Jetta vs Manhole

[RS1.8T]

Well I install my new springs on Saturday (I'll post pics when I get transfered), and it went pretty well. Had every installed and cleaned up in less than 2 hours. Took it out for a test drive and everything was great. A few high-speed corners etc. I was very impressed with the ride and handling, a little bouncy but not much more than stock.

So I go and pick up the wife on the way home, and decide to stop at the New Superstore behind the Silvercity, as I'm going through the intersection I see the car ahead of me bounce and sparks fly out from underneath, turns out that the manhole is a little higher then normal and there’s a little dip in front of it and I'm about a car length behind him, so I turn to avoid it and BAM, I catch it right under the drivers side. About an inch more and the tire would have caught it. Instead the tranny catches it. I pull over and check to see what the damage is, I take a couple of mins and nothing seems broken, so I head home. Pull into the driveway, get out and there this trail of fluid own the street and onto the driveway.

So I get a pan to catch it so I can see what it is... Transmission Fluid. Sunday morning I jack it up and take the protective plate off, wipe the tranny down and find a hairline crack in the case. Knowing that I'll have to take a second mortgage, I call vw to see how much this is going to cost; the parts guy says $10500 for the tranny (5 speed auto, tip) with a core then labor on top. I was like WTF that’s 1/3 the price I paid for the car! If the cores not need then $6956. Plus they don't stock 2004 parts so it would have to be shipped from Germany.

I have already called the city, contractor etc. to make a claim (no signs, but the area has been under construction for a little while).

I know the internals are fine it just the case cracked, isn't there a way that they could just rebuild it into a new case? Or get a rebuilt? Or should I go somewhere else. I just don't want to void my warranty.

Sorry for the long post.

[Kor]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

Plus they don't stock 2004 parts so it would have to be shipped from Germany.

I have already called the city, contractor etc. to make a claim (no signs, but the area has been under construction for a little while).

I know the internals are fine it just the case cracked, isn't there a way that they could just rebuild it into a new case? Or get a rebuilt? Or should I go somewhere else. I just don't want to void my warranty.

If you are getting a whole new transmission, just get the 6 speed. Make a post on VWVortex and someone will be able to get you one for less.

Next, you can probably try somewhere else. Many people in town say Marc at Alpine Autowerks is a german car genius, I have not yet met him but you might want to talk to him?

[Tuna]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

If you are getting a whole new transmission, just get the 6 speed. Make a post on VWVortex and someone will be able to get you one for less.

Next, you can probably try somewhere else. Many people in town say Marc at Alpine Autowerks is a german car genius, I have not yet met him but you might want to talk to him?

only issue with the 6-speed is he has an auto right now so adding a third pedal and whatnot would be a big job.

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Man there is a lot of people trying to get money out of the city on here this year.

[Billip]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

Very sorry to hear about that. I had a run-in with construction earlier this year which blew out my tire. Unfortunately, the City and their contractors seem dead set against paying anybody any claim of damage against them caused by their construction work.

I won't even get started on it all because I'll just get mad.

[gaffer]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

If there is just a hairline crack in the case that is causing the fluid leak could it be welded once it has been removed? Someone may be able to run a bead of material along the crack to seal it up. Would likely be cheaper than a new tranny of it works.

Sorry to hear about that.

Andrew

[Tuna]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

If there is just a hairline crack in the case that is causing the fluid leak could it be welded once it has been removed? Someone may be able to run a bead of material along the crack to seal it up. Would likely be cheaper than a new tranny of it works.

Sorry to hear about that.

Andrew

Not a bad idea, I would consider looking into that.

[Kor]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

Or get a rebuilt? Or should I go somewhere else. I just don't want to void my warranty.

As vortexers often mention, you can't really have an entire warranty voided. This is to prevent dealerships and manufacturers from abusing their customers by voiding the warranty for every little thing.

I would say that in this case, the worst that could happen if you fixed the problem yourself is that VW would not warranty any future work on the transmission if they judged it to be caused by or related to the previous damage or repair.

This is probably worth sacrificing if you are talking about saving thousands and thousands of dollars. You will still maintain the rest of your warranty on the whole car for the full term, and other problems would be covered.

You may be able to get your insurance to pay for this repair, it is not much different than say hitting a lamp post while driving. Collision with a stationary object during normal driving. You would have to pay the deductable etc but they would have it done right - the full $10,000 repair or whatever.

[RS1.8T]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

If there is just a hairline crack in the case that is causing the fluid leak could it be welded once it has been removed? Someone may be able to run a bead of material along the crack to seal it up. Would likely be cheaper than a new tranny of it works.

Sorry to hear about that.

Andrew

I talked to someone in the service dept at Northland and he suggested to call a transmission shop and have them look at it instead of bringing it in. Since the cases are made of aluminum, they could probably seal it with a weld, or replace that section of the case (3 piece cases). I checked into the swapping it for a 6 speed if I had to replace it, but they said with my engine/tranny code it wouldn't be possible, but I think I'll look into it a little further if a replacement is necessary.

[Mr. Burns]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

You can definitely mate a 6 speed tranny to a 1.8t there is no question about that.

[R_Ethug]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

nah do a new 7spd smg bmw tranny

[Cedrick]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

Man that totally blows!

Do you think the city will dish out the cash for the screw up? or do you think they'll pin it on ya for having your car low?

[Flanders]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

whoah. That's horrible!!

I say give a lawyer a shout -- my buddy here in ottawa had a slammed CRX. The thing had seriously no more than 5cm clearance. Anyhoo, the road construction guys were redoing the asphalt on the roads in the city, and they left a good 5cm lip right accross the road. After a loud THUNK he discovered that this lip pretty much ripped his front-end suspension apart.

After calling a lawyer for some advice, the city ended up paying for replacement parts and labour to install it.

[B5]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

Quick fixes do less harm to your wallet but it may not last for the lengthy ownership for your new car. I think with prove of pictures on the object on the road, it is not hard to get the insurance to pay for the repairing.

In an automatic transmission it uses hydraulic pumps in order to change gears, it contains pressure inside. Will it leak if you do the quick fix? No one knows. A quick fix is only good for temporary and not secure plus sleepless nights. Don’t let the people talk big to you over the parts counter and there is always a solution. I do know transmission do take a while for them to order in. Talk to the manager that you are not willing to wait that long until the car is driveable and see if it is possible to swap one in from a new car. They are more happy and will act faster if you can tell them who is going to pay for(shhhhh… insurance).

Best wishes,


With a budget for a Ferrari and drive a VW I’ll swap anything in. Hmmm… two reverse gears is fun.

[Kor]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

Since the cases are made of aluminum, they could probably seal it with a weld, or replace that section of the case (3 piece cases).

A weld is stronger than the material around it. The question is not whether it would hold but rather if you trust who is doing it.

[NeonGTI]

Re: Jetta vs Manhole

If you do decide to get it fixed then sell the car immediately after the repair. I wouldn't trust the patch job myself, and I certainly wouldn't wanna be on the hook for future issues.

My ex-wife being the fine driver she is did something similar down near the Colliseum when it was under construction. She wasn't watching and nailed an ungraded egress in my 00 Passat wagon and ripped the oil pan off.

Then..

She drove it home thinking all the way 'that clanking sound doesn't sound right'.

It was the crank hitting the pan.