Torque Bind, Repair Options, VC Failure Mode

[edrach]

It was a phone estimate so maybe the the labor estimate would have dropped to 4-5 hrs. if I took the car in. I wasn't willing to take a chance. I knew my independent mechanic was busy and I couldn't wait for him to get to it.

I had about 10 hours involved; taking my time to make sure it didn't break something else while doing the repair, I have been known to do that on more than one occasion.

Besides the satisfaction of doing it myself, I now have some extra car money for the next items. At 65k I have covered all the recommended maintenance for the 60k checkup except for brake fluid and coolant change.

 

The sticky point was pulling off the rear cover, I tapped and pulled to get it moving off the dowels, once I had a gap, I worked my way around with a thin paint scraper to avoid gouging the sealing surfaces.

I had an old transmission that I was planning on having rebuilt so I pulled off the rear housing and had some idea of what was involved. Opted to have my mechanic do the work and was glad I didn't have the responsibility of screwing it up myself.