ED69ray

Mods, if this needs to be moved please do so

I have not been on the forum in a while as I have been sorting out my Camaro and the Vette is still not complete.

I just had a bad experience with Jakesperformance in Sanger TX regarding the TH350 in my '73 camaro and wanted to pass the word along.

I bought a "built" TH350 about 3 months ago from this yodel based upon feedback on the nastyZ28 board - biggest mistake I ever made.

Tranny was installed by myself and Mike Dyer (tracdogg). We spent 3 weeks trying to find a massive pressure leak on the passenger side only to discover the 1-2 shift accumulator cover had no o-ring. Very nice rebuild skills.

Finally got that sorted, put a few hundred miles on it and its leaking again. Needless to say its coming out for good now. I approached the builder about a refund - he issued me a full 1 yr parts and labor warranty - as was basically told to **** off.

When further pressured, I was given the "improper installation" BS as I reused my previous torque convertor - a convertor he personally inspected and gave the go ahead to use. That was the last straw for me.

I would avoid this shop at all cost.

Feel free to PM me or Mike if anyone would like further details.

Thanks, Ed

ajrothm

Thanks for the heads up. Jakes performance also has a good rep over at team Chevelles... $hit happens everywhere though. I had a local well known builder in Houston do a "full build" on my T400 to the tune of $1300. After 2 months it started slipping on WOT 3-2 downshifts and eventually lost reverse. I pulled it out and took it back. They fixed a broken spring in the VB and replaced a 2nd gear intermediate clutch. I put it back in and now less then 1000 miles later it will occassionally slip on 3-2 wot downshifts. And this is the "bullet proof" th400 at that..

Transmission guys are a different breed....

ED69ray

Sooner or later when you screw folks over it catches up to you.

For me it was the "your warranty is void" comment he made regarding my convertor - this is the same convertor that he personally inspected and approved for use.

His warranty and word are garbage and I am out $750.

427SIXPACK

Can you say : S M A L L - C L A I M S - C O U R T ???

ED69ray

you betcha

ED69ray

ttt

Jake's Performance

Ed purchased a TH350 several months ago. He installed the transmision in his car.

Upon install he had a leak that was caused by my mistake.
I traveled to his location to repair the leak.

Afterwards he drove the car trouble free for some time. He called my shop complaining of another leak and DEMANDING a refund.
He was offered the options of bringing the car in for us to inspect/repair the leak, me traveling to his location to inspect/repair,or we would have the car transported to the shop for repair.

This was not acceptable, he continued to demand a refund for a leak without allowing us to even inspect the leak.

He complained of having to get under the car in his garage to look for the leak on a transmission HE installed.

I've installed hundreds of TH350's and my experience has been the most common leak point is the dipstick. Installer's responsiblity.

I was willing to look at the car and repair the leak, whether it be a builder OR INSTALLER issue at no charge but without being able to even inspect the leak, a refund was not on the table.

Once Ed decided to become threatening and hostile on the phone I elected to discontinue contact with him.

The policies on my website CLEARLY state that improper installation or a used converter void any warranty.

Ed did not get the answer he wanted to hear.

VERY few other shops will come to a customer's location to make a repair no matter who's mistake it is.
Even fewer will offer to warranty a customer's installation as we WERE willing to do.

Ed,
I look forward to a day in court and the associated recovery of court costs and lost income on my part.

427SIXPACK

Keep us posted.............

ED69ray

Lets see Jake, I drove the car for a total of about 3 weeks between leaks

I only DEMANDED a refund after getting the run around from you for weeks regarding the 2nd leak. Why didn't you mention all of my unreturned calls and messages?

At that point I wanted you nowhere near my car and no way was I gonna leave it with you. I DONT TRUST YOU - plain and simple. You left a critical o-ring out of my "rebuilt" transmission and cost me both time and money. Never once did you offer to reimburse me in any way. I am very lucky I did not damage my car and consider myself very fortunate no fire was involved.

I complained of having to remove the header, exhaust, and starter multiple times to find your mistake - a mistake that would have been avoided by a true professional. If I wanted a tranny with missing parts I would have bought one off craigslist for $75.

All I wanted to do was return your tranny in the same condition I bought it in for a full refund. I have only had it for 4 months and 500 miles and it has given me nothing but grief.

I became irate when you pulled the "improper installation" BS on me regarding my convertor. Again, you fail to mention that you personally inspected my convertor and told me it was good to use.

Guess you forgot about that as well.

Then you give me the "any problem I deem is your fault due to improper installation will be charged at my $90 shop rate" BS



Bottom line is I am out $750 on a tranny that has done nothing but leak all over my garage floor and your warranty is not worth the paper its printed on.

see ya soon Jake

Grumpy 427

Right on dont let this guy rip you off, too many of these guys out there.Too many good tranny builders out there to be ripped off by this guy.

Jake's Performance

Ed,
So you are saying you lack the mechanical skills to find a leak, and that it requires removal of a starter and header to identify an accumulator cover leak?

You might try a mirror and flashlight. It helps cut down on that 3 week diagnostic time.

You can't find the current leak according to your post on NastZ28, yet you want a refund for something that is most likely an installer issue?

ANYBODY on this forum that has installed a half dozen transmissions or maybe only one can understand how ridiculous it is for you to demand a refund for a leak that you can't find, won't allow me to find and fix, on a car you did the install on.

Find me a shop that will....

I fixed the initial issue, that alone tells the average observer that it isn't a lack of willingness on my part to make my product right.
Not to mention the HUNDREDS of satisfied customers I have all around the globe.

An automatic transmission has over 400 components. I made a simple mistake on your trans that I assure you happens at ANY transmission shop. Maybe I had a forgetful moment, maybe the phone rang when I was building it, maybe I cut the o-ring and installed the cover to keep debris out of the trans and forgot to tag it. I admitted the mistake and FIXED it. Most shops would catch it when THEY install the trans.
The nature of being a performance rebuilder and building transmissions that the customer installs precludes that in my case.
We have a test car we use for some units before they ship but if I invest the labor to test a TH350 it would add over $200 to the price.

I'm sure you wouldn't have made that mistake Ed, however my confidence in your mechanical abilities is pretty low.
3 weeks to find a leak? Pulling a header and starter to find it when a can of brake clean, a light, a mirror, and some baby powder would have found it.

NOBODY in their right mind will or even can warranty something that they cannot inspect.

I am not stupid enough to give you a refund on something YOU installed, were too cheap to even put a decent converter in, and are complaining about a leak all of the sudden AFTER you recently posted that you had changed your mind and decided you wanted to go to a manual transmission.

I am not in business to buy back a transmission months later after it has been improperly installed because the customer wants to change their combo.
http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showpo...95&postcount=5

I inspected your converter to be sure you weren't installing some metal filled POS in the new trans.
I cannot visually inspect converter hub runout or diameter, build height, or internal condition.

I offered you a new mild stall converter at my cost.

Find me ANY shop in the industry that will warranty a trans with a used converter?

The converter was not the deciding factor however. Your unwillingness to allow us to even inspect the product for defect is. The converter just seals the deal.

Jake's Performance

As for phone calls and messages,
I spoke with you ONCE, regarding a leak when sitting.

I never got any other calls or messages. I do also have an email address, I believe that is how you initially contacted me. I know for sure I never received an email about an issue.
I don't personally answer calls during business hours. Tommy usually does that and takes messages, that way I can concentrate on building units instead of answering tech questions all day.

I told you to check the dipstick calibration, explained how to do that, to be sure it wasn't overfilled and venting.

The TYPICAL leak when sitting is the dipstick seals.
The converter drains back, effectively overfilling the pan, and the fluid will find any leak points.

Warm running level is even with the pan rail.
Anytime the trans sits, the level becomes higher than this and the first thing "up" is the dipstick.

The aftermarket parts often don't seal well and are almost never properly calibrated.

Paul L

I always have problems with these posts. Take them off-line and resolve them. This is not a place to pass judgement or assess blame. How can we?

Jake's Performance

I agree.
As a business owner you hope to never have to address an issue in this manner.
A "smart" shop owner would ignore the posting and let it fall off into cyberspace and be forgotten.
A conciencious one wants both sides of the story be seen.

I've been building transmissions for the public for over 7 years now and this is the first time I've ever had to deal with a completely unreasonable customer or even had anyone bad-mouth my business online to my knowledge.

In 7 yrs I have had a couple of customers who would have been well within reason to do so however they were patient, MORE than reasonable, and I went out of my way to make things right with them.

Performance transmission guys ARE a different breed.
We are building product to do something the OEM's never intended them to do, dealing with substandard aftermarket QC in many cases, spending hundreds of hours on research and development, and doing it cheap enough to stay competitive with the $350 craigslist clowns who throw a bunch of used clutches, heat spotted steels, and don't replace any bushings in a trans and call it a rebuild.

I could double my income doing regular run of the mill rebuilds, and triple it by doing regular auto service work and ditching the auto trans business entirely.

ED69ray

Gee jake, we are talking about a little ol simple TH350 right?



You miss the point, I should not have had to identify any leak on a fresh tranny - thats why I paid good money for a ready to bolt in unit.

BTW, a " professional " tranny guy that leaves a critical o-ring out on a performance build should not be passing judgement on the mechanical ability of others.

When you pulled that cover and there was no o-ring all confidence I had in you evaporated at that moment. Enough said.

The only thing I am guilty of is making a huge mistake in buying a tranny from you.


Over and out

Jake's Performance

Yes,
It is a "simple" TH350.

If its so simple why didn't you rebuild it yourself Ed?

I admitted I made a mistake Ed. I'm not above that. Stuff happens.
I fixed the problem.
Most people would be satisfied with the fact I admitted a mistake and fixed it.

You are unwilling to admit that the leak might be caused by your installation and were unwilling to let me even look at it to determine the cause.

Summary:

Trans builder (Me) made a mistake and repaired it.
Customer doesn't like his used converter, wants to change combos, and is unwilling to let the builder even look at the leak (most likely caused by faulty aftermarket parts or installation) yet demands a refund.

Sounds fishy to me.

I have hundreds of happy customers. Some running TH350's into the 9 second 1/4 mile zone, some running 200-4R's into the 10's, and hopefully soon a couple of 4L80E's running in the 8's.

I hate that the deal has gone sour but your attitude was the determining factor. I was willing to go out of my way to potentially fix YOUR install.

That wasn't good enough for you because of your alterior motive of changing to a manual transmission.

Tact

I believe both of you need to take this off line and off the forum.