Thumbs up for AM Bulaong. It wasn't a perfect experience but I'm happy.
Went there Thursday 8:30 AM. Leonard took the car on a test drive. I just came from Makati so the tranny was warmed up and not acting up that much. Leonard however noticed delays between shifts. He recommended replacing the tranny.
Tranny was taken down and the new one fitted by lunch time. Would have been go for a test drive already but the radiator (thankfully) chose that exact same day to break the top tank so I waited for 3 more hours and had a tanso top tank fabricated.
Finally finished 5PM and drove to Makati. Shifts were ok with a slight intermittent delay engaging 3rd gear. A lot better than my old unit though. However when I reached Greenbelt 1 parking the tranny was sliding like hell and had a hard time reaching the 2nd floor. Got myself a parking space and got down to the sight of ATF all over the floor. It was so bad the roving guard called my attention thinking that I ran over somebody. Called Leonard up and he apologized for the goof. He told me to refill with ATF and bring the car back in the next day. Walked to SM, got 4 liters of ATF, a section of hose, and a watering can (funnels out of stock), refilled with 2 liters ATF, waited til 9PM to avoid traffic, and drove nervously all the way back to San Juan.
Refilled with 1 liter ATF on Friday and drove to Banawe early morning. The diagnosis was a busted axle shaft seal and a minor leak around the oil pan. They tried a surplus shaft seal but after another leak test it still leaked. A new shaft seal finally solved the issue. Lesson learned: insist on having the seals replaced on a surplus tranny. Drove home after lunch and checked for leaks. Garage floor was clean. Drove to the office and checked again for leaks. Nada. Good. I'll be back in a month for filter cleaning and ATF change.
AM Bulaong is a father and son run shop (with the occasional Orange County Choppers dialogue thrown in every now and then). Dad takes care of pulling apart and reassembling trannies. He makes reassembling a pile of spacers, bearings, solenoids and clutches look easy. When I was there they had a 2nd gen RAV4, a 2006 CVT City, a Suzuki Esteem, and a fellow Tsikoteer's Revo all with tranny problems. Another customer brought in a 2004 Civic transmission that was recently overhauled. When they opened it up the ATF had the look and consistency of wet cement. Needless to say it had to be replaced.
Deciding between repairing and replacing a transmission is a case to case basis. The usual ATF repair kit contains just the clutch discs and oil seals. If it's a sliding tranny, burnt ATF, or leaking seals then an overhaul is recommended. However a tranny also has solenoids and valves that will break down. When that happens replacing the whole tranny is sometimes easier and cheaper than just replacing the bad part.
Overall verdict: Recommended
They're easy to talk with, they work relatively fast, and they're conscious of customer satisfaction knowing that they live on referrals and that online forums will make or break them.