Transmission COMPLETE!

[Rain]

Had inquired a week or 2 ago about how to change out some of my Vettes Vital Fluids.
Thanks for the tips and advice.

Especially Gerald/Hrtbeat1 for his expertise! The CAC should cost more based on the wealth of info and selflessness!

Of course it took longer for the car to cool down than it did to drain and replace the filter..

well, no, not really.

Vette on ramps, waited a while for it to cool down. Loosened a few of the bolts on the pan to let it begin draining. Once the pan was removed, we cleaned it up and wiped it out very good. Magnet had been doing its job. Then of course when we removed the stock filter, the gasket remained in the transmission. (and would not come out)

Well after trying every tool we had on hand and Gerald stabbing himself in the hand with the hook blade of an exacto, we decided to call it a night and try again Sunday when I got back in town.

(hate to have a friend help ya out and get injured in the process)
He said the cut didn't hurt near as much as the transmission fluid that was on his hand(that then was in the wound).. Speedy Recovery mon'!

He swung by today in his white on red (is that how ya say it when its white with a red interior?) 1990 with a new plan.
We heated up an old broken screwdriver and fabricated a hooking tool from it.
Tried that a while and it was not budging. Then I think we tried the snap ring tool.
After that we went to needle files and another seal/ring pulling tool.
Trying not to damage or gouge anything, he carefully used a chisel to score the side of the remaining metal ring of the stock filter gasket.
This made some headway and after trying the former tools again, it came out.
(see pic)

Then we prepped the gaskets, installed the new filter, replaced the pan, and re filled the transmission with fluid.
Went thru a standard break in procedure and called it a day!

Thanks again Gerald! I owe ya a bunch more beer and use of my garage when I get it air-conditioned!!!!

Will check over the next few days and make sure the fluid level is good as well as no leaks.

(guitar pic to show scale only)

 

[Edmond]

Did you use any of that gasket sealer on it? That little bugger really gave you guys a lot of trouble!

Is it shifting smoother? I noticed an improvement when I changed my tranny fluid a couple of years ago.

 

[Vettefan87]

Yes I noticed a huge difference when I did the whole system flush. Since the car has 50 on it now I was not sure when it was done last. Probably the best 130 dollars I have spent.

Justin

 

[Edmond]

Yes I noticed a huge difference when I did the whole system flush. Since the car has 50 on it now I was not sure when it was done last. Probably the best 130 dollars I have spent.

Justin

How much of the fluid do you get out if you do it by yourself, ie. not getting the professional power flush?

What fluid did they use?

I was thinking about that Mobil synthetic ATF but it's kind of pricey at $5-6 per quart.

 

[Rain]

Filter and 6 qt of fluid ran me like 30 bucks and some change - if we had done this project at my house in the garage, then we would have not had to wait hours for it to cool down.
(we would have gone thru less beer, but anyway......)
Alas, we would not have had the array of tools to work with.. so it was best that we were at Gerald's when it was said and done.

We prepped the gaskets with Red Line - Will keep an eye on it just in case it leaks, but I feel solid that its good to go another 60k miles problem free.

Yes, shifts nicely -

 

[Vettefan87]

How much of the fluid do you get out if you do it by yourself, ie. not getting the professional power flush?

What fluid did they use?

I was thinking about that Mobil synthetic ATF but it's kind of pricey at $5-6 per quart.

To my knowledge just dropping the pan you get out about 6 quarts. Doing the professional flush you get everything which is almost 16 quarts I believe. They just put Dexron III back in it.

Justin

 

[Rain]

yea, thats right. Think the shop manual said dropping the pan needed 5.. but to get it back to flush on the dip stick, I needed 5 and a half.. of course it sat with the pan off for an extra day.. so more dripped than might during a "normal" change over..

 

[jmccloud]

Trans filter neck gasket removal

A local hardware sell nice gadgets on the checkout counter; one is a dental pick (like the dentist uses to loosen the tight fillings with). It usually requires two picks and they're destroyed in the process but cost only $1.50 each.
The real disaster is when the old gasket is left in and a second applied (the filter won't seat and the pan doesn't fit - bad experience).

 

[Hrtbeat1]

Tried bout everything

Yea we tried picks, pliers, hook blade utility knife, seal puller, bout everything. Finally broke down and made a tool (a hooked screwdriver), but still had to gently use a small cold chisel and just score the inside of the seal. You can see the score line in Rain's first picture. Now I can't understand why the GM engineers decided to change the gasket to a seal type. On the 700R4 you can just slip you finger up the bore and pull out the old gasket.

Keep an eye on everything and let me know Rain. If you need anything else don't hesitate to give a holler. I just feel bad that it took so long to get done. Some mechanic I am. :L

C ya

 

[Rain]

Yea we tried picks, pliers, hook blade utility knife, seal puller, bout everything. Finally broke down and made a tool (a hooked screwdriver), but still had to gently use a small cold chisel and just score the inside of the seal. You can see the score line in Rain's first picture. Now I can't understand why the GM engineers decided to change the gasket to a seal type. On the 700R4 you can just slip you finger up the bore and pull out the old gasket.

Keep an eye on everything and let me know Rain. If you need anything else don't hesitate to give a holler. I just feel bad that it took so long to get done. Some mechanic I am. :L

C ya

Hey - great mechanic! Its the "know how" and ability to fabricate that separates us from the apes! hahahaha (and the fact we don't sling our own poo) LOL!

Glad we got it taken care of. Thats another tick mark checked on my list of 'tings to do.
Keep me posted - how many more weeks till ya ship out again?

 

[Hrtbeat1]

As long as you're happy. Glad to be of assistance. As far as the cut don't worry bout it "Its only a flesh wound" the peroxide took care of the tranny fluid, with a bunch of hopping around and teeth gritting. LOL


With the whole Force Protection thing I am not at liberty to discuss when I leave until basically I do. Ya know what I mean.

 

[Rain]

As long as you're happy. Glad to be of assistance. As far as the cut don't worry bout it "Its only a flesh wound" the peroxide took care of the tranny fluid, with a bunch of hopping around and teeth gritting. LOL


With the whole Force Protection thing I am not at liberty to discuss when I leave until basically I do. Ya know what I mean.

OH yea. its one of those "id tell ya, but Id have to kill ya" situations! hahaha

Thanks again and "speedy recovery"!

 

[reefdiver]

Rain...were ya having problems with your tranny,or did you just feel it should be done? I've been kickin around the idea of a tranny flush on my 94. She's got around 67k on her,and I don't know if it's ever been flushed or changed. I know a change couldn't hurt her...but I've heard different opinions on flushing.

BTW....what do ya think of Buffetts new cd?

 

[Hrtbeat1]

"Its only a flesh wound"

Done in my best British accent

With the whole Force Protection thing I am not at liberty to discuss when I leave until basically I do. Ya know what I mean.

More like If they find out I'm running my mouth ... They'll kill ME So I ain't saying.

 

[Hrtbeat1]

I've been kickin around the idea of a tranny flush on my 94. She's got around 67k on her,and I don't know if it's ever been flushed or changed. I know a change couldn't hurt her

I think Rain has about the same on his and from the look of his all it needed was a filter swap. I'm no expert but I rebuilt mine. Rain's fluid looked very good actually you could tell that the car has not been abused. Like he said the magnet was doing its job. Not a lot of stuff actually ... a little. The valve body looked really good no signs of overheating, not particulates stuck to it, and it cleaned up nicely with just some paper towels.

If you have the facilities its an easy job. Just make sure that durned seal/gasket comes out of the filter bore. The problems we had with Rain's makes me believe that it had never been done.

 

[Rain]

Rain...were ya having problems with your tranny,or did you just feel it should be done? I've been kickin around the idea of a tranny flush on my 94. She's got around 67k on her,and I don't know if it's ever been flushed or changed. I know a change couldn't hurt her...but I've heard different opinions on flushing.

BTW....what do ya think of Buffetts new cd?

No, not really any problems with it prior.
Had a bit of a burnt smell.. but figured since it has never been flushed or changed since its birth in 1996 and 60k miles, it was due.


Buffett's new CD is ok. I've just been waiting on another album of great story telling songs and this was not it. He had a target and it was Country Music radio/video.
I think he wrote his best stuff back in the 70s when it was about life and not airplay ( i guess)

Im sure the CD will do well - What do you think of it?

 

[Rain]

What a cool place this is! Again, can't belive its free!!!!!

 

[reefdiver]

I don't know if we'll ever see another album from Buffett that can compare to his stuff from the 70's. A1A is a TRUE classic in my opinion. I agree with you that he was shootin for country "airplay",and that the cd will sell very well. I've listened to it a few times so far-some songs I like ( Coast Of Carolina- Window On The World) and some won't make my list of favorites. I don't think he should have touched Scarlet Begonia's-he just doesn't have the voice for that song. I think I may have to do a tranny fluid change on my next week off work. I'm not having any problems with it,but who knows if it ever was done. Better safe than sorry I guess.

 

[Rain]

I had always heard to never change the trans fluid on a standard vehicle.

I know the service manuals and owners manuals all state to do it every 30k miles or so based on driving conditions.. some say to do it only at 100k.

Im like the rest of you. I've heard good and bad results.

 

[Edmond]

I had always heard to never change the trans fluid on a standard vehicle.

I know the service manuals and owners manuals all state to do it every 30k miles or so based on driving conditions.. some say to do it only at 100k.

Im like the rest of you. I've heard good and bad results.

Why? I thought the standard tranny's were no different from auto's in terms of needing their fluids changed out.