BMW 530e Plug-in Hybrid
A while back, I compared a 2005 BMW 325 2.5 liter to the updated 2011 model and guess what? The newer one was harder to service. So the questions I ask working techs include: Do the automotive designers look at the ease of service when designing a new car? And are they getting better or worse to work on?
Multiple Causes for P0562
A customer brought in a 2010 Dodge Journey AWD with the high-output 3.5-liter V6 engine and the 62TE automatic transmission. With a little more than 83,000 miles on the odometer, the complaint was for no upshifts and stuck in 3rd-gear failsafe mode. This concern had started out as an intermittent issue but now had become more regular.
October 2018 Issue
In This Issue
Ford 4F27E: No reverse
TF81SC: Slips in reverse & TCC chatter
Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep RE series units – PO868: Governor pressure sensor volts to high
Dodge medium-duty trucks: TCC cycling on and off
Leading by Example
One of my first lessons upon going into business for myself was that if I wanted employees to follow and respect me I had to show them that I was the real thing, that I was someone who knew what I was doing and one who would keep my word to them no matter what. That wasn’t always easy to do; first because in the beginning I wasn’t the real thing. I had never worked on a transmission till I opened the shop, and I had never been in a business in which I had any employees who answered to me or for whom I was responsible.
An Inflated Story about Erratic Shifting
After a wide-open throttle forced downshift and then coming to a stop, the vehicle would take off in third or fourth gear. A scan tool confirmed that the wrong gear starts were commanded by the TCM. The transmission would upshift from third or fourth gear to fifth and sixth gears.
The P0763 Headache
A call came in to ATSG’s technical help line concerning a 2009 Kia Borrego with a 3.8L engine using a 5-speed RWD transmission called the A5SR2. This transmission is very similar to the Subaru 5AT transmission, a derivative of Nissan’s RE5R05A transmission. Mounted on top of the valve body are the solenoids, a sub-ROM and pressure switch frame assembly.
Advanced Car Care Center, Strafford, Mo.
Chip Broemmer’s career educating the next generation of technicians has been sandwiched between two hitches in automotive repair, a long early span with Toyota and a recent venture, Advanced Car Care Center in Strafford, Mo.
Another Day at the Orifice
Modifying orifice size in valve body separator plates has been practiced as long as automatic transmissions have been in existence. From performance upgrades to attempting to fix problems caused by valve-body wear, opening up orifices can provide positive effects – but can just as easily cause unforeseen problems. To avoid unwanted results, it is necessary to know when to drill, what size to drill to and when not to drill.
The Karma Effect
The world is sometimes a competitive, cut-throat place. How can kindness win out? Should we quietly do good? Do we praise those who do? What about those who don’t?
Revisiting two excellent companies: Owner Must Solve Problems, Be Nice
Except maybe for me, I don’t know of anybody who enjoys bringing a car into a shop for repairs or services. I think I like it because it gives me a chance to evaluate the shop from a customer’s point of view instead of that of a consultant’s. I get to see first-hand how customers are being treated, how the facility stacks up against others, how well the problems are diagnosed and the repairs completed, and whether or not I get that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from believing that these people actually care and appreciate my business.
CVTs Are Here; You Can Profit from Them
As CVT transmissions are appearing in our shops with increasing frequency, there still seems to be a degree of hesitance for some shops to take on these jobs. Even if shops do not want to build these units in-house, there are reliable sources for remanufactured units out there that enable them to capture profit on R&R rather than sending a customer down the road to a competitor.
American Transmission Centers, Virginia Beach area
American Transmission Centers, a company with four transmission shops, capitalizes on the big metro area of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and other cities where more than 1.5 million people live.
