[AGL] off topic question - need transmission shop recommendation

[Margaret Martone]

Michael: Don Bohannan, Bo's Automotive, 512/784-4641 or 933-0658. He kept my 
cars running for many years before I bought a new one and, actually, did the 
30,000 mile maintenance on my 2004 for about $200 less than the dealership. 
He is GOOD, HONEST, and worth the drive out near Decker Lake!

Margaret



>From: "Michael Eisenstadt" <michaele at ando.pair.com>

>Reply-To: survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 

>60s<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>

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

>60s"<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>

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

>recommendation

>Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 09:52:12 -0600

>

>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

> >> >

> >>

> >>

> >

>


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