Arvada, Colo.--A comeback on a job can put a serious dent in a shop's profitability. Perhaps there's nothing more destructive to profit than a comeback on a transmission, said Tim Tapper, founder and owner of Detroit Transmission Specialists. That's why quality transmission rebuilds remain his top priority, he said.
"If there's a mistake, the cost of a transmission job can be devastating," said Tapper, whose 27-year-old shop focuses mainly on servicing fleets and local repair shops. The labor time involved in a removal, rebuild, and re-installation can add up quickly, he said.
Tapper said he and his crew work on all types of domestic and foreign manual and automatic transmissions for everything from a five-speed Honda Civic to RTD buses with ZF Ecomat transmissions.
Driving conditions in Colorado are considered severe and over time wear on a transmission, Tapper said, adding that they all fail eventually. The magic number seems to be 100,000 miles, he said.
Although changing a transmission filter and flushing fluid will prolong a transmission's life, it still will fail, he said. "Just getting up to the mountains strains a whole powertrain," he said, "especially if the grade is 6 percent or greater."
A transmission that sustains high temperatures for a period of time may prematurely failure, he said. Most vehicles don't come equipped with temperature gauges, he noted, blinding the driver to that problem. A truck pulling recreational equipment or a trailer, coupled with a poorly maintained cooling system, is a recipe for transmission failure, he said.
"If the cooling system on a vehicle is inefficient, it can negatively affect the operation of the transmission," Tapper said, since the transmission lines on most vehicles run to the radiator for cooling.
Tapper said one of his customers called him as he pulled his truck over to the side of a mountain road with an overheating transmission. Unknowingly, the customer amplified the problem because the transmission fluid flow to the cooling system is slowed when idling, he said. To cool the transmission temperature in this situation, he suggested that the driver rev the engine to increase coolant flow. It worked, and the customer was on his way, he said.
In the shop, Tapper said diagnosing problem transmissions requires a significant investment in equipment.
"My goal is making sure the work is to the highest quality," he said. "When you do the kind of volume we do, it has to be done a certain way."
Tapper said having the proper tools limits comebacks. The shop is outfitted with nearly $500,000 in specialized equipment that includes a custom transmission line cleaner, he said.A rebuild on a ZF Ecomat transmission can cost from $10,000 to $15,000, Tapper said, which is why he goes to extra measures to make sure it will operate properly when installed. The custom-built line cleaner uses a hot flush to clean the cooler lines to eliminate any possibility of contaminating the newly installed unit, he said.
"That's the kind of thing we strive for," he said. "It takes equipment like that to do the job right."
Whether it's helping a retail customer or a fleet manager, Tapper said his four-man rebuilding crew can handle all rebuilds. He said he separates his shop into two areas, one for installations and the other for rebuilds.
"The rebuilding process has to be in its own environment," he said. "You don't want your installers kicking up dust or diesel soot around units being rebuilt."
In addition to a clean environment, quality replacement parts are paramount, Tapper said, adding that his first call for transmission parts is Transtar Industries, a nationwide transmission parts supplier with a branch in Denver.
For torque converters, he said he relies on Branting Industries, located in nearby Arvada, because of its reputation for quality.
"I rebuild the transmission from the front to the back," Tapper said. "We try to make the transmission more durable than when it came from the factory." He added that his work doesn't end there.
"It's my job to make sure the installer gets it right." He said he and his crew offer installation help and walk many technicians through the process.
A big part of servicing fleet accounts involves clutch work, Tapper said. The clutch he said he prefers to install on class seven and eight vehicles is a LUK heavy-duty clutch, which he said he obtains from Clutch Dr., a LUK distributor in Denver.
Tapper said his decision to install that particular clutch was an easy one, mainly because of its cooler operating temperatures. What makes it unique, he said, is that it uses a diaphragm-spring pressure plate. "This has more clamping pressure than a spring-type pressure plate," he said, which results in less pedal effort. After 50 installations using the LUK heavy-duty clutch, he said he has not had a single comeback.
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