As a dedicated transmission professional Rick Basta, owner of Transmission Kings, knows the secret to a successful shop is dependable performance and satisfied customers. That’s why he rebuilds with TransTec®.

No surprises. Buy a TransTec® kit and you can bet the bank that all the parts required for the job are there and that they all fit. It’s no accident; our engineering department, product development and technical staffs, plus a proven QA system, combine to give you the assurance you can’t get anywhere else.

Manufactured to meet the strictest OE standards, TransTec® kits contribute to a faster rebuild with virtually no comebacks. And detailed technical inserts reinforce what the technicians learn at various seminars. These are just a few reasons why transmis-sion rebuilders request “the kit in the gold and black bag”.

TransTec® kits are produced by Freuden-berg-NOK™, the American partnership with more than $6 billion in resources. Yet it is the close, personal support that impresses transmission shops like Rick’s.

TransTec® makes it easy.

Rick Basta, Owner of Transmission Kings

Cleveland, OH

“MY GUYS ALWAYS REQUEST TRANSTEC®.”

ORIGINAL

The Aftermarket Business of Freudenberg-NOK

New TransTec ad 9326.indd 1 10/24/07 4:58:32 PM

20 GEARSJanuary/February2008

T hese days, it’s become almost a requirement for companies to identify themselves as “your

business partner,” letting you know “we’re in this together.” But too often, the partnership dissolves because of lack of support and you realize your business partner was only interested in a quick sale.

The folks at Corteco who bring you TransTec® brand transmission kits have adopted a long-term philosophy where they support their kits before and after the sale. There’s no hard sell or pressure to buy their kits; only support in the way of a feature-rich web site with technical references that simplify rebuilding; literature available online, in packaging and at seminars; on-site engineering to improve kit per-formance, and a whole lot more.

When you visit the company’s web site (www.TransTec.com) you’ll find virtually every kilobyte is used to pro-vide the visitor with technical support. A Transmission Guide makes it easy to identify transmissions in domes-tic and import vehicles; New Product Announcements, Technical Inserts and Bulletins clear up confusion and sim-plify rebuilding complex transmissions; and a new Online Transmission Catalog includes the latest kits and components available.

You get all this because Corteco believes support comes before the

sale… that it’s the more important part of what they have to offer the end user: the transmission rebuilder and production remanufacturer. This radical departure from the classic sales approach highlights Corteco’s philoso-phy that “Transtec® kits aren’t sold until they’re installed.” As a result, Corteco is putting more resources into making sure that the transmission shop has everything it needs to provide a quality repair.

It’s this long-term, end-to-end phi-losophy that permeates every part of their business; from initial development through the final delivery of the vehicle to your customer. And it’s a big part of why they build quality into every kit they sell.

A Solution ProviderSome rebuilders might mistake

Corteco, the company that brings you TransTec® transmission kits, for a

TransTec® Kits:Support Before and After the Sale

by Steve Bodofsky

Transmission Kits

New Online Catalog

Transmission by Vehicle

Tech Info By TransmissionNew Products - complete listings New Honda Civic 2006-Up New Overhaul Kit With FARPAK

GasketsTransTec Bulletins - complete listings New GM 4T65E - EPC O-rings New Aisin Warner AW55-50SNDistributorsAssociationsPower Steering Kits

New Heavy-Duty KitsNew Products/Coverage

Ordering InformtionPower Steering CatalogNew Products

The Aftermarket Business of Freudenberg-NOK ©2008 Freudenberg-NOK

Original equipment quality and design for the aftermarket Search Home About Us Site Map Contact Us

TransTec® brand automotive replacement parts offer the highest quality available in the aftermarket. TransTec®

products contain the same quality, design, and materials supplied to Original Equipment Manufacturers glob-ally. When it comes to automotive sealing components, TransTec® is a name you can trust for World Class automotive parts and dependability.

ORIGINAL

Brad Norton - President Craig Stark - Director John Galloway - Sales Manager

GEARS January/February 2008 21

packaging company - but they don’t know the whole story.

Corteco is the aftermarket busi-ness of global automotive-parts giant Freudenberg-NOK, the world’s largest producer of elastomeric seals and cus-tom molded products with 160 facilities throughout the world. So the major-ity of parts installed in TransTec® transmission kits are actually made by Freudenberg-NOK. That’s a far cry from simply being a kit packager.

Now granted, some components in TransTec® kits are made by other com-panies, but this provides rebuilders with the quality assurance that comes from O.E. parts. Labeling Corteco a parts packager is about as accurate as call-ing NASA an airline. After all, NASA doesn’t build their own Space Shuttles; they buy every piece, and then just have their guys fly them around, just like a commercial airline… right?

Of course that’s an absurd assess-ment… no one would think of compar-ing NASA to an airline. Sure, they buy their space vehicles; but they buy them based on exacting specifications that they develop and submit for each and every component that goes into them. And every one of those elements has to go through rigorous testing and certifi-cation before it’s accepted for its first flight to the stars.

That’s also a terrific description of how Corteco develops its transmission seal kits. OEM standards are only a starting point for Corteco. And, just like the Space Shuttle, every piece that goes into a TransTec® seal kit has to meet their exacting specifications.

“That sounds great,” you say, “but I’d be happy with OEM quality. Why do I need more than that?” Because OEM quality is adequate — maybe even ample — for a new transmission, right off the assembly line, when every

bore is pristine and every surface in perfect alignment with the rest.

But over time, those cases and hard parts wear. And many of the seals that were sufficient for use in a shiny, new transmission case fall short when asked to perform in a transmission that’s been around the block a few times. No amount of planning beforehand can predict just how those units are likely to wear in the real world.

This is why Corteco’s Research and Development (R&D) team finds it critical to work hand-in-hand with transmission shops, production reman-ufacturers and distributors: To provide real-world data on transmissions that are no longer pristine. And it’s why TransTec® kits are far superior to OEM and other brands when used in higher mileage transmissions.

Customer-Driven Development

Corteco’s business model of better serving its customers begins in your shop. Corteco has increased its sales force to provide more direct contact with transmission shops and production remanufacturers.

This allows them to discover exact-ly what shop owners and rebuilders deal with in today’s transmissions. And it allows them to take a more active role in correcting the problems that those shops face.

The sales force brings that infor-mation back to Corteco’s R&D team to be analyzed and addressed. The R&D team includes degreed engineers, who are uniquely qualified to analyze raw failure data from the shops, and develop newer, better ways to compen-sate for the sealing problems caused by wear in aging components.

And it’s why Corteco equips its development team with the latest mea-

suring and diagnostic equipment; equip-ment such as the Surveyor® WS 3040 by Laser Design Inc., a highly sophisti-cated device that measures components with patented laser technology. This enables Corteco’s engineers to evalu-ate component sealing demands, and provide high-quality solutions that will meet and exceed those demands.

“We’re sealing experts,” explains Craig Stark, Director. “It’s our job to examine sealing components, and cre-ate newer, more advanced solutions for the sealing challenges our customers face.”

Addressing Problems in the Field

So how does Corteco’s R&D team deal with a technical issue from the field? “Our first priority is to help the shop get the car out the door,” explains John Wozniak, Product Development Manager. “That may mean sending an alternative component or a prototype out overnight, just to address the imme-diate situation. Once that’s handled, we need to study the facts and determine a course of action.”

From there, they add the details of the condition to their comprehensive research database. This database allows Corteco engineers and technicians to look for failure trends that need to be addressed through design changes or additions to their kits.

“Once we’ve identified a failure trend, we know it’s time to begin look-ing for the root cause, and to develop a solution,” explains Wozniak. “In other words, significant failure trends are a call to action for us.”

Most of the data that enters their evaluation process comes from trans-mission repair shops, just like yours. And they receive additional informa-tion through their relationships with a

John Wozniak - Product Development Manager Bill D’Agostino - Sales ManagerJeff Rayburn - Sales Manager

22 GEARSJanuary/February2008

number of production remanufacturers.Once a pattern of failure has been

identified, the R&D begins in ear-nest. They start by collecting the actual failed components, for measurement and examination. This step is critical

because the key to creating a successful solution is in first identifying the root cause of the failure.

“Usually the cause is due to wear,” explains Don Cottrell, Product Technician. “Remember, we’re often

dealing with transmissions that have traveled over 100,000 miles. In that time, bores and sealing surfaces wear. Then it’s left for us to create new seal-ing solutions that can compensate for that wear.”

Those sealing solutions may include new sealing materials, designed to withstand the stresses placed on them by the additional wear they’re dealing with. Or they may involve altering the size of the seal or using a totally differ-ent style of seal. In some cases, it may require identifying the condition for the technician, showing him what to look for, so the worn components can be replaced.

Sometimes the failure is a result of something other than a worn hard part. In some cases it is the seal that has worn prematurely – often times due to poor equipment maintenance or com-mon cleaning detergents being used. If it is a seal failure, this is the effect of the problem, not the cause. The fix here may be simply educating the technician in the importance of main-taining his cleaning machine properly and offering suggestions on alternate cleaning solutions.

But whatever the condition — and the ultimate solution — the Corteco R&D team is there to identify the con-dition, isolate the problem, and develop a real-world solution to address it.

So What About You?Have you discovered a problem

that hasn’t been addressed at the kit level? Is there something you’d like to see added or changed in your rebuild kits? Then the folks at Corteco would like to hear from you. Visit www.TransTec.com and let them know what kind of problem you’re facing, and how you’ve been dealing with it.

Try to provide as much information

Patty Richards - Marketing ManagerChad Geretz - Product EngineerDon Cottrell - Product Technician

TransTec® Kits: Support Before and After the Sale

Patty Richards - Marketing ManagerChad Geretz - Product EngineerDon Cottrell - Product Technician

Product Engineer, Chad Geretz uses a Micro-Vue measurement machine to

extract measurements and critical seal features for O.E. performance.

A TransTec® kit is compared to the inspection board that contains each part on the bill-of-material. Since accuracy

and consistency are critical, comparison with this inspection tool takes place each time the packaging line changes and at

random points during the production run.

A Surveyor® WS Series Scanner by Laser Design Inc., a highly sophisticated device that measures components with patented laser technology.

GEARS January/February 2008 23

as possible. To even consider work-ing on a solution, the Corteco R&D team will need to know the transmis-sion affected, the specific condition and what parts were involved. And if you’ve come up with a solution on your own they want to hear about that too.

If you can, try to get pictures of the components involved. Even better, hang onto the worn components for further evaluation.

Who knows? You could be the source for the next set of improvements to the TransTec® kit line.

Supporting Our IndustryOne thing the folks at Corteco® are

quick to acknowledge is the importance of taking an active role in helping sup-port the transmission repair industry. Whether it’s a booth at ATRA’s annual Expo, attending a customer sponsored weekend technical seminar or lending its sponsorship to ATRA’s new Phone

Answering Pads, Corteco is a leader in its support for the Association and the individual transmission shops it represents.

If you’re a regular reader of GEARS, you’re probably very familiar with the TransTec® ads and logo. They buy a full-page ad in every issue.

Sure, those ads are designed to reinforce the TransTec® name, and, yes, they’re supposed to help them sell more kits. But they’re also one of the ways in which Corteco is helping support this industry — our industry — by pro-viding support for GEARS Magazine. Without that support, GEARS would quickly become a memory, and with it would go a valuable training and news resource that you’ve come to depend on. Corteco considers that training a valuable addition to our industry, and it’s a large part of why they’re so

aggressive in their support for ATRA and GEARS.

Why is Corteco so involved with the industry at large? Because they know that a strong transmission repair industry profits everyone… including them. So it’s to everyone’s benefit for Corteco to provide as much support as possible, to help ensure a brighter busi-ness picture for all of us.

Better solutions for real-world problems… providing complete support for customers… because at Corteco, they recognize the importance of sup-port before and after the sale.

To that end, you are invited to con-tact Corteco and request a personal visit to your shop. Just go to www.TransTec.com and click on the “Contact Us” link. Let them know you want to schedule a visit. Corteco considers these vis-its paramount in developing a better understanding of the challenges you are facing. Even if they don’t hear from you - don’t be surprised if you see one of their associates knocking on your door in 2008!

TransTec® automatic transmission overhaul kits are produced by Corteco®, the aftermarket business of global auto-motive-parts giant Freudenberg-NOK. The company is a general partnership of Freudenberg of Germany and NOK of Japan. The partnership was established July 1st, 1989, but Freudenberg’s his-tory dates back to 1849 and NOK was founded in 1939. The Freudenberg-NOK Global Partnership integrates Japanese, German and American technology, has total global sales over $7.5 billion and over 30,000 employees serving custom-ers worldwide.

Freudenberg-NOK’s headquarters is located in Plymouth, Mich., just a few miles from Detroit and is an 80,000-square-foot complex. This state-of-the-art, facility includes a $30 million Technical Center, which is the most extensive

supplier-operated facility for develop-ing and testing sealing products in the Americas.

Since many manufacturers today seek suppliers who are innovative and have global reach, much of Freudenberg-NOK’s success has come as a result of its close working relationship with its parent companies and ability to tap the technology and expertise of its partners in Europe and Asia.

Extending its technology expertise beyond the automotive market, Freudenberg-NOK also provides an extensive portfolio of precision molded products to the aerospace, aftermarket, fluid power, oil and gas, marine, healthcare/medical, off-highway equipment, recreational, industrial, chemical processing and semiconductor markets worldwide.

Freudenberg-NOK… A truly global supplier

Sara Bruns – Product Technician

Bill Kay - Product Technician

Customer Service Personnel: Sue Jesberger, Leslie Holm, and Claudia Balduff