello!

Transmission blew out last weekend in Yuba City CA. It's at a local shop and I'm not sure they know what they are doing for an old vehicle. They will take it apart today or tomorrow and I'll quickly need to tell them what to do next.

Repair or Re-manufactured transmission?

It has a Turbo 400 tranny in it now.
base truck bed is a Chevy P30 or a GMC P3500
need to determine if 3 or 6 lug converter THM 400
Motorhomes need - HD clutch, shift kit
quoted $1977. plus tax and core from a supplier Jasper.

What should I do? thanks so much!

[190-b-651]

The price is right for a turbo 400+Hd clutch pack any warranty? If rebuild at shop should be. A remanufactured
Will probably have a warranty but if its bad you still have the cost of pulling the bad new one again.
Keep your original and rebuild it.
Six months ago it was $2800 and some change to rebuild a 93 ford 040D in my airstream b190.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by ShaneJi

Hello!

Transmission blew out last weekend in Yuba City CA. It's at a local shop and I'm not sure they know what they are doing for an old vehicle. They will take it apart today or tomorrow and I'll quickly need to tell them what to do next.

Repair or Re-manufactured transmission?

It has a Turbo 400 tranny in it now.
base truck bed is a Chevy P30 or a GMC P3500
need to determine if 3 or 6 lug converter THM 400
Motorhomes need - HD clutch, shift kit
quoted $1977. plus tax and core from a supplier Jasper.

What should I do? thanks so much!

I replaced the trans in my 310 last year in April with a Jasper. Once you give Jasper all the info of your vehicle, the speedo gear number and hopefully the numbers on your current Trans, they will match it.
I had some issues, mainly related to the shop that did the swap. (they overfilled it, claiming Jasper had filled the torque converter at the factory)
Also had a leak at the governor cover that I fixed myself. Jasper stood behind all the issues and were ready to send me a replacement, but I didn't want to go through it again.
Be aware that the 3 year 100k mile warranty does not apply to MH's, its just 1 year.
I would opt for the manufactured versus rebuilding yours, unless you have it in the hands of a very trusted, knowledgeable mechanic.
They also need to swap your old speedometer housing gear from your old trans. Make sure this happens or you will have a hard time knowing which gear to use.
Price sounds right, but must be without the labor?

[tevake]

I'm in a similar situation Shane.
The trans in my 345 is making noises in third that have gone from a quiet whine to a bit of a growl with a little vibration.

Looking at the Jasper replacement as an option.
I'm pretty sure the local trans shop can do an in house rebuild for a little less than the Jasper replacement. But I will not be staying near this shop and the warenty that Jasper offers is attractive. Tho in talking with them the warenty on the trans for the Moho is only one and a half years instead of the regular three years.

Sorry you are having to deal with this on the road. Probably getting a Jasper unit installed will be quicker if they have one in stock nearby, and more reliable than have an unknown shop do the rebuild work there.

When I spoke with Jasper this morning they wanted to know if a cover on the drivers side was aluminum or steel as a model identifier. So you may want to take a look before calling them.

Please keep us posted on how you decide to go, and ask any questions as they come up. Others here may be able to share more info to help.

Cheers Richard

[bobmiller1]

Jasper is the only way to go unless you have a local tranny shop that has a good reputation..,,,,enough said. Regards, Bob

[ShaneJi]

Gents,

Great to hear back on this issue. I stumbled upon Jasper when making calls to shops for comparative quotes and didn't know how solid of an option it is. The $1977 price is parts only without labor.

This is at a local shop that does some good volume, but far away in the small town of Marysville which is a pass through town, and I don't know them at all. They quoted me $2500 for rebuilding mine, or $900 labor to replace it with a Jasper.

I hope they didn't already order the parts on their own to rebuild, they were moving fast, and I don't have much ability to be in control from afar.

I'll call them in the morning. Is the rebuild such a bad idea if they insist their warranty would be better?

[tevake]

It may be that a good shop with solid knowledge of rebuilding these transmissions will do as good a job as Jasper. But will their warranty be any good to you if you have trouble across the country someplace? Plus it's hard to end up at a reputable shop in some out of the way place.

If you plan to just use your rig near by this may not be a big deal for you.

Getting yours rebuilt will save you some shipping costs. And will let you know what you are starting with.

Cheers Richard

[bkahler]

If the local transmission shop is a member of ATRA then they should offer a warranty should you have them do the rebuild locally. If they are not a member of ATRA then I wouldn't even consider having them rebuild a transmission. I got burned really bad by a local shop that rebuilt a transmission for me that only lasted 600 miles and it cost an arm and a leg for the next rebuild through an ATRA certified shop. The ATRA shop transmission was a great rebuild.

Bottom line is if the shop is not an ATRA shop then get the Jasper unit and get out of town as fast as you can!

Brad

[bigirish2]

Jim Schaefer at Transmissions in Selma Ca is the best. 559 898 0313
His bill would be less than what you were quoted for parts..............
Mike S.

[ShaneJi]

Their parts guy was on vacation and still no work done, sitting there for 5 business days...reviews aren't good on YP and Insider pages.com...

I found a guy in the bay area closer who has a $350 discount on the Jasper hardware and will put it in for me.

I'm going to try and get it out of there on a AAA flatbed, but he wants $500 for taking it apart and dealing with 2 tow trucks to get it parked up the ramp lift, also will put it back together. Now I'm worried what they might do when I decide to leave..I'll prob just pay him to be safe.

Any final thoughts before I make the call in the morning? Thanks gents!

[bkahler]

I hate to say this but having experienced something very similar with a "local" transmission shop I'd pay the ransom and get your rig to a known reputable shop. Nothing worse than being broke down in the middle of nowhere requiring a long tow and then another rebuild at another "local" shop.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Brad

[PeterH-350LE]

a good shop is one thing, I qualified mechanic another. You will be glad you went with the Jasper, just question everything and once you get it home, take some time and crawl under your rig and check bolts, connections and leaks.
Did I mention that the shop doing my swap just randomly tightened the pan bolts. Some were just hand tight other as high 30. (12 ft/lbs is the proper torque)