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Brian P

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Not the one that's in the car, BUT! This is the 2nd (and technically 3rd) transmission that this car has seen.

 

This was a used unit which replaced the original at about 140k. After about 20k miles of usage by me, the reverse reaction drum shredded and left me stranded (only 1st gear works) I removed it and fully rebuilt and strengthened it (with a friend), also now has 3.73 FDR. After a painstaking installation, I come to find out the following:

 

- NO Reverse

- NO Torque converter lockup

 

There were other issues, such as because of my lack of attention, I forgot to connect the manual valve in the channel plate to the shifter bracket. DUMB MOVE. I managed to drop the side of the subframe, remove the side pan, and reattach it. It caused nothing more than a loss of 3 hrs of my life.

 

I removed this malfunctioning transmission and just said "fuck it" for now... The car was off the road for 4 weeks and I got tired of borrowing my father's truck. Therefore, I hauled my butt to the junkyard the next day for another used tranny. I Installed that, and I have been running it ever since (around 30k so far). However, I notice it's starting to become whiny and slightly erratic during warm shifts. I figure no better time than now to diagnose the rebuilt tranny which I saved in my basement. On with the pics.

 

OH HAI

DSC02573.jpg

 

DSC02575.jpg

 

That's right...

DSC02576.jpg

 

Control valve/channel plate assy off

DSC02578.jpg

 

Hmm... what's this? Reverse servo shaft vs reverse band.

 

DSC02582.jpg

 

[aaron] That's not riiiiiiiiiiight [/aaron]

DSC02581.jpg

 

DSC02588.jpg

 

A little repositioning, Okay there we go!

DSC02595.jpg

 

I don't know if I knocked the band out of place while disassembling the trans (notice the position of the 4th hub and how I pulled it out 1/4") so I now proceed to inspect the channel plate/control valve for the check balls and correct location.

 

gaskets good

DSC02599.jpg

 

looks okay, my balls are in place

DSC02596.jpg

 

uh oh!!!

 

DSC02603.jpg

 

DSC02608.jpg

 

Guess what filter that is which is gunked up? You guessed it.... converter clutch!!

 

 

Now to order some new gaskets (I guess) and sew her back up.

 

 

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the thing is I remember lining up the reverse band to that servo pin. Am I missing something here? The band comes right out when the trans is disassembled... the manual states something along the lines of "Band must be located on band anchor pin" yet I see nothing in any of the diagrams... WTF? Is it something on the case?

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How did the filter get plugged with shavings, did you flush the coller and lines? That is exactly how my trans blew in the 94 cutlass. The reverse reaction drum assploded one day, at least that's what I was told it was when I explained it. I had my foot on the brake, shifted from D to R at a complete dead stop and heard a loud bang, had no reverse and only 1st.

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Wow I need to help someone rebuild a trans. To be honest, I didn't notice anything wrong in the pictures labeled with uh-oh's and the like. :redface:

 

no doubt Ive nevered serviced a trans other than fluid/filter change but I wouldnt mind learning.

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Wow I need to help someone rebuild a trans. To be honest, I didn't notice anything wrong in the pictures labeled with uh-oh's and the like. :redface:

 

It was very hard to recognize it in a 2D photo, but the location of the reverse band was off just enough that the servo won't engage it.

 

I remember turning and locking it in place....i'll look back through my manual tomorrow

 

Yes I'd appreciate it if you can. The reverse band is "loose" as it is right now. I seem to remember the band being loose while installed anyway, but I want to be sure. If I remember right, there's a tab attached to the band that sits in a groove in the case, which is supposed to support the band while it's applied and keep it from attempting to rotate.

 

How did the filter get plugged with shavings' date=' did you flush the coller and lines? That is exactly how my trans blew in the 94 cutlass. The reverse reaction drum assploded one day, at least that's what I was told it was when I explained it. I had my foot on the brake, shifted from D to R at a complete dead stop and heard a loud bang, had no reverse and only 1st.

[/quote']

 

It's not as bad as I thought. There's a concave screen at the surface of that filter, so the amount of gunk is actually very minimal. The screen is also partially torn, so I'm definitely going to have to replace it. I swore that I had a new extra filter within the remains of my gasket/seal kit, but I can't find it. I just hope my trans parts supplier has it so I won't have to spend a week waiting for it thru the mail.

 

I'm glad your balls are ok.

 

Any possibility that there was some shifting parts when you were putting stuff back together?

 

Very possible. I may have to remove that sprocket support/hub and dig a little deeper to be sure. I need a 0% chance of failure, otherwise I'm going to throw the whole car out :lol:

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Wow I need to help someone rebuild a trans. To be honest, I didn't notice anything wrong in the pictures labeled with uh-oh's and the like. :redface:

 

no doubt Ive nevered serviced a trans other than fluid/filter change but I wouldnt mind learning.

 

Oh I'm no expert either, believe me :lol:

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Which is why I don't believe my tranny at 222k is original.

 

The 4T60E in our 93 Lumina is the original with 245,000 no it now. Last week I would have sworn up and down in defense of this transmission and how much better it is than the 65, but just this week something has gone wrong with the GTP's transmission and my sister's Z34 is setting a transmision slipping code (but I can't feel anything wrong when driving it after the code is cleared, at least not yet). So now I'm not so sure about it.

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Is the current transmission starting to go, or a ticking timebomb?

 

I think it's a matter of time. Everything's working alright except the TCC clutch apply is abrupt when it's very warm. It could just be the fluid being a bit old, though. Also, it's very whiny, as if the fluid is aerating, but I see no evidence of it, and the level is fine.

 

I don't trust the hard parts in the tranny either, since it still has the weaker OEM stovepipe, plastic thrush washer, and fluid pump drive shaft.(EDIT: also a weak output sungear, differential side) Those are basically the first things to fail in a 4T60e.

 

I'm very hard on the tranny's though. The original trans was fine up until shortly after the 3400 installation (about 5k after) when it would start slipping/dropping gear when hot. I think Adam's failed in a similar way. Say I drive it from work to a 711 (about 30 miles) shut the car off for 5 minutes while going in, restart the car, put in gear, and drive will only semi-engage (similar to a slipping clutch). I had no explanation for that but I couldn't chance an outright failure either.

 

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Which is why I don't believe my tranny at 222k is original.

 

Check teh vin tag!

 

There's no VIN tag on the tranny, but there is an ID tag that may help (but not guarantee) if the trans is original or not.

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the only evidence i could physically see of why mine was slipping, was the o rings around the accumulator pistons were scored pretty good. that's all we found. o, and the plastic thrust washer on the input side of the trans, near the gear set, was worn thinner than a piece of paper.

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the only evidence i could physically see of why mine was slipping, was the o rings around the accumulator pistons were scored pretty good. that's all we found. o, and the plastic thrust washer on the input side of the trans, near the gear set, was worn thinner than a piece of paper.

 

Mine were fine, oddly enough. Usually the thrust washer breaks before it wears, so you actually lucked out :thumb:

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