DIY REPAIR PROPOSITION

ATP Industries Group of Cannock, Staffordshire, started repairing automatic gearboxes on privately-imported American cars in the 1960s. Today, it remanufactures the latest gearboxes for a number of car manufacturers. Being our technical assistant for this feature, the pictorial guide shows how to strip down a typical front/four-wheel drive transverse gearbox, followed by the reassembly of a rear-wheel drive layout.

“While car manufacturers say that they make their own transmissions, the truth is that this is the exception rather than the rule,” says Adrian Aston, ATP’S Technical Director. “Each transmission tends to come from a specialist gearbox producer, which manufactures a series of gearboxes and adapts them to each make and model’s requirements. These companies include ZF, Jatco, Aisin AW, Renault/psa and the American carmakers General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. Car manufacturers tend not to stick with just one supplier, either.”

Mr Aston says that ATP’S remanufacturing process results in a transmission that is better than new, because common faults have been identified in real-world use, which has led to ATP engineering its own solutions.

He adds that the technically-aware car owner should realise that DIY repairs are almost impossible to execute cost-effectively, meaning that they should prioritise correct maintenance and be swift to diagnose faults.