My Syncro was hit while parked, UPDATE 4/1/14

alijonny · Last edited by alijonny on Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:26 pm; edited 2 times in total

So today around noon, some lady in a Chrysler Town and Country decided to do a u-turn in my shop's parking lot. She apparently didn't see my Syncro parked among the other cars and backed into it. I did not see the crash, but heard the thud. She almost drove off, but I was looking to see what she hit, then noticed my rippled rear bumper. SHOOT. She bent the rear bumper on the right and pushed the bumper bracket upwards. Both plastic ends are cracked and the strip is waved.

She then backed up and told me "I only bumped it", I said "You hit my parked van!" So I called the police and made a report, got her insurance info, the officer made it and the girl left.

Come 1:30ish, I get in my van to go get lunch, and press in the clutch and fire it up. All good. I go to put it in reverse, NOTHING. There are no gears, it seems stuck in 4th, or half way because if I pull the shifter back it will grind, otherwise it acts as if it's in neutral.

Now, I know I put the van in 4th after I parked it this morning at the shop, blame habit from driving my F-150 and shoving it into reverse when I park. I didn't think about it and threw the van into 4th, which my brain thought was reverse ( I didn't have coffee yet).
I drove the van about 1000 miles since I bought it with no problem. It drove fine yesterday, it drove fine this morning, but after the "bump" it will not shift right. I had it towed from my parking lot to my shop bay. Sad

I was planning to drivie it home tonight, but now I need to wait for a ride.

I checked the linkage, and nothing is bent, everything seems proper. What could this "bump" have caused? I am in a very depressed mood now. I have some money sunk into this van so far and now it's stuck. HELP!

Crankey · Samba Member Joined: July 11, 2004 Posts: 2659

sounds like something is wedged in the gearbox due to the impact. I'm no expert and I don't have a syncro but she is clearly 100% at fault imho.

if you can't drive in public without 'bumping' other peoples property get off the road.

good luck. hope you have a good shop in your area. and a lawyer to help if needed.

levi · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 3:34 pm Post subject:

damn, sorry to hear about the problems.... Sad

How about some more details though.

Is it currently stuck in 4th, sounds like you say it might be in neutral, or maybe neutral and 4th are all that's available?

Will it shift into any gear at all with the engine running?

When you shut the engine off, does it shift into any gear at all?
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Syncronoid · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 3:35 pm Post subject:

The good news is that it wasn't your fault and she has insurance. You may be without your van for a time, but if it's internal to the transaxle, you'll get yourself a rebuild for free.
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IdahoDoug · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 4:23 pm Post subject:

Sounds like she got unlucky and cracked the 3/4 gear slider and her insurance co will be writing AATransaxle a $4500 check for a rebuild. I'd guess the impact pulled the transmission slightly out of 4th gear then the syncros drivetrain ran out of slack after a slight roll forward and the force of 9000lbs of combined vehicles crushed it. Pretty expensive 'bump' when the ins co also pays for a bumper n brackets too.
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r39o · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 5:06 pm Post subject:

alijonny · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 5:37 pm Post subject:

Well, I can get it into fourth. It will bog down and die, of course. I can get it out of fourth and it just kinda whirs. Pull it back ever so slightly, and it grinds. So, it's in neutral and rolls, but it is not going into neutral. There is no shift pattern at all. Engine off is basically the same. I don't want to try and force the shifter at all. I put some force to see if it would break loose, but I could clearly see the shifter bending.
Funny thing is that I JUST called AA last night about third gear and talked for a bit to Daryl about pricing a rebuild. I'm just afraid the insurance co will play games with me since I own an auto repair shop. I will not allow anyone else to touch it besides someone specifically repairing these types of transaxles.

And down time... Crying or Very sad

it's been my DD since I plated it.

shadetreetim · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 5:52 pm Post subject:

That sucks. Sorry to hear about your Syncro.
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danfromsyr · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:07 pm Post subject:

you should be able to specify the repair shop and if you can't then find a Trans shop that will pull it send it to an "Vanagon Syncro Transmission Specialist" and re install it.
her insurance &/or yours should cover a rental for your loss of daily transportation.

leaving a transmission in gear does put it at risk of this type of physical gear damage from impact.. especially if it was in 4th gear. that's alot of leverage that the impact has against the small gears (high ratio)
would have been better in 1st or Rev.. but that's not any guarantee either.

it essentially tried to turn the motor from the force of a dodge caravan in in 4th gear with the leverage of the tires/final drive.. if someone was good with compound math would be quite an impressive amount of force against the gears in a direction they're not designed to handle it.. if the force can't turn the gear it pushes out on it sideways.. and well the weakest link will break.
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JeffRobenolt · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:31 pm Post subject:

Don't try to drive and make the core not rebuildable.

Sucks but lucky.

Jeff
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IdahoDoug · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:41 pm Post subject:

No insurance can 'give you crap' cause you own a shop! Did they give you discounted premiums because you own a shop so later they could have the expectation you'd repair any mechanical claims at a discount to them? No. Its no different than if you had a Porsche trans cracked on a curb impact due to being hit. They dont get to insist it be repaired at a Sears Auto Center because its cheaper than the Porsche dealer. Your car is relatively rare and that trans requires special tools to repair that even VW dealers no longer have. The trans should go to the shop that will succesfully repair it, not to one that has never touched one.
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r39o · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 7:50 pm Post subject:

Adjusters are aware that there can be drive train issues from parked collisions as well as moving ones.

Get your comps going lest they attempt to total it.

Get all receipts together....you rebuilt a lot already, right?

They WILL lowball you.

To them it is NOT a specialty vehicle.

Be nice, but stand your ground.

Don't let them just process you.

DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING RIGHT AWAY.

Review it ALL.

Be ready for a long ride.

This WILL be a pita.

Good luck......
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Jon_slider · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:15 pm Post subject:

really sorry to hear about your down time, glad its got insurance coverage from the other paty

I dont park in gear for the reason you are experiencing

call Daryl back, describe your symptoms, and he will probably tell you what happened, and to send him the tranny

Insurance adjusters are paid to reduce their company losses, if possible get a lawyer instead of dealing directly with the adjuster, who does this every day, and will run circles around you.

Only problem, with no personal injury, a lawyer wont see any money in it for himself, there is no 33% take for him on mechanical damage, so expect to pay him by the hour. Though you may recover his cost on your claim.

Good luck, and look forward to your refreshed rebuilt tranny

The down time may suck, and the grief, but you just got handed a free rebuild, and a new bumper without needing chiropractic.. Consider the GoWesty Steel bumpers with a tow hitch, and stick a ball on it so the next fool bumping you eats it worse than you. And stop parking in gear, any gear.
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Syncromikey · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:07 am Post subject:

X2 ... sorry about the bad luck. That really sucks! Insurance should definitely cover it and I would INSIST tha Daryl at AAtransaxle do the work for you. He's the only one, many on here would agree, that I personally would trust to work on my Transaxle. When I had mine done I loaded it up in my car and drove 1300km to drop it off.
Best of luck getting it all sorted.

Mike
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SyncroGhia · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 1:24 pm Post subject:

If the van was in gear and then was hit, the impact has probably sheared the teeth off 4th gear and you're into a rebuild.

I've only just seen this but if I had seen it before, I would have said do not tow it as you'll do more damage.

I have seen this once before and it just takes all of teeth off and you have to replace both the shift and fixed gear along with anything else that has been damaged as a result.

MG
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Syncronoid · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:30 pm Post subject:

Since you mentioned AA, does anyone know if Daryl is personally rebuilding the transaxles or is his assistant(s) doing some of them?

Jake de Villiers · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 4:50 pm Post subject:

alijonny · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:06 pm Post subject:

syncrodoka · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:16 pm Post subject:

Don't forget to mention loss of use of vehicle. I got a check for a few hundred dollars for that when a lady decided to go through a red light and smash one of my vans.

alijonny · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:48 pm Post subject:

I sat on my phone for about an hour waiting to talk to someone, and finally got a claim number. There is supposed to be an adjuster coming out to look at the van, so I am now waiting for that. Also, they have to talk with the owner of the other van to determine who was at fault (WHAT!?).

They said I could rent a car and they would reimburse me for $21.95 a day if I needed transportation. I told them that this vehicle is a camper, would they cover me renting a camper van? They couldn't answer that. I mentioned the weekends I will be losing out on camping this coming up summer along with a trip my wife and I had planned to get out to Yellowstone Nat'l park. for the 4th of July, they gave no promises until they could figure out what was going on Confused

So, for now, I have to commute with my dad to and from work , or have my wife come and get me. I live 35 miles from work. Crying or Very sad

Things could be waay worse I suppose...


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