PB Transmission Service

[Gros Ventre]

Here’s the quote from my dealer.
Here's the quote to drop the transmission pan and replace the filter. Labor: $1059.74 Parts: $444.84 Tax: $36.69....Total: $1541.27
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That's a scam price. My dealer charges around $150 a year ago... The Ford price for a PB transmission filter was around $50, plus the cost of the transmission fluid, say $30-40 for all 5 qts, may have gone up a little in a year... A PB is a bit more complex than the EcoBoost, but once they've done it a couple of times, no big deal...

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[SudS2k]

Anyone here have a part number for the PB filter and other rubber lines? I'm going to attempt this myself in a few weeks.

 

[amschind]

Odd. My dealer is busy too, but I just make an appointment for six weeks out and drop the truck off on the day of the appointment.

If your dealer won't be working on your truck for six weeks why do they have to have it on their lot? Where do they even store six weeks worth of pending service vehicles??? That would probably be a thousand or more vehicles at my dealer.

There might be some miscommunication going on here.

He isn't lying. When I have tried to make appointments for transmission related work (note that this is elective stuff, not a repair that I need done), I asked exactly what you did. They said you need an appointment, drop it off, and we will get to it when we are able, probably a month. I asked if I could simply drop it off when they were ready....in a month, and they said no, there is a queue and your vehicle must be on the lot to be in that queue. I agree that it makes no sense for anyone but the dealer's convenience.

 

[Hans Moleman]

Is it true that you need to remove the crossmember to drop the pan in PB trucks?

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

Is it true that you need to remove the crossmember to drop the pan in PB trucks?

The factory service manual calls out the crossmember removal. Not sure if there is a work around or not.

 

[Gros Ventre]

He isn't lying. When I have tried to make appointments for transmission related work (note that this is elective stuff, not a repair that I need done), I asked exactly what you did. They said you need an appointment, drop it off, and we will get to it when we are able, probably a month. I asked if I could simply drop it off when they were ready....in a month, and they said no, there is a queue and your vehicle must be on the lot to be in that queue. I agree that it makes no sense for anyone but the dealer's convenience.

This just depends on the dealer. The one I do business with will schedule you ahead of time. Commonly they do 3-4 days out but occasionally the next week. A well managed shop can put up a reasonable window. In my case, having done much of this kind of work myself over many years, I'm now at the point where I'm willing to pay the dealer to do the work. My dealer is Lithia Ford of Idaho Falls, ID. My inference is that your dealer shop guys are knee-jerking without planning...

 

[Paul Neubauer]

He isn't lying. When I have tried to make appointments for transmission related work (note that this is elective stuff, not a repair that I need done), I asked exactly what you did. They said you need an appointment, drop it off, and we will get to it when we are able, probably a month. I asked if I could simply drop it off when they were ready....in a month, and they said no, there is a queue and your vehicle must be on the lot to be in that queue. I agree that it makes no sense for anyone but the dealer's convenience.

My dealer does the exact same game which I assume is to chase off customers since they don't have anymore room to store vehicles that are broke down.

 

[Gros Ventre]

My dealer does the exact same game which I assume is to chase off customers since they don't have anymore room to store vehicles that are broke down.

In my view, that is an indication of poorly trained and experienced techs combined with service advisors who cannot plan. Thus the techs take longer on jobs than they ought to and the service advisors have no idea how to integrate various jobs to smooth the flow of work. Take you business somewhere else... In my case I have to drive a bit over a hundred miles to get to the dealer. I email the Service Advisor ahead of time about the work and get an appointment. I typically stick around drinking coffee etc. They keep me advised of how its going and sometimes surprise me with work faster than expected. In any event, I view what's above as first poor customer relations and then poorly trained people. One thing I do like to do is get to know the service advisor well.

 

[EricR]

@Ford Motor Company

Is your company OK with your dealers doing this to your customers?

EDIT: I know you aren't authorized to answer such questions.

But PLEASE do what you can to elevate this situation to someone who cares and can bring this horrid practice to people with authority to make changes.

 

[HammaMan]

The factory service manual calls out the crossmember removal. Not sure if there is a work around or not.

It's due to how the exhaust is connected. Some have said simply prying the exhaust back with a prybar is enough. Unbolting the TC from its brace mount should buy enough room.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

It's due to how the exhaust is connected. Some have said simply prying the exhaust back with a prybar is enough. Unbolting the TC from its brace mount should buy enough room.

yeah, I had read that somewhere but I couldn’t find it. And I haven’t done it before so I did didn’t want to repeat something that somebody else had said.

Appreciate you expanding on that. I’m sure it will greatly help the OP and others.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

My local dealerships can't even change my oil without over torquing the filter or drain plug. I would not trust them to do this type of job properly. My plan is to find a transmission speciality shop that has already done this for many 10R80 transmissions and hopefully even a Powerboost (Powerboost just has two extra rubber tubes to keep track of and replace) and from what I am seeing, I can expect to be paying at least $600 to get it done.

There's a big difference between dealership lube techs and transmission techs at most dealerships. I personally wouldn't trust most lube techs to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide without supervision. The transmission techs have at least had additional training and have some measurable level of skill and knowledge on how to complete the job correctly. Doesn't mean that they can/do of course...

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