Don't have to get up and go anywhere tomorrow? GRAB THE COFFEE, and have at it.

 

I'm thinkin' the OD unit got a little warm on these mating surfaces. So far I can't really tell where my snap ring carnage came from. But there was more broken snap ring pieces lurking above the valve body when I took it off. So hard to tell when this is your first rodeo with an auto tranny...I figured carnage would be an obvious find.

 

Glad you were able to get it out. OD does look like it was a little too hot at some point. Pulled mine apart on Saturday, but then left to go to Houston to work on step-son's Taurus. So wasted the weekend. My direct drum was worn (deep scratches) so I ordered another from WITTANS modified for 5 frictions. May take a week, so will breuild OD unit and install Sonnax Sure Cure in the mean time.

This is my first Dodge tranny - Ford C4 and C6 (40 years ago) so it is almost like my first one. Good info and help on this forum (Taurus forum is useless - hence 400 mile trip to Houston) - I really appreciate everyone's experience and willingness to be of help.

Still working on the ploading hotos thing. Maybe I can learn more by watching your progress as well. Good luck.

 

There is a trans thread by J415 in the faq section that has some links to a couple good walkthru's as well. Might wanna browse thru those.

 

The snap ring holds the o/d direct clutches in. BE CAREFULL when the snap ring lets go its going to let an 800psi spring pop out until it hits the safety retainer.

Pull those o/d brake clutches (in the picture) out and you will see clearly then grasshopper.

 

Now I can help ya there...if you really wanna learn how to host photos elsewhere and post em up, its pretty neat. PM me if you want me to walk you through it. Im also back to work on this thing this weekend...just gotta go get a couple tools I need and see how I can get that spring released and then I'll be hopefully ordering parts by tonight...Thanks again guys for all the insight. More pics to come. BTW my overdrive piston retainer (I think I'm referring to the right part) is WASTED! Definately where all of my aluminium shavings came from.

 

Bought a press and put it together yesterday, then used it to take OD unit and other items apart. I'll start putting it back together today. Don't know how I got by without a press for so long, but Harbor Freight had the 20 ton for $20 more than the 12 ton (which looked too weak to hold up). I cannot resist $100 off.

I have to make some progress today as I leave town for a conference tomorrow and will be gone all week. (I may get in touch with you about the photos while I am on the road.)

Glad others have posted about the 800 pound spring and such. I probably would have hurt someone - me!

Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge and experience. I would not have had te nerve to take this on without this insight.

 

Update for those who maybe following...Moving on to the overdrive assembly, first picture shows at 12 o'clock the rest of my broken snap ring between the drum and its retaining snap ring. Second picture is the busted snap ring removed. Definately found one failure point. More to come...

 

Disassembled, inventoried, and came to the conclusion the larger of the two snap rings that hold the 800lb spring in place was the culprit. It was the shredded one I found in pieces everywhere in the housing. Carnage seems to be contained to the extension housing. I'll post up a picture or two showing wear areas, marks and gouges. I'm kinda on a tight budget so I would rather not replace something unless it needs it. I do want it bullet proof and solid shifting though. I'd like to upgrade everything I can thats low hanging fruit. I'm not sure what absolutely has to be replaced and what doesn't. I'd like some experienced guys to chime in if possible on these worn parts regarding replacement necessity. I also need help on what to order as far as rebuild kits and a converter without breaking the bank. I think I should probably get a new overdrive piston retainer as well as maybe a new overdrive direct clutch drum and sun gear shaft?? Thanks again guys...

Scores on the direct clutch drum...Even creepier, I found my initials in wax on the annulus gear.



The sun gear shaft definately has some chunks missing on a few of the splines...sorry no pic of that yet.

 

i got 200 miles on my new rebuilt tranny and its running strong. Looking forward in seeing ur progress