R154 gearbox rebuild gone wrong

[Cressida91GLX]

toyota! they will cost you a leg and an arm. First look at the box if it is rooted beyond repair better to get the labour charges back from mechanic and buy a second hand box!

[Esselte]

I don't think i'll get the labour money back, the mechanic will tell me to just keep waiting for the guy.
The box definently isn't rooted beyond repair, but im not sure what's wrong with it. There are some slight gold metal filings in the extension housing part of the box, so maybe something causing probs with a syncro, or who knows. It's definently not totally rooted though.
I have to buy a spigot bearing now, told to by the guy who recommended the gearbox builder. He wont even give me the builders contact number, can't believe i'm in this position but i am. He wont give me the guys work number coz he works with him and if i call him and try and organize a time for an inspection or whatever then he could get fired for giving out internal work numbers. I'm basically an idiot for trusting people i clearly shouldn't have.

[bk_]

that really sucks to be in your situation. Surprised you can't even contact the guy - you managed to give your box to him (or the workshop), pay, but cannot talk to him?!?

Synchros are for sure affected in some nasty way. When I ran my gearbox dry and asked for advice from a car store (heh), I was asked to see if there's any gold dust/particles once pulled apart. Thankfully there was none at all, even though I drove it for 1000 km near bone-dry. So it had to be pretty bad job to install the synchros incorrectly.

How many, and which synchros, are affected... who knows until someone takes it apart.

You have to get _all_ the labour money back, minus (unaffected?) parts. It is not your fault in any way from the looks of it now...

Off-topic'ish: That's what happened to me (wrt refund) when I had the TV dodgily fixed 5 years back. But he knew he did a dodgy job and shat himself big time once I found out, and refunded everything minus parts which was useless anyway. Don't play along and think you won't get anything back - something was seriously done wrong and it's the rebuilder's fault.

-BK.

[Esselte]

spoke to the mechanic about 20 mins ago, he asked me to stop harassing the guy who recommended the builder. I've hardly harassed him, i've called him to organize an inspection only, and to try and get these guys contact details. The mechanic even said it's against the law to give his number out it's a breech of privacy law. What the hell? I mean i employed this guy to do a job...And yes that's what i can't belive myself, that they wont even allow me to contact him. The mechanic who recommended him thinks he can rebuild the box now, him and the guy who recommended the builder.
The mechanic thinks it could still be something that just went wrong and not the builders fault; a bit of dirt got into another bearing, so i have to buy a few bearings now, spiggot for one, and another 2, i'll post what they are exactly when i find out.
The whole thing is a total joke and i'm likely going to just bring it to another workshop and have the box built at my full cost and i can't see this guy coughing up the labour money for the build.

[river]

Hi,

Why don't you go to Consumer Affairs? If they botched the job then they have to fix it. If anything CA will tell you what your rights are and what you can do. It will at least give you a better insight of what action you can pursue, if any.

seeyuzz
river

[allencr]

a bit of dirt got into another bearing

A "rebuilt" gearbox DOES NOT have dirt in it!!!!!!

mechanic who recommended him thinks he can rebuild the box now, him and the guy who recommended the builder.

Maybe they can learn from their mistakes, and maybe pigs can fly, but they might not even be honest with themselves & smart enough to figure out how they F'd it up, let alone be honest with you about this.

[StuC]

Dude, you're being played here so much its not funny. Id go straight to CA and explain your situation. They wont let you talk to the guy that built the job? He says you're harassing? they will do it again at your cost and you must supply parts which were already replaced? They're having you oin and you're going with it. Go seek legal advice/action as this shouldnt be happening. Its dodgy fucks like this which give good mechanics bad names

[Esselte]

The thing is the mechanic is a friend (or so i thought), and i don't really know what to believe. The other thing is i don't have a receipt yet for the job, and the mechanic gave the gearbox to this other guy and the i don't think it was done in a workshop. The builder supposedly works for toyota rebuilding gearboxes; and the guy who recommended him works for Toyota but in the industrial section. Either way i don't really have a leg to stand on. Now i don't know whether to believe the mech and the guy who recommended the builder are able to fix the box or not. The mechanic is saying he'll take responsibility and fix it.
I really don't feel like i have any legal leverage here. It's what i get for trusting people. I think my only option is to get it built somewhere else dependable and try and get some money back from the original builder, but i'm being barred from him by this mech and the dude who recommended him.

[Cressida91GLX]

In this situation I don't think you have any legal stance. It is just a backyard job done by your friend as a favour to you.
Now what you can at least do is trust them again and let them finsh the mess they have created. Oh well important lesson * mechanic friends can't be trusted * j/k
G/l mate receipt is your friend in any thing you get done for more than $100.

[Esselte]

Yep, that's right. It's my own fault and now i have to wear the costs of it. The fact that they're barring and protecting the dude who did the bodgy job is just a slap in the face though.
Another thing worth noting is that the mech and dude who recommended builder have now pulled the box apart, and found a couple of stuffed bearings already, and he suggested (as an alternative to dust) that the builder maybe didn't set the right tension.
It's totally shaken my trust in people you think might be friends. Don't do favours for ppl and don't accept them either, not when there is a tricky job involved. I'm usually pretty careful too just thought i could trust this guy.

[StuC]

yeah, not enough tension(preload) will basically let things move back and forth which shouldnt and cause extra wear much sooner. Son he did fuck it up and he should then rebuild it again - but properly. Great mate you have there. if i were you, as soon as the box is back in your hands and working properly, id lose him straight away. Hope it all turns out for ya

[Esselte]

Yeah it's a tough situation and i'm trying to decide whether to just bring it to a gearbox building place and get as much back from the builder as possible (maye nothing) or let the mechanic (he is competent and a very good mechanic but he has no experience building gearboxes) build it. I have supplied them with the JZA70 R154 build manual which details how to dissasemble and reassemble the R154, but if you no expeirnece i'm not sure whether it's something you really need experience with.
It's a shame for it to affect the friendship too, but it has, the mechanic seems pissed off at me for the situation, and has told me to stop harassing the guy who recommended the builder (all i've done is called him on the night the builder was supposed to inspect the box), i've barely contacted him. It's bizarre. I can't even contact the guy who built it and the people who gave my box to him seem pissed off at me for asking for him number. Even said it'd be a breech of privacy law to give out his number, wtf?! I think it's mainly because the guy who recommended him works with him so he doesn't want me ringing and abusing the guy becuase he can get fired for it or whatever, which is fair enough, i wasn't really planning on doing that anyway. But they're just barring me and want to sort it out themselves, it's been a month already since the box starting grinding in the car.

[StuC]

id kcik the crap outta your "mate", get him to give you the number of the guy who actually rebuilt it, go around and have a nice friendly chat to him. i do mean friendly. you dont want touble, or to get him in trouble. you just want your box rebuilt properly and you dont want nor should you have to spend any more money on it. Its all on them. if they cant rebuild a gearbox with a manual then they shouldnt be doing it. Its not actually that hard to do - the hardest thing is measuring shims and bearings. and who cant use calipers? anyway, id be having a serious chat to your mate and letting him know how dissapointed you are in all of this. Good luck buddy, but i do think someone really does need and arse kicking

[allencr]

he is competent and a very good mechanic but he has no experience building gearboxes)

First, there's no such thing as being a good mechanic with no transmission experience.
Second, there is no excuse for anyone with any range of experience to claim they've 'rebuilt' a transmission, and then claim that it had dirt left in it, a bad bearing was missed/not replaced, a syncro must have broke, didn't set the right tension, etc...etc... on & on!!!!

[Esselte]

Yeah i don't really know what to do. I don't think there's much point fighting though. I know the mechanic has plenty of experience with transmissions, and pretty much every part of a car, but he's not experienced rebuilding them. I don't know if he'll be doing much of the labour anyway it'll prob be the other guy, who works with the supposed gearbox builder who fubared it. I hope they can manage it. I think i'll just sell the car with a fubared box for cheap, don't think i'll be able to finish it at this rate. With the mechanic giving me shit for "harassing" him as is, then it's obviously a pretty difficult situation, prob take ages to sort it out. I'm fucked trying to move out without a car, lucky i have some genuine friends who are going to lend me a car for a while and help me with stuff.