I just had my transmission rebuilt, and am trying to re-install it. I'm trying to mount it to the engine, but I can't get it any closer to the engine than 1/2".

I've felt all the way around the transmission bellhousing, and I can't feel anything that would be in the way. I've also measured how far the torque converter is into the bellhousing - according to the manual, it's supposed to be about 1/2" inside the bellhousing, which it is.

When I took the transmission out, the manual had me mark where the torque converter and the flywheel bolted together, so I could re-attach them at the same place. But when I got the transmission back, it had a new torque converter, so those markings are gone. The mechanic said that I could just rotate the engine until the bolt holes matched up between the flywheel and torque converter. But as far as I can tell, the bolts are equally far apart - it seems like any position would have bolted together!

Is it possible that the torque converter isn't bolted to the flywheel in the correct position? (Out of curiosity, why does this matter?) When I turn the engine over, the torque converter turns as well, so I would think that the teeth have meshed up okay, but I could be wrong. Any other thoughts as to why I can't get the transmission any closer to the engine?

Thanks!

 

It sounds like the torque converter isn't engaging the front pump drive tangs properly. When the converter is properly engaged, you should be able to move it fore and aft a bit. If it's mashed up tight against the flex plate and won't move aft, it's not properly engaged.

 

There are 2 dowels on the engine the are used to line up the tranny to engine. Are those lining up like there suppose to?

 

push the torque converter all the way on the transmission so it is recessed into the tranny, bolt the tranny to the engine then slide the torque converter to the flywheel and rotate the flywheel till the holes line up, i do not suggest bumping the engine, theres a lot of torque and things can break easier to turn the torque converter by hand thats how i did my big block chevy, also if i'm not mistaken your starter may possibly be in the way, might try loosening the bolts for that so it sags, don't have to take it out just let it hang down.

 

Thanks for all the replies! Sorry I didn't get back until now - I was working on the truck until pretty late last night. The problem was that the torque converter wasn't far enough in the transmission. I had measured it like the manual said, but the manual must have had the measurement wrong. When I took the tranny back down the torque converter slid considerably further back into the transmission, after which it went in place without a problem!

Thanks again!

 

The FSM said to have the torque converter half an inch down from the top of the bell housing.

 

Yeah, and I may have misread how to make the measurement. Measuring from the top of the bell housing to the flywheel was just over 1/2", so I thought I was good. Once it dropped into place, the same location was more than 1". Looking back, I wonder if I should have been measuring from a different place on the bell housing or torque converter?

 

Okay, so I'm nearly finished re-installing my transmission. Aside from reattaching the driveshafts and starter motor, I've been told I need to replace the radiator. (The transmission mechanic suggested doing this, since the transmission fluid was pretty burned up, and he said that he'd seen the transmission fluid passages in the radiator get clogged up when transmission fluid burned.) He ordered a new radiator for me, but when I got around to looking at it, I noticed two things:

1) My truck currently has three radiator/condensers: (from front to back) the A/C condenser, the transmission radiator, and the engine radiator. The radiator that the mechanic ordered for me is a combined engine and transmission radiator. Is there an advantage/disadvantage to combining the radiators? It seems like reducing the number of radiators would increase the airflow, therefore making both remaining radiators more efficient. If that's the case, it sounds like a no-brainer unless there are down-sides I'm not thinking of?

As a side-note, I've replaced my thermostat with a 180* thermostat. Will that effect how cool the transmission fluid is/should be?

2) Regardless of whether I combine the radiators or replace just the transmission radiator, I'm going to need to disconnect and reconnect the transmission fluid lines where they connect at the radiator. I've attached a picture of the connectors - I'm not sure what I need to do to disconnect/reconnect them. Is there a special tool I'll need?

Thanks for your help!

 

Your truck must have the towing package. That's what the additional cooler for the trans comes from. The one in the radiator is all most folks get. (and please note, the third radiator IS an ADDITIONAL cooler, as opposed to 'instead of'.)

You can flush out the cooling circuit for the trans, just have both lines disconnected from the trans, and run some sort of solvent thru there. Nothing too billy bad *** though.... don't wanna eat holes in it. Then, flush with clean trans fluid, and blow it out with air. Be nice with the pressure. I suggest about 40-50 pounds. Enough to create a nice breeze, but, not enough to blow apart welds.

if it cleans up nice, and flows well, just leave what ya got. The check valve is already gone? Right?

 

Thanks for the info - I wasn't sure how my setup compared to other trucks out there, so I was confused when I got a replacement radiator that didn't match my existing radiator. Any suggestions for what sort of solvent to use to clean out the radiator? And how should I send the solvent (and eventually flush ATF+4) through the radiator? I have a compressor, but am not sure if I have a good way to force anything through the radiator...

Also, when you say that the transmission radiator is in "addition to" (as opposed to "instead of") the standard radiator, are you implying that the transmission fluid should run through both the standard radiator and the transmission radiator? I'll check again tomorrow morning, but I'm fairly confident that mine only runs through the transmission radiator - my existing engine radiator doesn't have any transmission input/output connections. That said, should I go ahead and replace my existing engine radiator with the new one, and run transmission fluid through both the tow-package radiator and the (new) engine radiator?

Thanks!