[MattPayne]

as most of you know ive had a few troubles with my car since i brought it over... (fuel pump, exhaust, SVA man, more exhaust, etc) but now i have met my greatest problem... my auto box died one morning...
Ive just got the report back from the auto specialist and its worse than I thought it would be! the lockup solinoid malfunctioned... so thats a gearbox rebuild (£1000) but to cap it off he thinks that the auto ECU is also up the spout!!! (no error codes on the diagnostics - so he checked it another way and came to that conclusion) another pile of cash! I really dont know what to do... i could only just afford the car whrn i got it here, then had the nightmare of buying a new exhaust and stuff... ive had the car insured for the past 3 months and not been able to drive it...
I am properly stuffed...

you may say - should have bought a uk sourced car, but with my budget I wouldnt have stood a chance at the dealers, so it would have been a private sale, ive driven this car 400 or so miles backwards and forwars to tests etc (SVA centre 120 mile round trip), no hint of a problem...

I am gutted... and scared to hell... I dont have the budget for a new box...

Help guys... what are my options???? rcon gearbox? (£1000) manual conversion?? (£????) second hand box??? (where from?)

 

[CJ68]

Sorry to hear about that mate

Who gave you the diagnosis? was it someone reputable?

 

[MattPayne]

the diagnosis cam from the guys that SE use, and SE are the guys that nissan colchester recommend... so they are apparently the best in the area...

but, all being all... there aint another garage in 100 miles that deals with automatic gearboxes!!!

its funny how when you phone up an auto specalist the stock reply is £1000 box rebuild...

'how much for a windscreen washer top up???'

'mmmmmm... that will be £1000... need an full rebuild that will....'

ker--ching!!! money grabbing bists.....

im not bitter...

 

[CJ68]

Have you spoke to Middlehurst to see if they agree with the Price?

I know it aint much but they have always backed me up in the past and you never know they might be able to point you in a better direction.

Saying that mind, it cost me 700 nicker the last time I went there.

 

[dan0h]

SH!T Sorry to hear that Matt I'm going to stick my neck out and say manual conversion - it might be a lot of hard work, but atleast it wont break quite so badly as an Auto...

 

[SteveC]

get a second opinion, it is unfortunately a well known fact that even the Nissan garages mis diagnose faults like this.

something that catastrophic usually turns out to be something simple.

have you had a consono plugged into it to look at the diagnostics properly or just relied on the flashing interior lights ?

the flashing lights may be telling the truth but a manual conversion will cost big bucks.. look from all of the angles before commiting to that kind of job.

Auto boxes are usually more reliable than the manuals as they don't stretch themselves as much as a manual..

good luck

Steve

 

[Durzel]

auto ECU is also up the spout!!! (no error codes on the diagnostics - so he checked it another way and came to that conclusion)

PowerFC ECUs dont report codes to CONSOLE, so anyone expecting them (even if its just an ok code) would think the ECU was faulty when it wasn't. I'm sure other aftermarket ECUs (not add on EEPROMS) would probably do the same thing. To my knowledge the only ECU that would be compatible with CONSOLE would be Nissans own ECU.

Some food for thought for you.

As for the gearbox, is there any chance you could perhaps get a short term bank loan perhaps?

If its any consolation you're not the only one in a similar boat - I'm going to be selling my Skyline shortly because it looks like I have to move out (I live with my Dad at the moment) and I won't be able to afford both a new place and the repayments on the car.

 

[MattPayne]

I like the idea of a manual conversion... it doesnt look 'too' hard!! (240sx.org - installs) but new auto is the path of least resistance!!

Steve, I checked the flashing dash lights and came up with an all clear, i was told by nissan or se that this lot had specalist diagnostic tools.. i suppose that is a consono computer...!

dan.. i need to get you round sometime to help me with these carbs off me boat.. they look pretty simple...! lets see if i cant break them too!

 

[dan0h]

Matt - no problems dude, the wife is working at least one day this weekend (if not both) so I'll let you know which day(s) I can come over.

I must admit though, a £1000 rebuild for a faulty solinoid does sound a touch excessive, although it may have done some carnage inside the box itself...

I'll let you know the score and we'll break those boat carbs this weekend

 

[MattPayne]

cheers Dan... £1000 is a hell of a lot for a faulty solinoid when to me an auto box is made up of 3 main bits... 2 planet gearsets, and a torque converter... it seems that £1000 is the going rate irrespective of how many of these bits are broke...!

Durz, dont flog the Skyline!!! stay at home with the old folks!!! I almost cosidered moving home to fund a better Skyline!
A nice car is better than constantly cleaning your mates puke off the lounge walls!!!

 

[Jebu]

sorry to hear about ur problem Matt...
my car is the same spec as urs...

I guess if it is really broken, then might as well do the manual conversion, you'll have more fun driving it later

good luck!

 

[Durzel]

cheers Dan... £1000 is a hell of a lot for a faulty solinoid when to me an auto box is made up of 3 main bits... 2 planet gearsets, and a torque converter... it seems that £1000 is the going rate irrespective of how many of these bits are broke...!

Durz, dont flog the Skyline!!! stay at home with the old folks!!! I almost cosidered moving home to fund a better Skyline!
A nice car is better than constantly cleaning your mates puke off the lounge walls!!!

Don't really have a choice to be honest. The previous week has been pretty bad at home for various reasons I don't really want to go into, and having a fast car is not really my highest priority at the moment.

C'est la vie.

 

[Fuggles]

Have you rung around for second hand boxes? You could try some of the dealers/repairers and see if they can help.

John

 

[paul palmer]

Gearbox

Matt,
I really feel for you, I really do. I have an auto as you know and have checked the Auto fluid more now than ever!. I am in the process of selling mine, again for various reasons(Mainly cash flow!!) But have very little response. Maybe time of year. I know £1,000 seems a lot of money(to me anyway) but a friend of mine has a GTS-t as I have mentioned before and his solenoid went also and was told by a good independent Import garage that it will cost him around £1,200, so it seems that this is the going rate. I have a couple of ideas of what to do next, so PM me.

Really sorry.

PaulP