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Car Forum / Isuzu Cars / April 2005Colision impact damage to transmission?
I need some help. Quick. I have a 98 Trooper. The trans has worked just fine until I got it back from the body shop. Some guy pulled out in front of me and trashed my front end. Now, the trans seems to slip now and again. BTW, Trans fluid changed over to Mobil 1 at about 20K miles, and the filter was changed around 45K. Car has about 64K now. Details below, but my question is. Can the impact alone, at about 40 mph, damage the transmission? The Trooper's engine didn't even stall at the crash, it simply blew the front end of a silly Honda down the road. Basically, can the transmission be damaged by such a sudden impact type stop? The nature of the crash was such I had time to remove my foot from the gas, I know that, but I'm not even sure my foot had started to press the break pedal. The Trooper remained drivable. It was in the shop a few weeks for body work (most everything, windshield forward, except the lower frame rails and engine.) and I just got it back. Now it is mis-behaving and the "collision experts" (body shop) is trying to walk away. I'm about to go to the insurance company directly, but need some ammo, options, etc. One detail, on return one of the trans cooler lines was not clamped. I lost about 1 quart of fluid before I noticed (only leaked when running, so no spots in driveway). Anyway, I fixed it and topped it up. Now, the trans seems to slip under load. Not often, and by no means always, tho. Generally going up hills, or getting onto highways. Sometimes. All seems well, then when I would expect an up shift the tach starts to climb, rather than fall. If I back off on the gas, it will usually finish the shift. If I drop the lever into '3', it will usually drop into gear, but again, not always. Q1: Can the simple forces of an impact stop damage transmission internals? Q2: Are there connections that could have been screwed up at the body shop that could cause such mis-behavior? Q3: Could running a quart low for a few dozen miles cause permenant damage? Any one know? Thanks. BK I'd go to your insurance company immediately and have them open a supplemental claim. The body shop may or may not be involved. Be prepared to document the maintenance on the transmission. Front end collisions can damage just about any part of the driveline - all the way back to the rear axle. Andy >I need some help. Quick. > [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > BK Check with the body shop to see if they used the same oil that you had in it. There are sure to be compatibility issues between the Mobil 1 and regular oil. What does Isuzu say about Mobil 1 in the trans? B. Williams  SignatureI work very hard to maintain this level of ignorance! Did the body shop know how to put ATF in the transmission or did they neglect it because they couldn't find the dipstink. 1) Mobil says fluids are compatible. I'd take them at their word, seeing how their product marketing plan likely did not seek to replace hundreds or thousands of transmissions that went on to use M1. After all, NO transmission fluid change replaces 100% of the fluid in the unit. 2) Isuzu specs Dexron III. Mobil claims to be Dexron III. Isuzu makes no finer distinctions in the operations manual(s) provided with the car, nor in the Helm's shop manuals. Thus, if Mobil can demonstrate Dexron III status (I'm sure they can, in a heartbeat) - then Isuzu must live with it or run afoul of the law. If Mobil can demonstrate it meets Dexron III specifications using orange juice, Isuzu must stand behind it. bk ************************* > Check with the body shop to see if they used the same oil that you had in > it. There are sure to be compatibility issues between the Mobil 1 and > regular oil. What does Isuzu say about Mobil 1 in the trans? > > B. Williams Just to follow up... According to my dealer, whom is way too expensive but, it seems, has one of the best rebuild techs anywhere around (as I've been told by a number of mechanic friends)... 1) Impact can damage a trans, by breaking hard parts. Not likely, but possible. 2) Low fluid will destroy the lower gears, and work its way up. Not high to low. The problem got quite worse in just a couple of weeks, with minimal driving (<2 miles/day). Spent that time looking into reputations, options, waiting for insurance calls, etc. At the end 3rd gear was nearly gone, got it to the shop just in time. The dealer tech's testing confirmed a 3 and 4 gear slip (by then it didn't take a rocket scientist to know it). Rebuild or replacement required. So the test did not suggest either impact or low fluid damage - coincidence seems to be the official answer. Bummer. Thanks all. ******************* > I need some help. Quick. > > I have a 98 Trooper. The trans has worked just fine until I got it back > from the body shop. Some guy pulled out in front of me and trashed my > front end. Now, the trans seems to slip now and again. to answer your question .yes a collision can damage the transmission especially a electrnically controlled transmission which you have in your trooper <should be 4L30E gm transmission>may have damaged the wiring harness as it is routed over the passenger side fenderwell or caused breakage in the trans which has 2 plastic thrust washers that have a bad tendancy to break suggest pan drop and look for plastic chuck in pan that resembles washer. Ken ASE certified Transmission Tech ...engine and transmission control modules rebuilt dont buy a new ecm have yours repaired djmcreynolds1@bellsouth.net for info > I need some help. Quick. > [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > > BK Thanks for the info. Bottom line seems to be the body shop left a cooler line clamp loose, and the trans leaked about a quart, over time, before I caught it. Sadly, it didn't leak spots on my driveway since the leakage only happened when driving. It was the first slippage incident I noticed that set me to checking the fluid level. But, then, it was already to late. The clutch was burned. Dealer said the third and fourth gears were slipping, caused by either a broken part (none found in the eventual rebuild), dirty fluid (decidedly not the case), or low fluid (bingo). They said they normally find the clutches burn up from low to high, as a fluid issue, but had no other explanation after they tore it down. The trans went from ok to total 3rd gear slippage in a matter of weeks. Body shop says it's not going to accept the claim, and the dealer couldn't "prove" the causual event wasn't prior to the auto body work. So, I can try to sue. Might even win. But for $2900 it would not be a small claim and requisite lawyer would eat up a big chunk of that. I was screwed over, it seems, business as usual. BK ********************* > to answer your question .yes a collision can damage the transmission > especially a electrnically controlled transmission which you have in your [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > modules rebuilt dont buy a new ecm have yours repaired > djmcreynolds1@bellsouth.net for info |
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