[AGL] off topic question - need transmission shop recommendation

[Michael Eisenstadt]

Gerry,

I appreciate your unvarnished advice. I havent serviced it yet, so
am open to whatever info you can give me.

The 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis (identical to Ford Crown Vic)
is hardly a vintage machine. When we bought it 3 years ago, of
course i checked the ATF and it was quite red and not smelling
burnt, just the nasty smell of fresh ATFluid. Up to just recently
the ATF seemed the right color. Now it seems brownish and
smelling slightly burnt. The phone guy i got at the JiffyLube on
S. Lamar suggested massive indifference so i thought to go past
the JiffyLube on Guadaloupe & 38th to smell around. You
are right that many JiffyLubes are run well. As it is a franchise
there are quite a number of JiffyLubes which are horror shows.

Not knowing this model, I still dont know whether there is
a steel screen for a filter in this transmission or the traditional
replaceable filter. The service rep at Leif Johnson said the former.
Two transmission shops told me the latter. South Austin Auto
(you should know this parts store) sells a filter/gasket kit.
If Ford recommends flushing it without dropping the pan or
changing the filter, i would go that route because after dropping
the pan it is very difficult to keep the new gasket from a slow
weep. Please advise how i can find out the real Ford
recommendation. Leif Johnson is notoriously a hardball dealership
so it would be imprudent to assume that a service rep there was
not lying. I worked for a while at McMorris Ford so i know
how crooked dealerships are.

I just spoke to the guy at the Valvoline Express shop on
Research. He said there is a removable filter. Drop the
pan he advised for the first change ($70). Then alternate with
the full flush leave the filter alone option afterwards ($90). He
says there is a rubber gasket which they replace when dropping
the pan. The B & M phone guy said the rubber gasket was
reusable.

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gerry" <mesmo at gilanet.com>
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" 
<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:05 AM
Subject: Re: [AGL] off topic question - need transmission shop 
recommendation



> Well Mike, glad you got your trans serviced in a way that is acceptable to

> your high standards. I salute you in sticking with a vintage machine and

> taking good care of it. For the record, there are Jiffy Lubes and there 

> are

> Jiffy Lubes, thousands of them, probably a dozen in and around the Austin

> metro area. In my zone there are no trans shops and just one Jiffy Lube

> which employs mostly young men with some mechanical acumen. I watched the

> technician service my trans and his work was first class, knew what he was

> doing and did it by the book. The equipment was first class (no doubt the

> same as that of the trans shops). The cost was half of what a dealer or

> trans shop would have charged--an important consideration for those of us 

> on

> Social Security who drive 15 to 20 year old cars.

>

> I have listened to Click and Clack forever, since they started. In the

> beginning, same as you, I liked them, they had a good enthusiasm and were

> sincerely concerned with the few callers they attracted, also quite funny

> and original. These days I find it hard to sit through a complete show. 

> They

> have become media idols and they are very full of themselves. The shows 

> have

> become very predictable and not as interesting. The calls are screened

> carefully to be sure that there are always a half dozen or so female 30

> somethings who want advice on what car to buy, yawn. The nitty gritty

> mechanical advice is limited to popular cars. The laughter is often forced

> and phony, breaking up at every gag leads to boredom. Dewey, Cheatham, and

> Howe ain't funny anymore. So while I don't say that they are a drag, their

> shows have fallen quite a lot from the old days. BTW, only the older 

> brother

> is an MIT grad. I used to give them 5 stars, now it's more like 2.5 or 3.

> They are kind of like Siskell (sp? RIP) and Ebert, innovators who 

> eventually

> ran out of original ideas and became parodies of themselves.

>

> I made contact with the brother of the previous owner of my Cressida. He 

> is

> a retired mechanic who watched over the car since its original purchase.

> Nothing but raves and good news about the car. If anything it has been

> over-maintained! I must confess that I made the deal hastily, based upon

> intuition rather than a careful mechanical inspection, jumping at the good

> price. Later I did the inspection and found everything to be in apparently

> excellent condition, but I was still a little paranoid at my haste, 

> hesitant

> to take off on a 2K journey. That is no longer the case, I am leaving for

> California next week, confident that the wheels are not a concern. Looking

> forward to Christmas in my old neighborhood in Terra Linda (Marin County)

> with family and old friends.

>

> Does anyone know if the resurrected Avalon Ballroom is still in business?

>

> G

>

>

>

>

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: "Michael Eisenstadt" <mike.eisenstadt at gmail.com>

> To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s"

> <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>; "Hans-Peter Otto" <hpoPhotog at mac.com>

> Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 6:10 AM

> Subject: Re: [AGL] off topic question - need transmission shop

> recommendation

>

>

>> Hans,

>>

>> I shouldnt have said it the way i did. I know you

>> have American citizenship. Also German citizenship????

>> I was thinking of how one can ask a question on

>> the Internet and get the answer back from half

>> way around the world in under 5 minutes.

>>

>> Have you considered retiring back to Austin?

>>

>> about the car. I finally did what i should have done

>> at the beginning: call a parts store and see if there

>> is a transmission filter and gasket kit for this model.

>> Well, they do sell such a kit, which means that the

>> dealership (Leif Johnson) salesman was full of it

>> telling me this model has a metal screen not a

>> replaceable filter.So the B & M Transmission guy

>> was advising the correct precedure (dropping the

>> pan) and the dealer and Jiffy Lube do it the easier

>> way not having to steam clean the old gasket

>> off the pan.

>>

>> I am going to be taking it to Chapman Transmission

>> (also on S. Lamar) who were recommended on

>> the Click & Clack Web page (B & M not

>> mentionned). Jiffy Lube has a TERRIBLE

>> reputation and so does Leif Johnson Ford.

>> Chapman's procedure, like B & M's, is to drop the

>> pan.

>>

>> When you have an idle moment, you should

>> visit the Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers

>> Web page and listen to one of their broadcasts.

>> These are 2 endearing brothers from Boston

>> who own a auto service shop and take calls

>> and answer car questions. You may or may

>> not have heard them (on KUT). They are

>> muy funny. Back in the 60s, in Cambridge

>> Mass they started up a do-it-yourself auto

>> shop (the Good Times Garage) where

>> customers used the garage's tools and

>> advice to work on their own cars (very

>> 60s). It was a total flop. The younger brother

>> then went into the garage business for real.

>> The older brother is actually a business consultant.

>> Interestingly they both went to and graduated

>> from the Mass. Institute of Technology (MIT).

>>

>> Ciao!

>>

>> Mike

>>

>> ----- Original Message -----

>> From: "hpo" <hpophotog at mac.com>

>> To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s"

>> <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>

>> Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006 5:53 PM

>> Subject: Re: [AGL] off topic question - need transmission shop

>> recommendation

>>

>>

>> Pleasedon´t forget Mike I am only an expatriot, a guest worker in

>> Krautonia

>> hans

>> berlin

>>

>> >>> - - - - - - - - - - - - ->

>>

>>      Hans-Peter Otto

>> Freelance Photojournalist

>>     Reichstrasse 101

>> 14052 Berlin, Germany

>>

>> Mobil   +49    172 321 5956

>>  Tel     +49    30 667 75450

>> Skype            hpoPhotog

>>

>>

>> On Monday, December 11, 2006, at 04:24PM, "Michael Eisenstadt"

>> <michaele at ando.pair.com> wrote:

>> >Hans,

>> >

>> >the internet, ya gotta love it!

>> >

>> >some german in berlin points me the right way. i'll

>> >call them right after i get straight. unless your view is

>> >that it is best to call them while bent.

>> >

>> >please advise!

>> >

>> >Mike

>> >

>>

>>

>