Does anyone know what the consequences are of putting motor oil into an automatic transmission? Specifically a GM front wheel drive 3 speed automatic (the 125C). Someone I know had their transmission fluid changed, and the shop that did it put motor oil into it by accident. I don't know how you can make such a dumb mistake but that is what they did. Now the transmission is making whining noises.
Is the transmission salvageable? Can you just flush out the oil and replace it with auto transmission fluid, and it will be OK? What does that do to the friction material in the transmission?
Probably not, unless the car was driven a significant distance. Originally ATF back in the 40s and early 50s was simply 20W non-detergent motor oil, until application specific ATFs were developed. Most modern ATFs are still somewhat similar to motor oil, just with special friction modifiers, different additive packages, etc.
That said, the shop SHOULD flush and fill the trans at no charge and should offer some sort of warranty against failure on the unit, because they did screw up.
ATF is a lower viscosity, and has attributes of hydraulic fluid.
The whining noise you are hearing, I'm sure is the pump cavatating, due to the oil being too thick to go through the filter. If the car was driven over maybe 40 miles, the transmission is toast.
I would suggest it gets a cleaner type flush, and two cycles of clean fluid ran through it.
But, what Nate and Marshy said are agreeable, plus. Marshy is a transmission specialist.
The shop won't own up to what they did! They said they didn't do it, and all they'll do is rebuild the transmission for something like $1400! The only good part is I think the car has only been driven like 10 or
15 miles since this happened. The owner is my friend's mom who is a woman in her 70s, and they just won't won't listen to her. I'm not sure what my friend is going to do about it or how far he'll take it.
If it was only driven 10 miles, I'd have it flushed and refilled, and send a bill to the first shop. Have the shop that does the work document what appears to come out of it. If it is indeed motor oil, never go back to the first shop, and tell them why.
Yes, definitely get a Shop B involved. Their receipts are a very powerful Exhibit A.
You'll probably spend a lot less time, money and frustration getting sharp with how your local small claims court process works than trying to resolve issues with a bunch of proven morons. How on earth could someone with half a brain cell get the tranny fill mixed up with the oil fill? You'd have to both high and retarded, IMO, or have absolutely zero experience with cars.
Another option is a BBB report (they will report a negative if there is no satisfactory resolution) and the district manager - some manager 1 up from the store level. I've resolved a few problems using these avenues as well.
My last tale is one of where in 5 - 10 mins, while getting new tires, the mech. put a jack through my body, stripped my lugs, forgot to install parts I bought, broke some of my wheel trim, and all tires leaked because they didn't bother to remove corrosion from where the beads sit. I walked and told the manager I didn't want any of his retards near my car trying to "fix" the problems, causing further damage. I informed BBB and district manager. They paid over $400 to a body shop and another 150-200 to a sane shop where I got things fixed right. Simple. Always avoid arguing with the source of your problems - 99% of the time they will only create more.
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