Th400 troubles

[JAMZ87SS]

Ok, So I was pulling this piece of **** outta my car to bring it in to the tranny shop monday. They are gonna charge me $75 to pull it apart and tell me whats wrong. The dirtbag that sold it to me skipped town, and I'm on my own!!! So I'm in the process of pulling it out of the car, and I dropped the Derale pan, to put the stocker back up to avoid screwing up my new pan. This is where it starts to get good :) The pan was rattling when i took it down. I drained the fluid , and found what I believe to be the stock 16 element sprag (or @ least the teeth off it) in the bottom of the pan. The whole pan is full of metal, which means I have to flush my cooler and junk my converter. I'm no tranny expert but from every picture I've looked up it appears to be the sprag. Is the sprag made out of aluminum? these are definately aluminum teeth. My problem now is I don't want to give this thing to the shop and piss away $75 to have them say .... ummm you need a new sprag. I saw a 34 element borg warner sprag on evilbay for $50 . Any thoughts on this . Any one know a tranny guy to ask? I'M A POOR SUNNY BEACH, AND DON'T FEEL LIKE GETTING BENT OVER BY THE LOCAL TRANNY GUY. I ****ING HATE TRANSMISSONS!! Hopefully 5th times a charm :dunno:

[flames4me]

sorry, not all to familiar with auto tranny internals but do the chunks look like they may have come from something that looks like this? ...

http://www.transmissionpartsusa.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=460%2D000046881

why don't you take it aprat yourself and see if it is simple enough to rebuild on your own and if it is just get a rebuild kit for it and try it yourself? or if any one of the other 4 trannys are still good enough to rebuild, try one of those first. If it seems to difficult then you can just give the shop all the parts and say fix it, lol. just a thought.

kinna sucks about your torque converter though, have to throw it away when its almost brand new and get a differant one.

[hammered54]

it may be some sprag part's but no the sprag is not alum. you can not just put in a 34 ele. sprag alone you need a pre 65 front drum! what may have happened is when it let loose it's now not centered in the case anymore, so the alum. you see is the case!! can ya just strip out the brake and get the old tranny repaired? I'd check around the drag strip and see who the fast car's are using, my guy's the MAN but it's a long way away!! he will ship anywhere, but you know it's the middle of the season and most of the good guy's will be swamped. let me know I;ll give you his #

[nitrofish420]

I've heard of remanufacturing companies cutting torque converters apart on a lathe to rebuild them, and welding them back together again. Although I have no idea how much this would cost, it might be worth checking into.

[JAMZ87SS]

Well it is definately aluminum, and it definately is teeth. I'll try to get a pic up in the morn. If I rebuild my other I won't be able to use the brake. Not without new gaskets, and springs, and drilling a hole in the front drum, and some other crazy **** that the instructions call for. I dunno, I guess I'll just let the trans shop look at it and bendover and take it!!!

[JAMZ87SS]

The bigger ***** is I didn't even get to break it @ the track!!! broke the ***** doing 20 mph on a trans test drive. FAILED THAT TEST DRIVE :)

[hammered54]

all of the non friction part's in your old tranz should be o.k. why not just drill the hole, buy a borg warner rebuid kit and go for it, the only tuff part is the lip seal's, and let the tranz guy put them in for ya can't be more than few buck's for that, and as far as the converter sent it back to whoever and let them clean it out , most of the Co. do it. also get the manual from HarperCollin's - automatic tranmission&transaxle's 2nd edition it's a classroon manual it's realy a great manual. don't know of many alum. part's on the inside unless he put in a alum. drum then it would be the 34 ele. sprag.( one way clutch) and it's over $600.00 w/shaft. Matt

[kpmoody]

I sure do want a powerglide for my vega. i will get rid if my fresh th400 to get a glide. it has new transbrake,full manual ,reverse pattern , all the bells and whistles. call ken 850-443-3569. I'm near tallahassee fl.

[hammered54]

is it for weight that you want to dump the turbo400? if so why not just switch to a 350 turbo?
your here so I take it that your spraying , you;ll be faster with the 3 speed and the weight is about the same as a glide, even without spraying. Matt

[JAMZ87SS]

I tore into it today, The case is ****ed! Ripped all the teeth off that holds the front drum. It does have brand new indy red clutches and steels. As far as I can tell whoever built it screwed up and installed the brake wrong. Looks like they did a rebuild and just bolted the brake valve body up with out following any directions. The thrust washer on the pump is chewed. The brake valve was not finish sanded to the case and was hanging up. The front drum was not drilled. I'm not chancing it with this brake on my next trans. I'll just have the indy red clutches and steels put in my old trans and call it a lesson learned. There is alot more carnage than I have stated here, but I'm not sure how to describe it :(

[nitrofish420]

Pics are worth a thousand words!

That really sucks about the tranny, though. Have you been able to find the guy you bought it from?

[mrr23]

have you goten another th400 case yet? if not, i can get ahold of my trans guy and see if he has one and get it built correctly for you.

[JAMZ87SS]

Yeah, my last trans still works ,just slips alot :) . I'm really up in the air w/ this whole deal!! I want to use the brake @ least that way I won't be out the total $500. I'm just afraid that the next guy won't install it right either. I'm going to call J&W in the morning to find out how much they'll charge me for new springs and gaskets for the brake.

[JAMZ87SS]

Toy funds are low right now, I'm just gonna throw the old slippin' slushbox back in till business picks up. I'm hoping I can throw a can of Trans x in it to last me the season anyway( the trans is bearable w/ the new shift kit ). The car hasn't even been down a week and I'm having withdrawals. It'll be easier to deal w/ the down time when I know the track is closed.

[hammered54]

what about the converter?
is that what you realy want to do? at least have the old pump checked out and see if you can have pump pressure bumped up a little!

[JAMZ87SS]

I filled and drained the converter 3 times till the fluid came out clean, I have a high pressure spring for the pump I'm gonna put in when I put it back up.

[hammered54]

ya know I should be (in your own word's) bustin your ball's right now! take that converter to a shop and have it cleaned right! if not you are (will ) be sitting there with two F@#$ed up tranny's on your hand's with no good core left, I could be wrong but, odd's are not in your favor in my opinion, then you will be sittin out the rest of the season. Matt

[JAMZ87SS]

Well I agree w/ you 100% , but if you've been following my posts at all, you already know I like to play the odds. If I think I have a shot spending 35 bucks as opposed to a $135... I'm going $35 :) I'm throwing this ***** back in and hitting the track. I've got alot of other problems to work out, and I'm feeling good about my chances w/ this trans holding up. I'm also willing to sacrifice my core tranny for a converter cleanse if nothing else! A little metal in the fluid(if I missed any) won't hurt the case like a trans barke that has been installed wrong. I've found my transmission. It is a JW Th-400trans w/ brake for $1295 . I'll have to save up for the rest of the season to afford that and a new converter, But It will be a new trans w/out worrying about joe dirt redneck tranny builder selling me a piece of ****! I DO NOT, AND WILL NOT TRUST ANY ASSHOLE AROUND HERE TO BUILD ME TRANNY W/ THIS BRAKE! I have a known transmission that ran 10's , thats good enough for me :) In it goes.

[JAMZ87SS]

Anything else is a bonus! Next trip is gonna be a 11xx on motor, and a mid 10 on the jug! I'll even go as far as saying if I pull an 11 on motor, the 200 pills are going in! :) "IS ABUSIVE TOWARDS EQUIPMENT" Haahhaha that was my high school shop class report card! I HAVE ISSUES :sofa:

[JAMZ87SS]

Beat The ***** Into Submission!!!

[hammered54]

well alrighty then,:rockon: I'll leave you alone, but only till after you make them passes, then will see ha ha ha!!

[JAMZ87SS]

LOL , ok . But seriously all I can do is hurt the frictions, and if they are shot already, then ... NO HARM, NO FOUL. Any one care to wager on a new best E.T.? 1st trip I dropped 1.3 seconds, 2nd trip I dropped another 1.5 seconds, I'm liking my odds :) .5 shouldn't be too hard.

[hammered54]

yup! real money? hate to put you under the poverty level but I'll bite! Matt say's that you will not be any faster than you've been already! given the same tune up, bump it to 200 and the tranz is DONE! $10.00?

[JAMZ87SS]

Woah, woah... who said anything about the same tune up? The whole point of throwing this trans back in is to get some more tweaking in. I haven't even come close to what this thing can run N/A.

[hammered54]

no faster than 10.99 n/a. tranz gone at 200!!

[jjvette]

This post gets more stupid by the minute. You will never learn.

[jjvette]

Your second trip was slower than your first. Your third trip will be the last on that trans & converter.
You gamble way too much!

[hammered54]

it'a take you a couple of day's to disasemble and reasemble both transmission's and problely less than $50.00 in soft part's and you'll have a tranz that work's, and a whole lot less greif (sp), why so inpatient? blowing it up will impress no one, do you know how hard it is to come by those transmission's ? I do , see you on the sideline's with a bunch of broken **** real soon!!! I'll be racing in the nat. this week end (if it's not raining)and you'll be sitting in a pool tranz goo. :dunno: good luck!! Matt

[JAMZ87SS]

OK, FINE!! TORE IT DOWN AND REPLACED ALL THE CLUTCHES AND STEELS!!! They were black and glazed. YOU ****ERS HAPPY NOW :) . Everything else looked real good in there. I'm in the middle of a smoke break and then I'm gonna tackle the stiffer pump spring. It should be boatloads of fun with no snap ring pliers :) Oh and I flushed the torque converter 2 more times, thats about 2 gals, I filled and drained. So, If I didn't **** it up, I should be good for a while w/ the new clutches and steels and the transgo 1-2 recal shift kit. Hopefully it will give me time to save up for a Brand new trans brake Th400.

[hammered54]

it's not about me:rule: or anyone else being happy, I'm happy most of the time:naughty: it's about you, how happy would you be when it fly's apart and all along you had the mean's to have fixed it the first time? :ops: so it's probley raining there anyhow perfect time to "GET'R' DONE", and save a little face come race day!!:doh:

[JAMZ87SS]

Yeah, yeah...lol... It's done! I'll get it back in the car soon, and should be back up there next wednesday(if it lives past the test drive). Maybe now I'll be able to sleep! I haven't had a good nights sleep in 3 days... kept getting up and coming out into the garage to smoke, and think about the friggin tranny. Once that happens, then back to bed to lay there and think about every option(for 4 hours). So, It's done, no more options. Now I just pray it holds. I do feel better after seeing those black glazed clutches, and blue spotted steels. Hopefully these indy reds are everything they say they are. And If all goes well I can add a tranny rebuild and shift recall to the resume :) Thank the lord above I had a TH400 transmision book (never even knew I had it). You know I'll be letting you know how it does :sofa:

[JAMZ87SS]

Oh and good luck in the nats matt!! Make us g-body guys proud :thumbup:

[hammered54]

weather's not all that great here! but WTF I;ll drink a lot of beer if nothing else:harhar:

[JAMZ87SS]

Yeah tell me about it 96 degrees w/ a 107 heat index... running @ a damn 3000ft D/A!! Believe me I hear ya!!!