Dealer Technician Drops, Cracks, Welds and Attempts to Stuff Transmission Back in Land Rover Without Telling Customer

The “Just Rolled Into The Shop” subreddit usually shows an array of some of the worst maintained vehicles that customers bring into shops — but a post today showed negligence isn’t solely limited to those bringing in vehicles for service or repair.

User Valkyrier posted a picture of a welded transmission and explained the circumstances: that a dealership technician dropped and damaged it during an engine replacement and was planning to reinstall it … after welding it back together … without telling the vehicle’s owner.

According to Valkyrier, the vehicle is a Land Rover, which came in for an in-warranty engine replacement. The tech removed the engine and transmission from the car and accidentally dropped them both, causing the transmission case to crack.

Management was involved at some point and drug tested the technician in question because of the incident. Instead of replacing the transmission, they instructed the mechanic in question to weld it back together and not tell the customer.

The exact vehicle was not specified, but I was able to match the picture to a transmission of a 2010-2012 Land Rover LR2.

If the report is accurate, management of this service department may be engaging in fraud or, at the very least, violating its agreement with Jaguar Land Rover corporate. Thankfully, the whistle blower appears to have already notified JLR’s corporate office and is currently awaiting an answer. He also believes he won’t have a job at the dealership once this is all said and done.

Even if this wasn’t a complete failure of providing appropriate service and standing behind its mistakes, the repaired transmission is likely toast.

The welded piece appears to be tilted. The surface where the transmission pan seals is no longer straight and will likely leak upon being filled with transmission fluid. The valve body, which is shown on the left, contains solenoids and other small components that are sensitive and likely damaged.

Welding a transmission case is usually not recommended since the aluminum will be coated in potentially flammable fluid that needs to be baked out in order to weld. The heat can also make the surface susceptible to warping, which can lead to leaks or issues with clearances for components inside the transmission. In this case, the transmission is still fully assembled with electronics that may have not survived the drop, and are even less likely to survive the heat from welding.

Most of the technicians and other visitors replying to the thread are urging Valkyrier to report the parties responsible for the hack job repair, and giving him praise and support for taking action.

I am a bit skeptical of some of the claims since it appears that the case was TIG welded and I do not believe that a TIG welder is a common dealership service tool. I contacted Valkyrier to confirm some details and verify the claims, but have yet to receive a response.

TTAC has reached out to Jaguar Land Rover and we’ll post an update as soon as we hear back.

h/t to Logan Attwood

[Image: Valkyrier/Reddit]