How do you service a transmission for a 1988 Ford LTD crown victoria?
how do you change the oil of the transmission and the filter…the transmission has trouble changing gears and it won’t go into the top gear i think it needs the oil changed in the transmission.
first get a transmission service kit. kit consists of 1- transmission pan gasket 2- tansmission filter. 5 to 6 quarts dextron3, 4, or 5 (all 3 will work) transmission fluid. NOTE: MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE ON HAND A transmission FLUID FUNNEL (VERY IMPORTANT) raise vehicle. have a sutible sized fluid drain pan. (a suitable drain pan will be one that will hold at least 1 1/2 gal of fluid, be shallow enough to fit under vehicle, and to excede in size the shape of the transmission pan) place jack stands under your vehicle. remove transmission pan bolts. what i do is take out all of the bolts except 3 or 4 (one in each corner of the pan as to not bend the pan in any way when removing fluid) as you loosten the remaining 3 or 4 bolts fluid will start to ease its way out through the pan and transmission. this is normal and is necessary to drain the fluid. (NOTE: SOMETIMES PAN HAS BEEN GLUED INTO PLACE. YOU MIGHT NEED A PUTTY KNIFE OR SOMETHING SIMILAR TO SEPERATE THE PAN FROM THE TRANNY) ONCE PAN IS REMOVED U’LL SEE TYHE FILTER ATTATCHED TO THE TRANNY FROM UNDER THE TRANSMISSION. THERE SHOULD BE TWO BOLTS HOLDING THIS IN PLACE, OR SOMETIMES THERE PRESSED INTO PLACE. IF PRESSED, REMOVE THE STABELIZER BRACKET BOLT AND TWIST THE FILTER BACK AND FORTH , PULLING AT THE SAME TIME UNTIL FILTER IS OFF.) the next step is most important. remove old filter from pan and underside of tramsmission. you want that pan to look brand new. never install new gasket to a pan that has pieces of the old gasket still attatched to the pan or trann. they will leak everytime! the best way to remove this old gasket is to use a wire hand brush or wire wheel. degrease the pan as to not have any contaminents going back into ur transmission. install in reverse.
Is it rude to question a car repair estimate?
When a car repair shop calls and gives me an estimate to fix my car, is it rude to question the charges, e.g. "Gee, you want HOW MUCH for that part?, I can get it for much less at the local auto parts store".
Does that just piss them off, and affect the quality of work?
Yes, you can almost always get a part from the local parts store than I’ll charge you for it, but… Ask yourself this. What exactly is the warranty that the parts store will give me, and will they pay for the labor to replace it if it’s defective? When I give my customers a 15 month/15,000 mile no hassle warranty on all parts and labor it means just that, parts and labor. Something else you need to keep in mind is that time is money, and it takes time to locate and procure parts. Some take a lot of time.
I’ll be happy to install your parts that you carry in, but if they crap before you get out the parking lot, well, I hope saving a few dollars on the parts will be enough to pay for me (or someone else) to remove the defective item so you can go get your warranty at the parts store. Oh yeah, and don’t forget about re-installing it too.
Allow me to give you a couple of examples. In the recent past I had a customer that needed a repair based around a difficult to find, used main wiring harness. He though my price of $250 for the part was outrageous because he found it online for only $175. To save $75 he drove 200+ miles round trip. If he was getting paid minimum wage for his time, that was worth $30 so now he’s only saved $45. Now subtract the price of gas and his savings is down to about $20. Now when he pulls into my shop and he has the wrong part that is non-returnable, how much has he saved? You know the answer and so did he. This time he let me supply the harness.
I also in the last year or so replaced a water pump and timing belt on an ’05 Amanti. It’s a fairly involved job. The customer told me her husband could get a water pump cheaper than I wanted. He saved about $20 (on a several hundred dollar job) by having me install his remanufactured pump as opposed to my new pump. A few days after picking up her car, she walked out to drive home and there was a huge puddle of coolant under it. The remanufactured pump was leaking. It cost them an additional 4.5 hours labor to save $20. Good job.
I know this isn’t the answer you want to hear, but these two occasions illustrate my point, and I hope it helps you to see the error of your ways. Most independent repair shops are already selling you parts and labor as cheaply as they can and still stay in business. Most of us just want to do you a professional job at a price that still lets us feed our family.
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me. Have a nice day.
Would a Semi-Auto Transmission be good for a first car?
I want to be able to drive a manual transmission, but if i am not able to learn, I am afraid I will be stuck with a car I don’t know how to drive. Are semi-auto cars cheap enough to afford as a first car and common enough to be found easily?
yeah they are…i actually have a semi-auto now (paddle shifters) BUT if you do want to get a stick eventually i strongly suggest you get one as your first car…trust me there is no such thing as not learning especially when you have this car staring you down all the time yelling at you to learn it quicker so you can drive it lol
My first car was stick and i learned how to drive it w/in 1 week you can lean stick no matter how old or how experiences you are at driving it’s EASY not like how everyone else makes it sound
25 Years as an auto service manager, where can I find a Job?
Willing to relocate, I can run a body shop, run a brake and muffler shop,,, or be a service adviser in a dealership
In Maine, at least there is PLENTY of jobs available. In fact my shop needs one now!
Around the New England area, VIP is the biggest parts tires and service chain around. There are 50 stores, and most of them have Service Managers with MUCH less experience.
As for the other parts of the country… i don’t really know.
How can I get more business in to my auto repair shop?
My auto repair business is slow and has been for some time now, we have a good reputation and do high quality work. Unfortunately a lot of my good clients have either died or have moved to far away.
Now we are struggling with money so we don’t have a lot to spend on advertising.
Any ideas on getting new business in the front door without spending a lot, we can usually keep them if we can get them in.
the best thing to do is to give people a GOOD PRICE.
for example, to replace a transmission, instead of charging 1,100 Dollars, charge them 600. A person would be very satisfied and he/she would later recommend you to your friends.
That’s how I started. I keep the prices LOW and i have a bunch of customers. In the long run you earn more. =]
where can I find green leaf auto parts web address?
This is where you can order auto parts online.
here is a link hope is what you are looking for!!
www.greenleafauto.com/ – 8k -
Attention all you auto mechanics! What does it mean when my car shakes and hesitates while its idle?
I have a 2002 Ford Taurus and lately it has been feeling like it wants to just die on me when I’m at stop lights or just sitting in idle. The RPM needle is hesitating to stay away from the zero. I can feel the car slightly shaking and I keep expecting it to just totally shut down. I just wanted to get some opinions before I take it into an auto shop and get ripped off.
yeah give it a tune up and or a throttle body cleaning the idle air control valve could be sticking and throttle body cleaning should help.
Who should bail out the US Auto makers, tax payers or Oil industry?
Oil companies are the #1 ally of the Auto industry. They have a lot to loose if the auto industry goes down. Shouldn’t the oil industry be the one to bail out the auto industry and protect their interest?
If US government bails out the Auto makers and then they don’t help other industries, wouldn’t this be considered discrimination?
NO ONE should bail them out. Let the open market do its thing. The head honchos of the Big Three were able to take their private jets to Washington to ask for handouts.
how to paint fiberglass auto body parts?
need to paint the wifes 89 chevy bed the majority is fiberglass. do you use the same automotive paint and primer. any special precautions
There is no special paint, or precautions. I would use a 2K epoxy primer/sealer after sandig, the a base/clear urethane finish.
Does anyone know where I can get a auto body for a 1980 Volkswagen?
Does anyone know where I can get an auto body for a 1980 Volkswagen? The engine has been replaced. All I need is an auto body only. Thanks.
www.thesamba.com my friend…… I just saw a prestine and mint rabbit body on this site it was given away and it was immaculate….. They have numerous other ones for sale as well under 500$…..
Good luck I’d definately check that site out
Thanks
Kristopher