:mad :boxing :cry :eek:

I recently noticed excessive lateral play in my side yokes, so I pulled the differential and had it rebuilt by a local corvette shop. The side yokes had been moving so much that they wore down the outside of the differential housing enough that a new oil seal would not work. So the shop moved my ring and pinion, which looked fine, into a new housing. They also completely rebuilt the posi unit and rebuilt everything else.

The total cost out the door was 1300$ for a filled and sealed differential ready to bolt up. I reinstalled it with new spicer solid u-joints with no issues. After everything was installed, everything turned freely and made no noise.

I took it for a drive, and everything was working perfectly, until about 3 miles in. I had just gotten onto a freeway, and about 30 seconds down, I heard a whining/shreeking noise from the back end, so I quickly pulled to the shoulder and decelerated. When I had gotten down to about 10 mph both rear tires actually seized up, and I skidded to a stop. :eek:

:cry Upon inspection, there was no visible problem back there. The half shafts and rear suspension all looked ok. The differential was smoking though :( and it smelled like burned gear oil, go figure. When the flatbed came, they had to drag the rear tires, they were that stuck. So I had it towed to the corvette shop that rebuilt the diff, I have not spoken with them about it yet.

One of the things that they said to convince me to have the diff rebuilt there int he first place was that if I had a problem, I could just take it down there. So I wait until monday when they find my 79 there with a locked differential and a message on their answering machine. We'll see how they handle it.

I don't think there is any way I could have caused a catastrophic failure just by bolting the diff in, so I believe it is something they did incorrectly. I just am still in denial that I spent all this time and money on something to get it done right, and it lasts 3 miles and 5 minutes of easy driving. Sorry guys, Just venting. Anyone have any comments, similar experiences, or advice? :rant:

 

Installing it would not cause it to lock up. They did something wrong with the install. Have them fix it, ask them what went wrong,take pictures if you can, and do not pay anything else. They should pick up the flat bed charge as well.
Look over the rebuilding procedures I wrote last week so if you're not familar with the way things work back there you will be.
You would think because you brought your car to a "vette shop" it would be done correctly-this is not always the case unfortunately. I was just looking in the local automotive newpaper and there sure are a lot of "corvette shops" open these days :rolleyes:
Good luck,
Gary


[Modified by gtr1999, 3:47 PM 5/2/2004]

 

you saw it had lube in it?

 

I did not open the plug to check for lube. I did get charged for lube and posi additive, and they told me it was already filled when I picked it up. The plug was torqued when I got it, and lube would leak out the vent tube if it was tipped a little. Also it smelled like gear oil when it siezed and was smoking. So I am almost sure it had lube. The flatbed cost me 230$ for like 20 miles!! :mad

 

That sounds a little steep in price also for the rear when they use your gears. Most shops are in in the 600 to 800 range for a completly rebuilt rear. No yokes. It sounds like something went horribly wrong. I had a Camaro rear that was rebuilt and it heated the fluid so much it was boiling out the vent plug. Smoked the gears but never seized up. probably would have if I kept driving. I wish you luck, they should take care of it for you.

 

230$ for flatbed is also rediculous. I have had my car towed that distance a few times this year for free. Gotta love being a AAA auto club plus member.

 

All i can say is sorry! I wish you had checked with Dan Vansteel first. He sent me a totaly rebuilt rearend with new yokes and brand new 4-11 gears. for less than $1000.00 with my old defferential in exchange. He even backs his work with a warranty and filled the new differential with syn. lube. HE is the best just ask other members about his work.


:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

Please keep us posted on this. As stated above, there's NO WAY you can do anything to cause a lockup with the install, unless, of course, you accidentally used a welder to install it. :rolleyes:

Your shop should definitely make good on their work. The flatbed charge though? If it were MY shop, I'd pay for it, but I don't think they would be obligated to do so.

Good luck, Tom

 

See if the ring gear bolts backed out and hit the housing,I've seen that happen on a 79 years ago.
Gary

 

I don't want to make you feel any worse than you do already, but Bair's Corvettes in PA will do the complete rebuild for $495. They did mine and I added new ring and pinion (different ratio) and new side yokes. That brought the total to $950. You can tell your rebuilder that they charged you top dollar for what appears to be poor workmanship. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info guys, I wish I had known of these deals earlier. The problem is that this shop told me it would be much much less, and then they tell me later that it is going to be rediculously expensive only after they have already done it. I'm going to get more firm numbers out of them beforehand this time, possibly even pay in advance.

**Update** I spoke with the guy who did the rebuild, and he only put posi additive in it before he gave it to us. A different guy from the shop gave it to my father, and said something about being careful to not spil the oil inside or something like that, which my father figured meant it was full of oil. Bad miscommunication, I'm not sure what the exact words they exchanged were.

So the owner of the shop has agreed to rebuild the differential, only charging me for parts, and removal/reinstallation. He is going to get back with me with more price details, and I'll probably post here before I make a decision. At the least, I will need a new ring and pinion, probably a whole bearing set. Apparently the car moved around the shop ok, which is surprising since it would not budge when the problem occured. Thanks for all the input guys :chevy

 

why would they put only additive in it and not gear oil?

The additive is supposed to have better lubricating qualities than gear oil so i still don't see how it burned up so quickly.

 

Make him pay for the whole thing.... There is no reason to only put in posi additive... He should have left it empty and put the oil cap on loosely and told you his recommendation for filling it.

Just becareful and make sure that the diff. is rebuildable. If it seized up, there could be cracks in the case or in the differential case that were caused by the stresses of the seizure.

 

It seized because it overheated, only about a pint of posi lube is used, and thats not enough to raise the fluid level high enough to coat the ring.

I agree, there is no reason to partially fill it, then torque the plug and not say anything, or put a "Fill with oil before use" tag on it. He gave some crap reason that you cannot fill the differential on the bench because you can't hold it level enough to fill to the proper height. Its one of the stupidest things I've heard this year. :skep:

 

[QUOTE]Make him pay for the whole thing.... There is no reason to only put in posi additive... He should have left it empty and put the oil cap on loosely and told you his recommendation for filling it.


:iagree: This really seems like a cop out on the mechanics part. Unless he put in writing to fill it before installation I would suggest he pay for the repair. If you were expected to fill it, what was the point of the posi-oil? I may be mistaken, but when a vendor rebuilds one of these, they ship it dry without posi-oil or gear oil installed. (I think they might even include the oils with the diff when they ship. This is probably why! Why not call Van Steel and Bair's and see how they ship theirs.

 

Really sorry to hear about your loss. We only get our diffs rebuilt about every 30 years or so, so there can't be that much expertise out there. I personally only trust Vansteel (although I hear many good words about Bairs). Also, the Hagerty roadside protection service is a great value. Too late this time for you, but hopefully others reading this will take to heart how good Vansteel is....

I feel your frustration and pain, really sorry.... :nonod: :nonod:

 

Well I would not accept the BS they're trying to push off on you. The differential should have been labled if it was full.

Did they give you an itemized invoice,was there a charge for oil on it? This guy knows they screwed up and is trying to get some more money out of you. He's trying to make YOU feel responsible for the problem. Your only responsibilty was to pay him the amount charged,granted it was high but you agreed to it. Why should you have to pay for removing it and parts? What will he charge for both,ask him before he does anything. Is it possible to get your money back by cancelling a check or credit card?

My part cost to completely rebuild a rear end runs about $600-$650. That includes all bearings,seals,oils,new ring & pinion, new yokes, new HD cover. I doubt he's going to install all these parts and he sure isn't going to for $600.

I really feel bad for you as these are the types of things that a lot of vette owners get ripped off on. As someone else said there may be hidden damage that you wouldn't know about that they might just pass off on. It would really suck if you get a month or two out of it only tohave another problem. Then do you think he would back it up?

Couple of more questions, are you capable of removing the rear end yourself? If so that's what I would do,then you can open it up and see for yourself exactly what happened in there. Then decide if you want to have it done locally or send it out to Bair's or Van steel. At least with either one of them you know the job will be done correct the first time. I wouldn't let this guy off the hook,small claims court and pictures will make a difference.

Good luck and don't buy that crap the shop is selling. The differentials can easily be filled on a work bench, I do it all the time.

Gary


[Modified by gtr1999, 8:02 AM 5/4/2004]

 

The three exceptions in my entire life I have ever let anyone work on my cars.....
I was age 22, and knew nothing...got raped over a starter....first and last time....

then ATI did several automatic trannies for me, back when Jim Beatty and Sherman Sly owned it.....

then Tony's Corvette shop in G'burg Md did my rear suspension on this car...
new t-arms and the whole works....

GENE

 

**Update**
So this shop wants 520$ for parts alone to rebuild the differential:

169 for the rebuild kit
85 + shipping for clutches
269 for ring/pinion (3.55) plus shipping

They agreed not to charge for labor of the rebuild itself, BUT they will charge me 266$ to remove and reinstall the differential from the car.

So is 520$ a good deal to rebuild a differential with new bearings, ring/pinion, and clutch packs only? Any better places to go? I'd just soon pick up my car at the shop and never return.

 

Since you're asking, go to bairs.com. When they shipped my diff back to me, they had a large tag on it saying NO OIL IN REAR. They also ship the gear oil and additive to you as part of the deal.