- Inherited a project truck over the weekend- 01 1500 2wd with a 46re tranny leaking like a sieve from what looks like the front seal, refilled it with about 2 quarts of fluid to correct warm idle leve, cleaned and checked the back flow ball valve- still slips and seems shot- besides still leaking, it's kicking the CEL light for the pressure solenoid along with every other common solenoid-reltated problem. Luckily it came with a a used 46re tranny to install from what was supposedly a 68k mile donor that just needed a front TC seal and was otherwise fine. Sooo, I went to work on the donor tranny and swapped out the old with new electronics, front and rear seals and adjusted the bands, then took a look at the TC before buying a rebuilt unit to complete the "refresh" and made ready for some busted knuckles and several hours of tranny swapping - Bad gets worse- The hub is deeply scratched, scored and otherwise a mess, everything else seems ok, no bulges or heat marks- My question is this potentially a bad oil pump or pump bushing causing the TC hub scoring and front seal leak or possibly something much worse? - I don't know how to diagnose a bad oil pump bushing with the tranny out of the truck (no leaks visible inside the housing around the pump seal) and don't want to put a new TC in a tranny that's going to eat it- I'd like to avoid a total rebuild if possible as this is just a weekend odd job truck for around town

Thanks for any input-

 

Yes...and yes. Replacde TC and front pump. You can find it available at www.wittrans.com.

 

Good timing on this thread. My seal was also leaking so I took the tranny out, replaced the seal, upgraded the converter, and it was fine for a day. Just noticed today it has started leaking again. It's going to the tranny shop now.

 

Guys- I may be working too hard these days, - I just looked at my own post again- unless I'm totally mistaken, that's got to be the pump's bushing or sleeve (the ring with the chrysler logo) fused to the TC hub- I don't recall seeing a TC with that extra ring- but I'm sort of new to mopar so could be wrong

 

Two suggestions...

1. Go to the FAQ/DIY section and download the service manual for your truck (free download).

2. Go to www.wittrans.com , click on 518/618 transmission in center of page. Look at the exploded drawings of the tranny parts. Click on parts needed and it gives you the part number. They also offer used hard parts that have been inspe ted and are good for good prices. Customer service is great. Call them if you have any questions. Looks like that part is the bushing from pump. I would replace the pump (and bushings) as well as TC.

 

Yeah what Peterz said, looks like a bushing has fused itself where it shouldn't be.

How much crap is in the trans fluid? When you replace your trans (or have it rebuilt), you may want to replace your trans cooler lines and bypass the radiator's built in cooler in favor of an aftermarket one. That crap gets up in your cooler/lines and comes out at inopportune times, killing your new trans, and most tranny shops won't honor a warranty if you don't replace the cooler.

 

Thanks for everyone's help- this is a great site- I think the 46re search data alone is enough to keep me busy for 6 months of reading! - Yes indeed for some reason the oil pump bushing is fused to the TC hub- I'll tear it down this weekend, but my initial thought is that something gave out in the oil pump, started non -centric rotation, the hub picked up the bushing, killed the seal and started a huge leak, the owner drove the truck (though not far) with the issue and ended up with the bushing around the TC hub- The fluid in the pan wasn't bad or burned, the pan mag had a small amount of material, I've seen much worse. I'm going to replace the oil pump assembly and TC as well as the cooler line with the backflow valve and see where it lands- again it's a weekend work truck after all. Thanks again! - BTW- Heed the advice of the folks on this site recommending an oil pump inspection/ rebuild when you have a front seal leak, I've talked to a few tranny guys and they all say the same thing, if you have your tranny out, don't just replace the seal it's only the symptom not the cause, 9 out of ten times it's something worn in the pump which created the seal failure

 

So one last question- Have a rebuilt pump assembly ready to go, so I went to remove the oil pump on the tranny, tightened the front band adjuster per the manual , but maybe not enough- when I removed the oil pump the font clutch assembly came unseated from the intermediate shaft- I heard three eared shim fall off the pilot hub- is there an easy way to put this back in, align it on the pilot hub and then install the oil pump? I've looked at the manual but I'm not sure how to fit these pieces back together correctly- I'm assuming that with the band removed I can re-seat the clutch into the intermediate shaft and that the pump will hold it all in place correctly once the band is back in - Are there any tricks to this?

thanks

Peter