TheSamba.com :: View topic - found a transmission shop in Los Angeles that fixed my Auto

Wed Aug 26, 2020 5:32 pm

I searched all around Los Angeles for a reliable and trusted transmission rebuilder for my VW Vanagon. Lomita Transmission came highly recommended by Randy from AutoMeister which is the Vanagon guru around here. Decided to give Marco a shot and wanted folks here to know since it is hard to find a Vanagon transmission expert in LA.

Marco is so knowledgeable about VW transmissions and all transmissions really. He knows every part, every bushing, every gear and simply gets it. He even sent me high resolution photos of all the tear down process as well as the rebuild process. I have never had a shop send me such detailed photos and keep me so well informed during the process. Most shops don't do rebuilding in house they send your transmission to some shady place that only replaces basic items in it and calls it a day. Lomita is unique in that they rebuild on site. They inspect and measure every component, tell you what they recommend with no pressure and accept what you can afford or want to do without hassle. Prices are honest and the work is fully transparent with the customer being informed of everything along the way. My Vanagon drives and shifts smoother than ever. FYI I used Royal Purple MAX ATF synthetic transmission fluid and Royal Purple synthetic differential oil.[/img]

Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:05 pm

Thanks for the tip! My 90 auto tranny just bit the dust and trying to find an affordable rebuild mechanic. Mind sharing how much you spent for the rebuild?

Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:07 pm

a real deal rebuild (both sections, auto and differential) with quality parts is going to be in the 2-2500 range.

anything less and you're just getting bands and clutches imho

Fri Oct 17, 2025 11:22 am

I'm going to give this place a try to repair by torque converter issues & fluid change. I'll update my experience. I'm not sure what the exact issue is, but I hope to fix the wobble my torque converter has had for 25k miles since my rebuild.

Fri Oct 17, 2025 11:51 am

I just went through the torque converter wobble issue. Had to swap to a different torque converter and they are becoming hard to come by. It is a gamble on the rebuilt units if the center bushing is still round.

Fri Oct 24, 2025 11:06 am

Here is an update so far:

I dropped my van off on Wednesday and Marco seems to be a very good and knowledgeable guy. He asked me a lot of questions about the car and we took it for a test drive.

I got a call from him this morning along with photos of the issues. The transmission is leaking, along with the engine rear main seal. The whole transmission assembly is tweaked and hitting against the transmission mount. Other issues too. He seemed very bothered with the work another shop did 2 years ago.

Anyways, he will be dropping the transmission today to get a better look and inspect it. So far, I feel that I am good hands, but I am wary due to my past experiences at other shops.

Fri Oct 24, 2025 1:07 pm

Here are a few photos from the mechanic. I was told that the entire drivetrain is screwed and that is causing the transmission mount to whack and make noise. The engine to bell housing is also not mounted properly.He also sent some other pictures of leaks.

Fri Oct 24, 2025 4:02 pm

I am getting a full transmission rebuild, Gowesty cooler, and regreased CV and boots.

I was told that some clutch packs are bad, the splines on the forward planetary are bad, and bad rear crankshaft seal. The whole drivetrain was skewed so that is being addressed too. Those guys at Al's VW shop did a really poor job 2 years ago.

On top of that, the CV boots are dry so they are getting refreshed. Are Rockford boots still the best?

Fri Oct 24, 2025 6:11 pm

I would get T3’s CV boot kits. While our Rockford boots did great by us, others with later production boots had lots and lots of premature failures.
So, viewing all that here on Samba, we went with T3 boots this time while servicing the CVs recently.

Fri Oct 24, 2025 11:32 pm

Chootrain470 wrote:

Stud is too long bc your engine came from a manual transmission van. They didn' cut the stud or replace them, just got lazy when they found out upon assembly.

Your transmission mount is prolly mounted in the wrong set of holes on the chassis, there's 2 sets/loctions: one for manual, one for automatic. Easy fix.

Here are a few photos from the mechanic. I was told that the entire drivetrain is screwed and that is causing the transmission mount to whack and make noise. The engine to bell housing is also not mounted properly.He also sent some other pictures of leaks.