It's nice that Columbia Roving would redirect you, rather than upcharge you. That's customer service IMO.
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
Agreed. Now I'm interested in seeing what this shop that messed up will be willing to do for me. They've got a hostage, after all.It's nice that Columbia Roving would redirect you, rather than upcharge you. That's customer service IMO.
All good theories, for sure. I know this shop had contacted Sonnax and got a set of pressure and vacuum test procedures from them that he claimed the unit had passed, hence his theory that the issue was "further up in the transmission" and therefore not part of what he'd just been working on.Full disclosure, I don't have too much experience with the 8 speed, but I do have quite a bit with the 6 speed, and they're VERY similar.
While I won't call the original shop liars, I have NEVER heard of, "the debris providing the necessary friction" for a transmission.
I have heard of botched ZIP kit installations. I've installed 3 ZIP kits myself, and the directions and support from Sonnax are top notch. To date, knock on wood, I haven't had any issues with my installations. (And no, I'm not a transmission guy or professional mechanic....just someone who's been wrenching on LR3's and LR4's for about 20 years now.). Given the error codes I'm seeing from your GAP tool, and the fact that they pulled the mechatronic, I'm wondering whether they shocked the TCM slightly. Out of curiosity, did you have them swap the solenoids as well? It could simply be they didn't seat the electronic half of the mechatronic properly, and one or more of the solenoids isn't firing correctly. Heck, they may have accidentally dropped one of the solenoids. Did they order the correct separator plate? Did they even order and install a new separator plate? (FYI, you CANNOT re-use a separator plate, so anytime you split the mechatronic open, you MUST install a brand new separator plate.)
It might be worth seeing if the new shop will install a fresh ZIP kit, separator plate and solenoids. The beauty of that is the fact that Sonnax provides ways to test every single channel to ensure the kit is installed and functioning properly. Don't get me wrong, it'll still probably run you $1K-$1.5K, but that's better than a whole new transmission.
FYI, these ZF transmissions are pretty darn reliable and robust...the weakest link is the electronic portion, they're highly susceptible to static shock damage. Finally, this issue has happened before, and I can't think of a single instance where the shop (or owner) hadn't fried their mechatronic and ended up with a new mechatronic....not a new transmission.