I think I broke it already

[NJRR]

Update:

Old transmission came out easy peasy.
We looked right at the bushing in the back of the crank through the clutch hole and it looked spiffy, so we
decided the heck with the roller bearing, especially since the old transmission input shaft showed no damage.
In went the "new transmission", darn near as easily as the old one came out; it hung up a little right at about a
half inch left, but a little wrasslin' and it plunked right on home.
Everything reassembled, fluid topped off, jumped in it for a test drive and....

I got about 100 yards before all hell broke loose.
The thing started making a noise like a small block Chevy makes when it needs a LOT of shimming on the starter
motor (yeah, THAT noise) anytime the clutch was engaged. It would quit in 1st or 2nd with the clutch in; in 3rd,
it didn't matter if it was in or out. Pure death squeal.

I managed to get it back to the shop and up in the air it went again. Rechecked everything.
Finally, I got up in the car while the shop owner (who has rebuilt a bunch of transmissions in his time) traced the source
from below the car while I made it do it.
He said "transmission, 3-4 part."
I called Jamie Passon on the spot...

Jamie asks to hear the noise over the phone and says "catastrophic failure", whatever the hell that means.
We talked about the reverse detent retainer bolt (which was not tightened when the unit arrived, so we tightened it)
and he sounded 1)pissed off and 2)dubious of what I was telling him despite his hearing it with his own ears.
Said he'd send another one out "this week probably" and made sure to say "but if the next one does the same thing,
Ed, that's on you."
Yeah, no **** Sherlock....

Results of the day were a nice ride back home on a rollback with a now crippled car ($$$), payment due to the shop
for their work this time (and next time if we do this when the next one arrives) and apparently I even have to pay freight
to get the warranty unit back to Jamie.

I'm exhausted, frozen and on the verge of packing it in.....

Wow, total bummer. I'm surprised at the return freight on the warrantee unit. I would discuss that with Jamie AFTER you get the second unit and it works ok. Bring up your costs incurred. It's only fair that he eats some of it since it was his defective unit that caused it all.

Don't give up yet !!!

 

[Fran Blacker]

MAJOR bummer.

 

[khryslerkid]

That Sucks like a Hoover!

Let's go with "Threes a Charm"

 

[moparedtn]

Did you ever get the feeling you weren't meant to have something?

 

[threewood]

That is terrible to hear!!!! Did you think of pulling the original trans down to have a look see at what might be part of the original problem? Did the shop put the old one back in or was it left out?

Passion should stand by their product and pay back freight. I know of no reason for the new trans to crap out so early other than a defect of some sort. All linkages and clutch adjustment double checked before the drive?

 

[threewood]

Did you ever get the feeling you weren't meant to have something?

Hang in there Ed, you guys will figure it out.

 

[PP1RT]

Karma. Shoulda stuck with Brewers or had someone local check out your old one.

 

[moparedtn]

That is terrible to hear!!!! Did you think of pulling the original trans down to have a look see at what might be part of the original problem? Did the shop put the old one back in or was it left out?

Passion should stand by their product and pay back freight. I know of no reason for the new trans to crap out so early other than a defect of some sort. All linkages and clutch adjustment double checked before the drive?

We made the comparison between the two as I described above. It's still in the crate the "new" one was shipped in.
When I described what the old one was doing, the mechanic walked over to a back bench and pulled out another transmission that was disassembled, then pointed at the rear main bearing on the main shaft of it and said "that's what's wrong with your old one. You know we can rebuild that, right?"
No, I had no idea.... a little late for that now, too.

As far as to why the new one crapped out, all the mechanic could guess was that a snap ring or synchro wasn't seated right or some such. Without taking it apart, he could only guess - but he was adamant that the 3-4 area of the transmission was the culprit and nothing else.

I don't have much idea what Jamie is going to do (as usual) other than he said he was going to send me another one and that I was lucky he didn't make me return the first defective one first.
I'm trying hard to like the guy, I really am but that attitude....I realize I'm not Mark Worman, but damn man, I sank a chunk of cash into this.
Now I'll have two tow bills plus the mechanic twice.

I've chosen poorly, it appears.

 

[moparedtn]

Karma. Shoulda stuck with Brewers or had someone local check out your old one.

At the risk of stating the obvious....your comment is of absolutely zero help at this point.
Brewer's waiting list would have been another month, easy - and there isn't anyone "local" out here in the middle of nowhere.
This guy was a surprise, really - in all honesty, I chose him because he's very close and has a lift, of which I did some of the work myself.
I like him.

 

[PP1RT]

At the risk of stating the obvious....your comment is of absolutely zero help at this point.
Brewer's waiting list would have been another month, easy - and there isn't anyone "local" out here in the middle of nowhere.
This guy was a surprise, really - in all honesty, I chose him because he's very close and has a lift, of which I did some of the work myself.
I like him.

Wasnt trying to sound like a butt head. I do know these transmissions are nothing exotic and relatively easy to work on. A tear down and inspection would have been easy. I am sorry you are having trouble with Passon but this is not the first story i have heard. Good luck.

 

[khryslerkid]

Sounds like the guy that did your work today is an all right guy. That's not always easy to find now days.

Gotta look at the positives Ed. And I know you know how to do that. Just think if this trans would have sounded alright and then let go a couple of months later.

It still doesn't excuse the fact that something as simple as a four speed trans wouldn't have been assembled properly. It's not a complicated part to assemble and to check your work as you go and when you finished. I still don't get it.

Hang in there Brother!

 

[eldubb440]

this really sucks, but you have proven to be the king of patience and perseverance......... everyone here is rooting for you

 

[threewood]

He said you were lucky he wasn't making you send the defective one back first?!!! Customer service goes a long way with me and I would send it back for a full refund, tell him to stuff his attitude and have your local guy rebuild the old one. I would be done with Passion. But that's just me.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

I am scared to have a shop like Brewers or Passon rebuild an engine or tranny, or differential. It takes more than just being able to take it apart and put it together. It takes someone who knows how- and uses tools that measure exact tolerances. My thought is ..what if I get the new guy, or the least knowledgeable in the shop? I think I would find the cause of the original problem , or if it is in your other tranny you took out. That might tell you what the problem now is with the Passon tranny. If it his fault, he should refund your money and at least shipping one way...........MO.......

 

[moparedtn]

Wasnt trying to sound like a butt head. I do know these transmissions are nothing exotic and relatively easy to work on. A tear down and inspection would have been easy. I am sorry you are having trouble with Passon but this is not the first story i have heard. Good luck.

I appreciate that. This is the first I've heard of someone saying anything other than positive things about Passon, though. Tons of recommendations, some folks saying "either place is great" and the like as well.
It's obvious now I should have trusted my instincts the moment it became clear Passon was going to be troublesome regarding communications and such and bailed on the deal up front instead of listening to the reassuring "he's like that, but a great company, you'll be fine" sort of stuff.
Something told me it wasn't just a quirky personality involved and I didn't listen.
A bad decision; I will be better able to join in on stating opinions on the subject in the future for sure.

 

[NJRR]

He said you were lucky he wasn't making you send the defective one back first?!!! Customer service goes a long way with me and I would send it back for a full refund, tell him to stuff his attitude and have your local guy rebuild the old one. I would be done with Passion. But that's just me.

I'm in agreement with threewood. If your local guy can rebuild your old one, you might be better going that route. I feel bad that I recommended Jamie, but my experience with him was excellent, and that's what I went by. If he's smart, he'll stand behind his product and make good by you. They say 100's of good recommendations from customers can be wiped out by one bad one. We're a small community and word travels.

 

[moparedtn]

I'm in agreement with threewood. If your local guy can rebuild your old one, you might be better going that route. I feel bad that I recommended Jamie, but my experience with him was excellent, and that's what I went by. If he's smart, he'll stand behind his product and make good by you. They say 100's of good recommendations from customers can be wiped out by one bad one. We're a small community and word travels.

That's very true and I'm sure he realizes that - I hope.

 

[rlem1977]

That's very true and I'm sure he realizes that - I hope.
Of course, a company that prides itself on being THE supplier to TV shows and has a several week backlog might be thinking they have enough customers, too.
Might not be so concerned about one little ol' nobody in TN.
Might send them one of their "lesser" units as a result - and even be borderline condescending/rude to them on the phone when trouble arises.

Passon has a captive audience in the Mopar crowd. He's invested his time and money in a niche market, Chrysler 4-speeds. He developed and manufactures his own gear sets for the 5-speed conversion (which you could have bought and had your mechanic upgrade your stock trans). However, Passon is still a small player in the performance world. He probably builds transmissions to order, so he doesn't have inventory sitting around, that may be why he has a long lead time. His freight bill of $200 is way too high for a frequent shipper, so you know he isn't getting any shipping cost break. His attitude as you have described is of someone who can't afford to eat mistakes, or afford to pay for return shipping. So when quality control missed the errors in your trans, Passon's anger is directed toward you because he maybe can't afford to eat the mistake. Or, I could be all wrong on the above and the guy is just an asshole. Either way, there should be an expectation of politeness and courtesy, as well as a commitment to ensure a defect-free product from the companies and people we choose to do business with. Sounds like you received neither. Sad.

 

[moparedtn]

Update 4/17/18:
Having failed to get him by phone this morning, I decided to try via text.
I informed him that I had decided to crate his transmission up as it had come and to return it; I further explained that I wanted to simply get a refund.
I figured he'd not be pleased about that, but he instead replied that this was acceptable to him.
I then asked that I get a "will call" prepaid shipping label, which he also readily agreed to.

I had already contacted the mechanic earlier in the morning and asked if he wanted to give my old transmission a whirl at fixing, which he readily agreed to and stated he would bring his own "expert" in on the process as well - but there would be no charge or estimate until they got mine apart and diagnosed.
Works for me.

Somewhat surprised, I told Jamie what the plan was with my old transmission and that I'd just like to go that route, rather than risk the shipment of yet another unit from him.
I mentioned my out of pocket losses of yesterday for towing and the mechanics' time; I told him the new plan was that once my old transmission had been repaired, we would tow the GTX back to the mechanic, where we'd remove the Passon unit from the car and put it back in the crate, then install my old one in the car, hopefully ending up with my car back as whole and the Passon unit ready for shipping.
He replied that he was fine with a simple return and that I'd be receiving a FULL refund of everything I had paid him; he asked that I let him know when the
unit was ready to ship, when he would email me the shipping stuff to get ready for UPS to come get it.
I was quite relieved to read that message, received while I sat in the waiting room of the endocrinology department of the major hospital in the area - as you might have surmised, the next episode of "Ed's body is failing" is currently in progress, but I digress....

I replied something like "atta boy, Jamie, there ya go" and he said that this had been the plan all along.
I replied that I understood that stuff happens and that I know he's busy as hell, but that the previous days' interaction had left me non-plussed to say the least.
I offered that he might want to get some help and he replied that he'd work on that and was sorry things didn't work out.
I am too, honestly.

Bottom line as of now:
1. My old transmission is already in the hands of the mechanic, who will contact me when they figure out what's up with it.
2. Jamie Passon stood up and is doing the right thing here.
What a difference a day makes, eh? Yes, I'm very relieved and content for the moment, especially in light of the news I got at the docs'.

It's always good to get a little bit of ones' faith in humanity restored and Jamie did so for me today.

 

[khryslerkid]

Damn Ed, when it rains it pours. Here's praying for both outcomes to be positive. Glad Jamie came through for you.