[mcraps]

While driving home from work on Friday, I noticed that my 5MT was whining and just before I got home, it jumped out of 5th gear. I pulled into a neighbor's drive and called a buddy to come over to help me check it out. Saturday afternoon we pulled it up on ramps and found that the drain plug for the transmission was gone! The car has 72,000 miles on it and the dealer serviced the transmission at 64,000 miles. I have to go out of town first thing Monday morning and will be calling the dealer from the airport in Atlanta to have it towed in. I am assuming that the tech did not torque the plug correctly and will press this issue. Am I justified in also asking for a warranty on this transmission since it was driven without fluid?

 

[Aviography]

You should most certainly try, how long ago was the service done?

The only thing against you is that it's been 8,000 miles which is probably 3 or 4 months?

BTW, it's not so much warranty but a replacement of the transmission! However you will likely get an used or rebuilt rather than a brand new one, but you won't know until you try.

 

[RTexasF]

Technically it's their baby providing they were the last ones to touch the plug. If they say "prove it was our fault" you're facing a challenge.

 

[andysinnh]

You're unlikely to get any compensation given there was 8K miles, because they'll ask you questions like "were there any leak marks underneath where you park the vehicle", and "how can we be sure that you didn't have any other service done in 8K miles?", and "Where do you get your oil changes done? Is it possible that if you used a place that checks fluids that they could have mucked with the plug?" It will really boil down to the goodwill that the dealer is willing to dish out here, and they'll likely offer to put in new fluid and a new plug. But replacing a tranny after they serviced it 8K miles ago because of a missing plug? That will be a pretty big stretch, IMHO. I hope I'm wrong, though.....:yes:

andy

 

[stevencrosbie]

Man I hope you are wrong Andy......although there is a ton of dealership speak in there.

Good luck to the OP, but that dealership should fix this as it is clearly their fault.

 

[mcraps]

I just found my receipt for the service on the tranny. Oct 12, 2007 with 64,127 miles. I've done all of the oil changes since then. Maybe I'll throw in the fact that I'm shopping for a new Pilot for the wife!

 

[andysinnh]

I just found my receipt for the service on the tranny. Oct 12, 2007 with 64,127 miles. I've done all of the oil changes since then. Maybe I'll throw in the fact that I'm shopping for a new Pilot for the wife!

You might have leverage if you actually are willing to pull the trigger on a new Pilot. :thmsup:

but I do have a question - considering you do your own oil changes just as I do - did you ever notice fluid leaking or any wet areas? for that thing to have backed all the way out, it likely was a long, "draining" (sorry for the pun) process that would have been leaving some telltale signs. Just curious (and they're likely to ask you the same question if you tell them you did your own oil changes). Good luck!!

andy

 

[Aviography]

6 months........, that's going to be tough, usually shops have a 90 days worksmanship guarantee.

 

[npolite]

Geeze that really sucks. Unless you get a lot of work done by them, be very nice and try to work with the service manager and if you get nowhere talk to the general manager. It'll be a tough case even if you get a lawyer involved. They will most definitely throw the "didn't you notice any oil leaking in your driveway" question so be prepared for it. If you have seen my other posts about my local Main Line Honda dealer in Ardmore, PA I couldn’t get the damn service advisor to give me an $8 lug and stud which they broke, so you may have a very tough time with the dealer giving you anything. I hope for the best and you get a satisfactory resolution.

 

[lpaudio2]

See if you can get the dealer to replace it. If you cant, I would add fluid drive it until it dies, then put a used one in along with a clutch. At 70k depending on your driving you may not be too far from a clutch job, so when it does die throw a used one in, and get a clutch done too. The good thing is that it should be pretty easy to find a used one cheap on car-part.com.

You could also go the lawyer route. It would be worth trying this before giving up. I would not bother suing them, but sometimes a letterhead is enough to persuade.

 

[Aviography]

Keep in mind that once the plug came loose, around 2.5 quart of transmission fluid can completely leak out rather quickly during a long trip, so you can argue with the shop that how are you suppose to know that the transmission fluid has totally, completely, utterly drained out? There won't be nothing to drip by the time you got home if this happened during a long trip.

It's not like there is a low transmission fluid level sensor and warning light in the car!