[DeTomaso] McLeod--standing behind their product!

[Mike Thomas]

Mike, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find that had you been a jerk in some
fashion, they wouldn't have mined charging you all of the appropriate fees
for their services, but since you're someone who approaches them from a
knowledgeable position and respects them and their product, I'm sure that
made a difference.

To bad we don't have more like you out there!

Mike 

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 12:12 AM
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] McLeod--standing behind their product!

Hi guys,

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dennis Quella was a huge proponent
of changing out the stock clutch slave cylinder and replacing the whole
monkey-motion setup with a McLeod hydraulic internal hydraulic throwout
bearing. 
  Both Jack DeRyke and I bought off on this notion, and have been running
them with success for many years (18 years in my case, with a lot of years
of sitting from time to time, which is normally doom for any sort of
hydraulic anything).

When I installed a new engine in my car this spring, I changed to an
aluminum flywheel, and never thought to check to see if it was the same
thickness 
as the old cast iron flywheel.   The setup on the hydraulic throwout bearing

is critical; if it over-travels, the seals can suffer and fail.

I got the engine installed just a few days before the POCA Fun Rally.   In 
Reno, I was disconcerted to discover a puddle of brake fluid under my 
gearbox; I had to continually top the reservoir off in order to get home.
The 
unit was functioning just fine, but it was leaking when it wasn't under
(foot) 
pressure.   After I got home, the car sat for a week and BLEAH, the fluid 
all poured out.

French POCA member Stephane Bergeron came to visit for a day in July; we
pulled my gearbox and discovered the 90-degree fittings going into the unit 
were both loose.   A-ha!   That HAD to be the source of the leak, right?
So 
we fixed that, put it all back together (again without bothering to check
the setup clearances), filled and bled it, and it worked perfectly.

Came home a week later, and BLEAH, fluid all over the carpet again.

So the car sat untouched, until just last week when Lori and I pulled the 
gearbox out.   I had spoken to the McLeod reps at the SEMA show, asking
their 
advice, and they told me to just send the unit down to them for a look-see. 
  They showed me the current-generation version, which is profoundly 
improved over the 1980s-spec version in my car.   I was tempted, but decided
to 
let them look at mine first.

I shipped it down there last week, care of "Bernie" who is their specialist 
in these things.   Bernie determined that at least one of the O-rings had 
gone bad (not unexpected after 18 years), so he totally dismantled it, 
replaced all five O-rings and seals, AND installed a brand new bearing
assembly.   
He then packed it up and UPSed it back to me, in time for me to install it
today (by coincidence, Stephane Bergeron was here again and was able to help
in the same manner he did last time).

But here's the amazing thing.   I bought this unit from Dennis Quella in 
about 1992 or 1993.   It's about a million years out of warranty.   Yet the 
McLeod guys totally rebuilt it, installed a brand new bearing AND shipped it
back to me quick-style, and charged me a big, fat ZERO for all their
work!!!!

We were very meticulous this time, took all our measurements and set the
thing up just so, then installed it, filled and bled the system, and it's
working like a champ once again.

My hat is definitely off to the McLeod guys.   It's totally unreasonable 
for them to provide all this service for absolutely no charge--even if they
are feeling charitable and decide to rebuild the unit for free, at the very 
least I should expect to pay the UPS charges.   But no--they felt compelled
to 
stand behind their product to the Nth degree.   That sort of service and 
dedication to their customers is a rare thing indeed!

I have every confidence that this thing will last me at least another 18
trouble-free years--longer most likely, since I plan to drive the car
regularly and not let it sit for years at a time!

Mike
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