IF YOU BUY ATS AUTO TRANS BEWARE

I have a 97 ford f250 with 6 inches of lift, a TS proformance 6 pos flip chip, Afe intake, and 6inch custom stacks. I had purchased a Ats High Proformance trans and had nothing but troubles. When I first installed the trans I had no manual 2nd gear. I live in minnesota and got a local trans shop to fix the problem with permission from Ats. My truck was down for 1 month. This was due ats not calling back my trans shop. I had to call numerious times to get things rolling. The worst part was Ats stiffed them and would not pay the bill in full. It took them a while but they evenually paid up. The second problem I had was the 5 star torque convertor started sliping in a hard pull. I had to send the trans to colardo to get fixed. I had to pay an additional 2000 dollars to get it fixed and sent back to me. They had to refurbish the convertor fix the pump and replace cluch packs. They said it was my fault that this happened. They said it was an alinment problem and maybe a bent flywheel. They tried to sell me an 800 dollar builit flywheel. My truck does not produce that high power to justify the price. I had bought a stock ford flywheel and spacer. When my trans came back the crate it was on was full of atf fluid and the straping they used to tie it down was fine but the self taping eye screws were pullout of the PARTICAL BOARD.(Who uses partical board on a pallet!?) The trans was floping around the card board box that enclosed it. The trans look fine no cracks that we could see. So I installed it. 400 miles later my truck wouldnt start. The starter was pinched due to the cracked bell housing. I called Ats up and explained to them what happened. I took me a week to get a call from them to say they werent going to do anything. And that it was not there fault the trans was damaged during shipping. My truck sat for about 4 months. I was really sick over the whole ordeal and lost all ambishion and money was tight at the time to fix it. Finally in december i pulled it out and found out it was a fixable crack and I had it welded up by R&R Metalworks. I reinstalled the trans and found another hair line crack on the back side of the trans where the pressure for forward and Reverse was routed to. Ats will not send me a new case so i have to buy a new case and transfer everything using my money. There warranty is only as good as the paper it is wrote on. I will never buy anything from them and they will never touch my trans again. So i hope you dont make the same mistake and buy an ats trans. 3 year warranty my A**.  

Thats good to know. Sorry you had to be the guinea pig. I think biggest bang for the buck is the suncoast and if you have more money than god then have NADP do it. I met a guy that had NADP do his and he was with out a tranny for six weeks and it cost $8600 for a street driven truck. Little too rich for my blood!  
2006 Dodge ram 2500 Crew cab short bed, K&N intake, Bully Dog Triple Dog W/ Crazy Larry, Quadzilla boost fooler, Boost & Pyro on A-Pillar, Magnaflow Exhaust.


NEVER ARGUE WITH A IDIOT, THEY WILL LOWER YOU DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL AND BEAT YOU WITH EXPERIENCE!!!

Come on know banks have lots of money  

not for guys like me that already has to much of their money  
2006 Dodge ram 2500 Crew cab short bed, K&N intake, Bully Dog Triple Dog W/ Crazy Larry, Quadzilla boost fooler, Boost & Pyro on A-Pillar, Magnaflow Exhaust.


NEVER ARGUE WITH A IDIOT, THEY WILL LOWER YOU DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL AND BEAT YOU WITH EXPERIENCE!!!

Not good to hear Spear22! I own a 2001 F350 with a $5300 ATS tranny. I hope I don't run into the issues you have. I plan on running this summer in the truck pulls! Sorry you had the problems.  
2001 F350 PSD CCLB SRW, 4" MBRP exhaust, ATS Stage 3 Auto trans and Predator programer.

ya i know what you mean. i put an ATS basic tranny in my 96 dodge. 1 month later the input shaft snapped. i had very few powerupgrades maybe on a good day running 250hp, and never tow anything. they whined and moaned about me have more power than stock. i said i dont give a *** its been in there a month thats bullcrap. so i paid for shipping and the billet input shaft just a mere $1200 bucks, at least they paid for labor. but ya i get the dont call back thing, i had to be on that guy like a fly on *** to get anything done. he assured me that warranty issues got pushed to the front of the line but it took them a whole week to put an input shaft in????? so finally exactly 1 month later i get the tranny back and put it back in that night. just frustrating.  
1996 Ram 2500 reg. cab longbox, #6 plate, 191 Deliver valves, 60 hp injectors, star wheel turned up a lot, AFE Stage 2 intake into a Phat Shaft 62 wastgate set at 40 psi, 4" straight pipe, Auto Meter Gauges, ATS tranny and TC (unfortunately), Dick Cepek FC-II A/T 265 LR16 (good tires). FS-2500 Bypass Filter. The only hands that work on my truck are my own.

Member - Blowin' Smoke Gang

Thanks for the info. I know now i won't deal with them when my stock tranny goes out.  
afe stage 1,#10 fuel plate,bd torque lock,rear suspension air
bags,4"turbo back exhaust,banks twin ram,line-x,windows tinted,3000 rpm governor springs,3guage a-piller and more to come.4"exhaust straight piped,turbo silencer ring mia,"member-blowin-smoke gang"

That sucks, I'm glad you guys told me about ATS, cause they advertised alot in DIESEL POWER and I mite have them do a rebuilt. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.  
2008 F250 SUPER-CAB 6.4 PSD 2WD 1999 F250 super-cab 7.3 PSD 2WD(sold)
MEMBER- BLOWIN' SMOKE GANG Commerative Heart

I've been hearing more and more negative experiences involving ATS. Hell, back when I first started my turbo hunting, I spent 2-3 weeks emailing or calling ATS just to get some info on their turbos and whether or not they would work with my turbo-mount Jake Brake. I never got a response back from anyone. We're talking a dozen ignored emails and 8-10 unreturned phone calls (went to voicemail). You'd would have figured someone would have at least taken the time to respond in order to brag-up their junk. My last email and voice mailed phone call explained that if their customer service is that bad they can't even take the time to answer a simple question about their own product, then they can take said product and pack it in their A$$! Sorry you had to dish out so much time, money and aggravation to find out ATS's customer service ain't worth a damn.  
2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie 4x4. H.O. Cummins, 6spd manual trans, 4.10 gearing. Intake, Exhaust, Hot Juice, HTT HTB2 62/12/65, Jake Brake, 305-65R17 (33 x 12.50) Pro-Comp Extreme All Terrains, SBC Con O FE, Fuel Tank Vent Mod,  Various other gizmos.


I-6 Cummins guys are keepin' it straight. Those other boys swing both ways.

im sorry to hear about how bad ats is i was working to buy one of there ats 3000 turbos but after all this i dont think i would ever buy from them. I think someone should get in touch with diesel power and find out whats going on i know there just a magazine but they should have some kinda pull some of us need this kind of infor. for who to do business with and it want be ats ever. Thanks for the infor.  Does any one know of a turbo about the same size of a good company to buy from i hate to end up with something I could not use or miss my truck up  
2001 dodge with 5in exhaust k@n intake with edge comp box,2in leveling, added holley blue lift pump kit member-"Blowing Smoke Gang" Ranchhand bumbers

i put a phat shaft 62 on my 12 valve from Industrial Injection in Salt Lake City. It doesnt spool up quite as fast as the stock turbo but it has a fantastic top end. i was running 40 psi with the stock turbo, and when it starting burning oil i knew she was bad. took off the downpipe and sure enough there was a constant oil drip from the turbo. interesting though the 40 psi from the stock turbo still had a lot of black smoke leaving the exhaust, but 40 psi with the phat shaft and there is no more smoke! plus it hits 40 psi a lot sooner and with less throttle. there is an allen head screw in the wastegate elbow to adjust boost levels. i talked to a tech he said that he has seen 60 psi with that turbo but that is on the borderline of overspeeding. the only complaint i have is that they get their housings cast elsewhere. so it took them a month to get mine to me because the shipment of housings was backordered. it wasnt their fault but they were really apologetic and always took my calls and called back if necessary. they seem like a good company.  
1996 Ram 2500 reg. cab longbox, #6 plate, 191 Deliver valves, 60 hp injectors, star wheel turned up a lot, AFE Stage 2 intake into a Phat Shaft 62 wastgate set at 40 psi, 4" straight pipe, Auto Meter Gauges, ATS tranny and TC (unfortunately), Dick Cepek FC-II A/T 265 LR16 (good tires). FS-2500 Bypass Filter. The only hands that work on my truck are my own.

Member - Blowin' Smoke Gang

It came down to High Tech Turbo and Industrial Injection for me. I still haven't bought one. Both companies have been great to talk to and each has been very knowledgeable in their product and very eager to help in any way (i got a response back from both companies within a few hours of sending my question!). I have posted II vs. HHT questions on several performance diesel forums and no one has anything negative to say about either company or the products they offer.

I have narrowed my choices down to either the II Phat Shaft 62 or HTT's HTB2. I told them I needed a very efficient turbo that would match, if not better, the fuel economy of my stocker, while still being able to hold together when I crank the Hot Juice up (+150hp/400lb.-ft). Many owners of both of these turbos have reported a mpg increase during simple highway cruising and both still move enough air to support 525-550 rwhp with reasonable EGT's.  
2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie 4x4. H.O. Cummins, 6spd manual trans, 4.10 gearing. Intake, Exhaust, Hot Juice, HTT HTB2 62/12/65, Jake Brake, 305-65R17 (33 x 12.50) Pro-Comp Extreme All Terrains, SBC Con O FE, Fuel Tank Vent Mod,  Various other gizmos.


I-6 Cummins guys are keepin' it straight. Those other boys swing both ways.

My name is Bryan and I work for ATS.  The original transmission that came in for repair had burned up clutch packs.  This was due to the pump bushing being sucked out which was caused by a misalignment issue.  The torque converter rode on the pump bushing/bearing and needs to have a perfect amount of space surrounding it for fluid flow.  When something is misaligned, there is no space and it starts binding on the bushing just like spinning a rod bearing on a motor.  There is certain amount of clearance that you need to have.  

Now transmission can have something misaligned because of the numerous possibilities.  Bad motor mounts, bad transmission mounts, alignment dowels crushed or misaligned,  mis-tabbing the TC on the transmission, misalignment of pilot hole in the flex plate or just a bad flex plate.

In regards to the transmission arriving with the bell housing cracked, we probably all have had motors or different products shipped via pallet.  There is insurance with the shipping company and we always package everything to the best ability we have.  We use ½” plywood and NOT particleboard. When products arrive of that nature and everything is in the state Mr. Spear mentioned, wouldn't you notice a crack on the bell housing?  Mind you, this crack is pretty big.  If anyone wants I can post pictures on photobucket or send them to your personal email.  I doubt that once you check out the pictures that you would have a hard time not calling the shipper or ATS to let them know how the part arrived..

We have insurance but we cannot wait 4 months to claim a cracked bell housing.  Especially after it was installed by a technician.  I mean, how can you miss that crack of this size and why would you install it in the first place?????

Now, if he signed for it as “damaged", we told him that everything would be covered in that case because it is insured.   However, he says he just signed for it but did not call either the shipper (Con-Way) or the manufacturer ATS and inform anyone of the state of the package, nor has a copy of the signed “damaged" bill of lading been received.    Imagine if this came up, a customer calls you after a couple MONTHS , AFTER it was INSTALLED and claim that the bell housing was cracked without calling the shipper, without calling ATS and without having any proof that he signed for it damaged.  I mean that's pretty hard to fathom.  However we will take care of it if that's what he signed.  Just please get us the paperwork stating that it was “damaged” and everything will be taken care of.  That is all we are waiting on at this point.

Not everything is as appears and there are two sides to every story.  

First of all ATS guy. The customer is always right.
You need to be a little more sensitive. We love our trucks.

To all the guys who want a bullit proof trans. Buy Suncoast. Mine had a defective 45 element spag. Took 5 days to troubleshoot and 3 days to install a new trans at Bryden's Auto in Arizona. The broken trans was returned. All charges paid by Suncoast no questions.
Suncoast head mechanic built and inspected the new trans before shipping it to me. He called an offered his sincere apology. He wanted to be sure the 45 element spag was bad. He said this never happens. I have not had any problems since.
Suncoast also offers 5 clutch converters, but does not recommend them for the road. They work too good.  

THAT'S WHAT YOU CALL EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE !!! LET ME LOG THAT DOWN, SUNCOAST, THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION  
2008 F250 SUPER-CAB 6.4 PSD 2WD 1999 F250 super-cab 7.3 PSD 2WD(sold)
MEMBER- BLOWIN' SMOKE GANG Commerative Heart