Transmission problems, Part3 (this is getting rediculous)

Discussion in 'The "Juice Box"' started by r0ckstarr, Mar 30, 2005.

  1. nailheadina67

    nailheadina67 Official Nailheader

    Brian......I don't know how much it would cost to have it shipped to me, but I would be willing to rebuild it again for you for the price of the parts. I don't know if mine is even going to work yet, but at this point I am very familiar with this trans and I'm willing to bet I could figure out the problem. I just love a good challenge I guess. You would have to be willing to wait for a few weeks, as my busy season is just starting with my business........I have about a week or two left where I have some spare time. I would just feel horrible if you paid all that shipping and I wasn't able to fix it. I know you have a major pressure leak in there somewhere......he could have forgot to tighten something. You said it slips in drive and reverse.......in drive the forward clutch engages, and in reverse the direct clutch engages in combination with the rear band. I find it unlikely that both clutches would be non-functional. Does it make any noise when it slips? I remember my dad's car making a loud buzzing noise when the converter went on his car. It would not go forward or reverse. I also have a recollection of smoke pouring out from the converter area. :jd:
     
  2. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    No noise, no smoke. When its cold, it will go into any gear, but as soon as the temperature moves up close to normal on the guage cluster, all is lost.. Reverse and Drive feel like neutral.
     
  3. nailheadina67

    nailheadina67 Official Nailheader

    I was thinking........I wonder if the oil pump is shot? In order to see it you must take the 2 halves of the front pump apart, something I don't think gets done by transmission rebuilders who don't want to take the time to take something apart that may not be necessary. Brian, that's something you could check yourself.........check out the thread I made at the beginning......the first part to come off in order to get inside is the front pump. If you stand the tranny up the guts will stay inside. That's where I would look first after making sure the filter and O ring are OK. Further down the thread I took the pump apart......yours is identical. I'll bet your pump gears are scored and worn.....or else the pressure valve is shot. The valve can come out from underneath the trans with the valve body out. It's held in with a snap ring. I wonder if he checked it? :bglasses:
     
  4. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    When I took the transmission to him the very first time, he dissassembled it right in front of me. He told me step by step what he was doing as he stripped it down to a bare case in about 45mins. I remember after he had it all gutted out, he took the pump apart and said that the pump looked great.. He then went on to take the clutch packs? apart and he gave me what was left of the clutches.. The metal friction plates? were all blue from being burnt up...

    (Im not sure I got the right names of the parts, which is why I put a question mark after some of my words)

    I was checking up on his website, and he went to Evadale Tx this weekend to race his car, so that explains a little bit of why I havent heard from him, but when you tell someone your going to call them back, you call them back.
     
  5. nailheadina67

    nailheadina67 Official Nailheader

    Hmmmmm.......I'm still thinking. It's got to be a pressure problem..........something is bleeding all the pressure away that the pump is making. Your clutches may have been burnt up from a previous condition that he prolly didn't correct. I wonder if possibly he mixed up the pistons between the direct and forward clutch? I don't know what would happen if he did but they are different, as one has a ball check and the other doesn't. Can anybody add to this theory? :Do No:
     
  6. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    I have been trying to call the guy about my tranny and all I get is no answer, or his wife answering the phone and telling me he is not there, and I ask her to have him call me, and she takes my number down and says she will have him call me... This is really starting to :af:
     
  7. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    Well,, surprisingly coincidental as it may be, he just called me. Wants me to get the car back up there to him so he can look at it and get it all figured out.
    Now, ive got to find the time and cash to get the car up there...
     
  8. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    Dropped the car off at his place Saturday afternoon. I am now awaiting a call so I can go pick it back up to see how long it will last this time around. If it fails again, im going elsewhere, or attempting it myself...
     
  9. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    Just got a call from the tranny rebuilder. He said it had a "bad Reverse Boost Valve, that was only giving 100lbs of pressure instead of its normal 200 something" (im not sure I got the pressure numbers right, but im sure thats pretty close to what he said) and that he had to pull the transmission back out to fix it. He said that it wasnt included in the rebuild, which is why it never got replaced, but he went ahead and replaced it and isnt going to charge me for it. I go to pick the car up tomorrow evening when I get off work. Hopefully this will be the last of my tranny problems....

    What do you guys think?
     
  10. jamyers

    jamyers 2 gallons of fun

    I'm not a tranny rebuild expert by any means, but how on earth can you "rebuild" ANYTHING without taking everything apart and at least LOOKING at it???

    Grrrrrr...... :af: :af: :af:
     
  11. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Reverse boost valve?? :Do No: I'd cut my losses with this guy. It shouldn't take 3 times, to rebuild any THM400, it just shouldn't. Take it somewhere reputable, and find out what else he screwed up :Dou:
     
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2005
  12. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member


    I totally agree. This was the last chance I was giving him. A tranny rebuild should not be a long drawn out process, or have this much trouble involved...

    Is there such a thing as a reverse boost valve?
     
  13. jamyers

    jamyers 2 gallons of fun

    Only on turbo Honda's that race backwards to get "rear-wheel drive"... :Brow: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    Seriously, I have no idea. :Do No:
     
  14. nailheadina67

    nailheadina67 Official Nailheader

    I'm with larry on this one. I'm no tranny "guru" but I've never heard of that either. Maybe he's talking about the oil pump pressure boost valve in the front oil pump..........that could cause a low pressure problem and the symptoms you had.

    You don't have to take it out of the car in order to replace that valve, but in order to get at the entire pump you do. I could see why he missed it b/c you really don't need to take the pump apart if you ass-ume it's OK and want to save time. What you can do yourself Brian is install the heavier yellow spring in the pump from under the car with the valve body out but the tranny still in the car. That will boost your pressure a little. I used that spring in mine, the tranny shop that sold me my parts had one on the shelf. I wonder if that's what he did? He may have taken the whole pump out in order to check it like he should have done in the first place. :spank:
     
  15. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    If I were to take it to someone else to look at it, what would be things they would look for that may not be done right.. Im thinking about taking it somewhere and spending a couple hundred, or whatever to have someone look at it, rather than taking a chance of it breaking yet again and me having to do another rebuild, because I will not take it back to the same person...
     
  16. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Brian,
    It has to be torn down to check everything. Who knows what he did or didn't do. Wait till it goes again. Maybe 3rd time's the charm. :Do No:
     
  17. jamyers

    jamyers 2 gallons of fun

    This scares me about tranny shops, even ones that are "supposed" to be good ones.
     
  18. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    Ok, well, its home again. I drove it a good 40 miles and it shifted like it is supposed to. Im not getting my hopes up, or getting excited about it, until a good amount of time and miles have passed and I know for sure that its actually fixed right this time...



    Your telling me. Looks like you and me better get some transmission books and become study buddies.... :Smarty:
     
  19. r0ckstarr

    r0ckstarr Well-Known Member

    I havent had a chance to check my email in a few days. I just checked it, and found an email from my tranny re-re-rebuilder, that he sent the day he called me telling me my car was ready.. Here is what is says:


    The buick is ready!!!!!!! Had to pull the unit back out and change the stator support. The stator was losing pressure in the reverse boost valve bore. We put another stator and I just drove it for about 20 minutes. It works great!!!! Call me and come get it.
     
  20. nailheadina67

    nailheadina67 Official Nailheader

    Maybe he should change the muffler bearings too while he's at it :laugh:
     

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