Need help ASAP! Just paid $1400 for t5 rebuild!

[BlownStangGT]

Ok. My transmission finally went, symptoms where poping out of 1st gear when I pulled out and it wouldnt go into 3rd or 4th without griding. Took it to a place that rebuilt it before. I told them to call me when they found out what was wrong. They never called once. They were called and told to put in a white 23 tooth speedo. gear in the car as well. Today I find out the rebuild was $1400 because I broke the main input shaft. If this was broke would the car even drive? Please tell me. Also, they called a speedo place and asked for the white 23 tooth gear and they said NOT to put one in the car because they are thin and break, but every mustang with 4.10's and 3.73s has these gears in. This really pissed me off! Please I need help on what would happen if the main input shaft would break. I was going to complain tom to them, but they are closed

 

[T_5.0_N'works]

Have you actually paid them yet?

 

[Legendary]

I broke the main shaft before and the car wouldn't move without making a horrible grinding noise (you can hear it blocks away) and it would actually fight back when trying to move. $1400? I got a rebuild tranny for $300 and put it in myself.

 

[wrathchild]

I just got my tranny rebuilt with t5z internals, steel bearing retainer and a new drive gear and driven gear for speedo. The labor came to 170 with a new sensor on the tranny (not sure whcich it is but it the highest most forward one) new carbon fiber rings ( ? ) and new synchros (basically all the samll parts that arent included in the t5z kit).

I have a total of 720 or so in the complete rebuild.

 

[SmockDoiley]

Ok, they cant fix anything until you get an estimate so either you allowed them to do the work or they broke the law. Secondly, yes, you need the white gear and yes they are weak and break often. Ask you the old parts if your not sure which you should have done up front. Lastly, I hope everyone on here is reading this. NEVER PAY TO GET YOUR T-5 REBUILT!!!!!!!!!!! Its always going to cost lots, and for less or the same amount you can either buy a new stronger T-5 or even go to a Tremec. There are used working Tremecs on Ebay all the time for $750. Then spend another $150 on a bellhousing and your done. You got screwed man.

 

[BlownStangGT]

Have you actually paid them yet?

Unfortunatily my parents paid for it with me not knowing this until today They are not open until tuesday, but they said they WOULD call me to confirm what was wrong and they didnt do this

 

[Hotrodsun]

Get in touch with the BBB

 

[Legendary]

Unfortunatily my parents paid for it with me not knowing this until today They are not open until tuesday, but they said they WOULD call me to confirm what was wrong and they didnt do this

Damn! You could've had a tremec!! That didn't cross your mind??

 

[Musclecarfan88]

damn, did it hurt? the raping that is... that sucks man. id be ****ty, could have had a tremec!!

 

[88GTtom]

in virginia, if you dident tell them to fix it and they did all you have to put up is 10% of the final cost because they broke the law. get your money back if they dident tell you what they were doing and enjoy 90% off the final price (that is if you are in virginia)

 

[The Shape]

That is horrible man! a brand new T-5 from summit is only $1200. This must be a shady shop.

 

[Michael Yount]

There's some apples and oranges comparison here. If they're putting the speedo gear on the cable, they have the whole car which means they also did the tranny in and out labor. There's probably a few hours of labor for that. Also, it sounds like they completely went through the tranny. So comparing his bill to the price of used tranny isn't really a valid comparison. As for the price - without seeing an itemized listing of what they did and what they replaced - it's simply not possible to know if it's reasonable or not. Now, as to what actually needed to be done vs. what they did - that's purely a function of how much you trust the shop.

If your folks paid for it, is it possible your folks gave them permission to do the repair?

 

[The Shape]

Thats a good point. Like i said above a new t-5 is only around $1200, but that isn't including the shipping to your house. And since you had a shop do the removal and install as well as the rebuild there would be alot of labor cost added in.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Usually when the input shaft fails, they refer to the teeth that drive the counter gear shearing off. When this happens, you lose every gear except 4th gear. Now grinding into 4th could mean the dog teeth on the input shaft are worn. This would mean you need a new one since the teeth are part of the shaft

Also, if this shop knew anything about Mustang trans, they would know to swap out the 8 tooth speedo drive gear with a 7 tooth speedo drive gear and run a red 21-tooth speed gear. This is what you do to avoid running the white 23-tooth gear...which will shear a lot because the teeth are so thin. Anyone who has a 90+ T-5 apart should replace their 8 tooth with a 7 tooth automatically.

Popping out of first means bad dog teeth on the gears. Grinding is usually worn synchro blocker rings.

New 1st gear = $85
new 1-2 slider = $85
Typical T-5 rebuild kit = $200
New Input Shaft = $150

That's about $550 in parts. Toss in another $100 for markup.

That's about $750 for labor which includes pulling and installing the trans.

SOunds expensive, but that's about right.

 

[BlownStangGT]

well after looking at the bill, I gotta look at it agian....seems it was 200 to pull and install the trans. (i was at school and didnt have time to do this) $200 to overhall the trans, 30 to resurface the flywheel, (they seemed to see it fit to install a new clutch which I was never informed of until now) which was $193.83, the speedo gear was $8.00 whatever they put in (my speedo is still off) fork pad kit was 3.95, mainshaft was $420.00, bearings and seals kit 195.35, 1-2 fork was 15.57, key was 2.85, ring was 29.90, 5th synchro asy was 95.42 and syn ring was 8.66. What really gets me was they installed a new clutch without ever telling me I needed one. I know for sure that my clutch had at least half life left, they went ahead and assumed I needed a new one when I didnt. TRhat was 200 bux that I didnt need.

Also, for everyone saying that I could have gotten a world class t5 and a tremmec for that much, this is the same argument I made, if i WOULD have been told of what it was going to cost me i WOULD have gotten a wct5 and put it in myself.

But on a positive side, the trans is very solid. Only complaint is it is really notchy for some wierd reason. I am giving it and the new clutch a 1,000 mile break in of nothing over 3k rpms. So if something happens, I will not have beat on it at ALL!!!!

 

[scorp69]

my $02 cents. since you were able to to leave your car and still go to school assumes you had other transportation. meaning you could have waited til the weekend to drop the tranny and take it into the shop. you should also have told the shop(and parents) to speak with you only before any repairs were to be done, and also any others things needing replacement. also, if the shop rebuilt it once already, did it have a warranty? did you mention they already rebuilt it once and it failed. well, at least your parents paid for it.

 

[BlownStangGT]

my $02 cents. since you were able to to leave your car and still go to school assumes you had other transportation. meaning you could have waited til the weekend to drop the tranny and take it into the shop. you should also have told the shop(and parents) to speak with you only before any repairs were to be done, and also any others things needing replacement. also, if the shop rebuilt it once already, did it have a warranty? did you mention they already rebuilt it once and it failed. well, at least your parents paid for it.

they paid for it doenst mean its not coming out of my pocket......yes I could have done it a dif way, I really didnt need the car done becuase I do have a dd/beater. I should have waited and just order a tremmec. but whatever its done. Im just really irked that they did not call me to tell me they wee replacing the clutch. Can they replace that without telling me?

 

[Michael Yount]

Any competent shop SHOULD inspect the clutch/flywheel and rear main seal while they've got the tranny pulled. I'd be upset if they DIDN'T take a look at that.

$1400 for a clutch job (including pulling and resurfacing the flywheel), a completely rebuilt tranny is simply not unreasonable. You might not be able to afford it - but the shop's not out of line with their charges. Only you and your parents know if the communication that took place between the shop and you regarding what you wanted done/replaced is appropriate. If there was no communication at all about the clutch (did you specifically tell them don't replace/rebuild anything without contacting me first?) -- that does seem inappropriate to me. I believe they should have contacted someone and said - hey, the clutch appears to be close to the end of it's service life - it would be silly not to replace it while we're in here -- it'll cost MUCH more as a separate job a year from now. I'm still curious what role your parents played in that communication circle. But if you think there was no communication at all about the clutch I'd sure ask them why they saw fit to replace it without your permission. I'd also like to know how you knew the clutch had at least half it's life left - especially if you've been beating on it. Which your comments about break-in seem to allude to.

Oh - new tranny's usually feel notchy compared to well worn/broken in gears/synchros.

 

[PURESTREET5006]

You could have purchased a new trans for that much.

 

[BlownStangGT]

no one was ever contacted about the clutch, yes it was cheaper for them to throw one in while it was there, but hell, I would have paid for a king cobra clutch if they were going to throw it in. My point isnt to complain about the job that was well done, its I dont understand why I was never contacted about the cost of the entire job, if I would have know I would have pout a world class t5 and a king cobra clutch in for the same price as a stock clutch and a stock t5 rebuild