1967 riviera turbine transmission problems and questions

Hi all, I am new to the forum and also new to working on Buick's and Rivieras. I am 20 years old and any experience is more than welcomed. I have been restoring a 1967 riviera with the original 430 and transmission; it has been a frame up job. However no restoration is complete with out some headaches . We have gotten to the point where the motor starts and runs consistently. However the wheels don't move when the car is in drive. The drive shaft is in correctly and the transmission is hooked up with exception of the vacuums and the transmission kick down "stuff". When i got the car the transmission was detached from the motor (I was assuming that the transmission was mostly empty). The questions that I have are do the vacuums and the kick down stuff need to be attached for the wheels to move? Also how are you able to make sure the transmission fluid are at the right levels with out the transmission running or being hot? Also does anyone have a "educated guess" has to how much the transmission will take?
Thanks any help would be great!!!!!

 

Im thinking the trans will pan hold 5-8 qts. the converter another 3-5. Going from a foggy old guy memory. The trans will turn the wheels without the other stuff hooked but will not shift correctly. You will need to have the trans in Park or N and the engine running to check the fluid.

Are you sure you seated the converter correctly and added fluid to the converter before it was installed? is the converter bolted to the flywheel? Let us know.

 

Thanks for the help. I know that the torque converter is bolted to the flywheel for sure. I am also positive that so far we have added 3 quarts of transmission fluid. Like I said before we are not sure how much fluid was in there, so it makes it really hard to measure how much needs to be put in. When the trans was still out of the car we took the torque converter off and some fluid came out but certainly not all of the fluid and when we went to put it back on we had some troubles but by measuring the flywheel and bell housing we finally got it back in place. We didn't refill the torque converter before putting it back on. We figured that the transmission fluid from the tranny would fill the torque converter full. Is that wrong? Do we need to take the torque converter off and fill it? Thanks

 

Question...when the torque converter was reinstalled, did you find it necessary to pull it forward a little to meet the flexplate in order to install the three torque converter bolts? I ask because one thing that often comes up is that the torque converter isn't inserted fully which is necessary in order to engage the transmission's pump before final assembly.

While the trans bellhousing bolts are being installed, there should always be a little free fore and aft movement of the converter, even after the bellhousing bolts are torqued. The play can be up to 1/4". If the converter is tight against the flexplate with no forward and backward movement seen, the pump may not be engaged by the converter's snout. This should be checked before you proceed, because running the engine like this can destroy the trans front pump.

To check this, remove the three torque converter bolts and see if you're able to slide the converter a bit rearward into the transmission.

Devon

 

Devon I am away for the car right now but lets say that I take the bolts out and I am able to push the toque converter back what should I do next? Should I pull the torque converter forward and bolt it back on or do I leave it all the way back?
Thanks
Jon

 

If you're able to unbolt it and slide it back, go ahead and bring it forward again and reinstall the bolts. If all is well in the front pump, adding the correct amount of fluid should get you on your way.

If that doesn't work, one possible failure mode is that if the converter was not seated fully and the bellhousing was bolted on fully, the converter hub may have broken the pump's drive gear, which not only means zero pressure, but also means the converter will appear to seem fully installed when in fact the damage is already done.

Have a look at the image below...the two small tabs inside the drive gear are the only point of engagement between the gear and the two notches on the converter's snout or hub. If the notches were not aligned with the gear tabs, forcing the converter rearward can break off the tabs making the pump inoperable.





Devon