Clunking in/out of 1st after Mackies Flush

[Turbo Tony]

My work brought me to Glasgow and I thought I'd make use of the time to visit Mackie Transmission and get the transmission flushed and the gearbox software updated.

I got a call to say the car was ready. They said they couldn't do the software update because my gearbox had the latest software. I got a cab over there and drove away a happy guy. Even from startup, everything seemed that little bit smoother and pulling away felt great. I happily drove back to my hotel... until I had to stop for the first time after the car had warmed up.

When the car shifted into first while slowing down, there was a clunk from the transmission. Pulling away from a standstill and, when shifting from 1st to 2nd, the car hesitated quite violently before shifting to 2nd and then behaving normally.

I tried calling Mackie but they had closed for the day. I emailed John but got an out-of-office.

I've decided to drive there first thing tomorrow morning and hope, pray and plead that it's something they can fix easily. I'm due in Sheffield tomorrow afternoon and, truth be told, I'm freaking out.

[Delboy]

I hope it will be the gearbox relearning its control points but they should be able to confirm with you in the morning, what they charge you out of interest?

[Turbo Tony]

My goodness, I hope so Del. I've had a run of bad luck with the car recently and I'm thinking about throwing in the towel and going back to my 21 year old Volvo.

They charged me £436 for the service including the fluid and disposal of the old stuff. That was cheaper than I was quoted (£541) because a software update wasn't needed.

When I took the car in, they told me the software update can sometimes take a while because it has to be downloaded. The suspicious side of me is now wondering whether they skipped it to save some time because they said they were a little short-staffed that day.

[PsYcHe]

If they put the wrong fluid in with the wrong software, it can have interesting results

[Turbo Tony]

You're right. I always thought the software upgrade was required to use the Lifeguard 8 fluid. There's nothing in the service history of the car to suggest the upgrade has been done before, so I wonder whether the software was needed but not done. If it can't be done, I wonder whether it's better to use the Lifeguard 6 fluid?

I don't know, my head is racing right now.

[1781cc]

I can't offer any way of explanation, but hopefully I can offer some reassurance in that my car was done by them, but they did update the firmware as well and it's been fine in the time I've had it, they are highly rated as an outfit.

Hopefully it's just a settings issue and you get it sorted tomorrow morning