The car started jerking and I could feel every gear shifting. The shift points also changed drastically.
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It all started back in August 2022, when I suddenly saw a “Gearbox Malfunction, you can continue driving” code on the dashboard. The car was shifting properly and everything was essentially okay with the gearbox. In an ideal situation, I should have got the sensors checked or maybe looked for electrical issues.
I was very naive and gullible back then, I did a quick Google search and found that the transmission can be reset using some simple steps. I followed the instructions and boom, the transmission stopped working altogether. I was not able to put my car into D or R and it would always get stuck on N, unless I was able to move the shifter within the first second of turning the ignition on. The car started jerking and I could feel every gear shifting. The shift points also changed drastically. I am to date not sure about why the car always got stuck on N, but the jerking and other issues were actually the symptoms of CVT adapting itself. I did not know it back then.
I went to my so-called trusted mechanic in Andheri West named Danish, who cheated me left, right and centre over the next few months. I got the car towed to Danish’s garage on a flatbed and he started the diagnostics. For 2 days he did not tell me what exactly was going on with the car. Please do not make the mistake of dropping your car somewhere if you do not completely trust the mechanic. I made this mistake and paid a heavy price for it. As Danish wasn’t giving me any updates, I called up his assistant and he hesitantly told me “Sir your car is working perfectly, there are no codes, all we did was flush the transmission fluid and refill it”. I was super happy on hearing this. But this was just the beginning of the nightmare.
On the same evening, Danish called me up and told me that there is something wrong with the valve body of my gearbox and it needed to be replaced. I trusted him like a fool and told him to go ahead with it. He claimed that he salvaged the part for me and gave me a 9 months warranty. He also shared the part photos with me. I felt suspicious as the valve body did not look similar to the valve body that goes on an Audi CVT (0AW Multitronic Transmission). But I somehow got convinced that he has done what he is claiming, completely my fault, I agree.
The car was working fine and everything was hunky-dory for the next few months. Cut to October and the gearbox started feeling very jerky again. I am assuming that the adaptation was not completely done last time and the TCM started the adaptation process again. I wasn’t aware of something like this. The car did not throw any codes and I got used to driving it with the jerks. But then one fine day, I gave my car to a valet, which I usually don’t, but over here I did not have a choice. When he was returning the car to me from the parking, there was an uphill slope and you have to be very careful with a CVT and let the clutch engage before going hard on the accelerator. This nincompoop floored my car on a slope and I heard a huge thud. I am assuming that the flywheel broke, but I am still not sure what exactly happened.
After this incident, the worse days of my transmission had begun. I went to Danish again and he suggested that he will have to open up the gearbox. He told me that he would change the clutches and everything would be okay. He promised to deliver the car to me within 5 days. Please note opening up a CVT transmission requires a lot of expertise and not everyone is equipped to handle such a complex transmission.
Danish disassembled the entire transmission and the parts were spread all across his garage. It hurt my heart to see the car like this. I used to go there every day to check my car and there was no sign of good news. On day 2 he tells me that he doesn’t have the necessary tools to open the gearbox completely, but he had opened the casing already. He assured me that a gearbox expert would visit his garage and work on this the next day. This never happened, my gearbox was left open there and nobody came for a whole week.
Then one day suddenly, I get a call from Danish “Sir WhatsApp pe video dekho, BMC waalo ne mera garage tod diya” which translates to “Sir please open your WhatsApp, my garage was razed by the BMC”. I was shocked, shattered and did not know how to react. Luckily, they managed to move all the cars out of the garage. Which also included one of my very good friends’ ML250. But in my case, the car had no gearbox at all. They hurriedly put all the child parts of the gearbox in my car’s trunk and it was parked close to the debris of his illegal garage. I was in tears that day. Although, there was no damage to my car, I knew that the worse days have begun.
A little bit of backstory, my wife was 7 pregnant back then and this is the only car that I drive. It was sacrosanct for me to get the car fixed at the earliest. Danish asked me to tow the car to his friend’s garage in Navi Mumbai and I did. The incident happened on a Saturday and I was assured that the work on my car would begin on Monday. But apparently, this was a false promise. The workshop that he sent my car to was a professional workshop and they refused to touch the transmission in this condition. They did not want to take any responsibility and liability for it, and I don’t blame them for it. They were kind enough to allow me to let my car be parked there but denied working on it.
Then I called up someone else who was ready to reassemble the transmission for me and promised to make it work again. I again towed the car to Lower Parel, this time again it was a local mechanic. The n number of mistakes that I made, this one turned out to be one of the costliest too. This guy had my car with him for 15 days and asked me to source some child parts for the gearbox which are very difficult to find. I used to roam in the streets of Kurla car part market to try and salvage these parts. But I was successful in doing it, then on day 15, he somehow managed to assemble the gearbox but the car was in limp mode. This was again a Saturday evening.
This is where the negative aspect of my story ends and better things come my way. I found Harjeet Singh Sehmbi’s number from Google and he told me that he had a ready transmission that he would replace. I told him that my wife is pregnant and coincidentally, at that time his wife was pregnant too. This created a connection between us. He empathised with me and understood how difficult it can be during this time to be without a car. Harjeet promised me that I would be driving my car home on Wednesday. I was told that I would not have to pay a single penny to him if I was not satisfied with how the transmission worked. He called me for a trial at his workshop in Madh Island on Tuesday, and this was one of the happiest days in between the past few dark days that I went through. My car, which I love like a family member, was functional again. He put the life back into my car. FNGs who walk the talk are very difficult to find in a country like ours. There are only a few good ones and Harjeet Singh Sehmbi’s Sehmbi Transmission is one of them.
It is necessary to understand that fixing a transmission to perfection takes a lot of hard work and a lot of long trials. I had to take my car back to Harjeet a couple of times for some minor adjustments, which were all covered under warranty. Throughout the process, he made sure that even the minor niggles that I had with my transmission get resolved.
Thanks to Harjeet, I was able to bring my daughter home in her papa’s red car.
Now focusing on my review of Sehmbi Transmission. I would like to put this on record that these guys are hands-down one of the best when it comes to repairing an automatic transmission, be it CVT, DSG, AMT, IVT or any other type of transmission. The way things were handled was beyond my expectations.
I have driven the car for 7000 km since then and touchwood, the drive has been nothing short of perfection. The last 7 months have passed without seeing a single fault code on my dashboard.
P.S: Harjeet is a 3rd generation professional who is in this business and I think this is what made most of the difference.
Keyword: How I repaired the CVT gearbox of my Audi A6 & gave it a new life