Clunking in/out of 1st after Mackies Flush

[Turbo Tony]

I just called Chester Transmissions too. They don't have a gearbox in stock but they are able to recondition my existing one.

They quoted me £600 to have a reconditioned mechatronic unit, plus around £180 fitting and £150 for fluids, all plus VAT.

If the gearbox needs replacing, the reconditioning would be £1895 + 450 fitting and £150 fluids. Again, all plus VAT.

They're all still steep bills but they're more in the realm of feasibility. The mechatronic unit reconditioning obviously sounds most preferable.

Chester have the advantage of being quite close to Mackies, so the transport costs should be lower too.

...Plenty to weigh up over the weekend.

[David's8]

I hope it works out whatever way you do it.

But we all love a story with a good ending

[tintin]

Originally Posted by Turbo Tony

I just called Chester Transmissions too. They don't have a gearbox in stock but they are able to recondition my existing one.

They quoted me £600 to have a reconditioned mechatronic unit, plus around £180 fitting and £150 for fluids, all plus VAT.

If the gearbox needs replacing, the reconditioning would be £1895 + 450 fitting and £150 fluids. Again, all plus VAT.

They're all still steep bills but they're more in the realm of feasibility. The mechatronic unit reconditioning obviously sounds most preferable.

Chester have the advantage of being quite close to Mackies, so the transport costs should be lower too.

...Plenty to weigh up over the weekend.

Hi Tony,

I've just read the updates on this thread (been at a music festival for 4 days...no internet, bliss...). Looks like you're going for Chester Transmission for this, rather than Mackies - having started with the latter, I think?, so thought I should share my experience, for information.

I did the opposite to you, after the initial gearbox service from Chesters made the problem worse - not their fault, it just highlighted the problem.

I then compared the costs, warranty, and reputation of both places for a full rebuild, and decided to go with Mackies in the end - and have been 100% happy with the job they did, and the subsequent services. I hope you get the same result at Chesters.

[Turbo Tony]

Thanks very much - that's a really valuable insight.

Sadly, Mackie are saying that they want to replace the gearbox or the mechatronics, rather than repair, so I don't have a lot of choice.

It's a decision between either replace the gearbox for a used one at Bristol, a new one at Mackie or repair the existing one at Chester.

The car should arrive at Chester tomorrow and I'll hopefully know more by the end of the week.

[Lee S]

Good luck Tony. I will be thinking of you. It's in good, safe hands at Chester. They know their stuff and they do those boxes day in and day out. Interesting that the V10 box can be removed with engine in situ. I have seen a thread on the Phaeton too where they can do the same, but mine was no go. The engine had to come out if the box needed to come out. Grrr... Thankfully it didn't need to... this time !!

On a lighter note, I have just done about 750 miles over the last 4 days in a road trip to visit friends and lots of driving around whilst there and the Chester Transmission repair on my box is just fine and it is still ultra smooth and slick after the oil change. I'm sure yours will be sorted now it's going to the right place.

[Turbo Tony]

Thanks so much Lee, it's a real comfort.

The car should have arrived there today, so I'll hear from them as soon as they can get her up on a ramp.

I'm fighting myself not to call them every few minutes to ask if there's any news!

[MikkiJayne]

A bit late to the party, but this sounds awfully similar to what I had with my D2: http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11766

That was 3 litres short because of a leak but driving fine before I took it apart and flushed it. Changing the torque converter sorted it right out. Might be worth considering before a whole replacement transmission?

[Turbo Tony]

Thanks for the tip, I'll ask the question.