German Transaxle Visit

[elise111]

I had a chance to visit Ken at German Transaxle while touring through Bend, OR. I redid my trans down in SoCal previously, and I considered GT at the time. It was a fair amount of $ in shipping to send it up and back, so I elected to go with a local shop that is well known for EV transmissions. Having been through the rebuild process in detail and now having seen GT in person, I would recommend GT.

I had a look at their transmission dyno- it is impressive. They have the ability to mount the trans in the dyno and load it up to simulate hill climbs, etc. They regularly see issues with even new solenoids and ribbon cables. Since they do 90% of their business shipping trannies to shops, this is a good way to confirm success. You don’t have to R&R the tranny to replace ribbon cables and solenoids, but I still think acceptance testing the whole complex assembly before installation is the right way to go. I am a mechanical engineer and work in the automotive powertrain component development business- I really appreciate the approach.

Ken has also developed a supplier that is rebuilding the Transmission Control Units (TCU). I haven’t heard of other shops with either of these capabilities.

The shop was well organized and they have a long history with this 01P transmission design.

[TFB777]

This post is very reassuring as my tranny was just rebuilt by German Transaxle. There are so few places left in the US that have the true expertise and skills to keep our beloved Eurovans alive and running.

[murso74]

would be great if they could beef it up to handle forced induction.