Tranny up and died on me!

[75BeauJames]

I was cruising in the Beau James last night, doing about 50 just running up to the store. All of the sudden, the engine rev'd high and it acted like it was in neutral. I can shift all the way from reverse down to first without catching a single gear. It hasn't been acting up and has been shifting smoothly for the last 2 months that I've had it.

So my question is, with TH300's being a dime a dozen, should I bother taking it to a shop to be diagnosed and repaired, or would I be better off to just yank the dead unit out and put in a replacement? I found a TH350 this morning with 80k miles on it for $50, including torque converter... It's my daily driver, so I just need to get it back on the road ASAP for minimal cost. Figures, I ordered my rims and tires on Friday... Don't wanna cancel the order if I don't have to!

Scott

[Grim Reaper]

Ok the dumb stuff....It has fluid right?


Before you right it off there is a cover on the tail housing with a metal clip retaining it. Under that cover is the govoner. Pull it out and see if the drive gear has any teeth on it. It will give simular sysmptoms if it has the gear fail. Gear is nylon.

Also does it grind when you try to put it in park? have somebody put it in Drive and rev it up while you look at the drive shaft. If the shaft is spinning you may have blown out the rear axle. I bet if you look at your sticker in the glove box you find a G80 RPO code listed as Locker.

If it is the tranny I bet it's converter or the splines on the stator shaft (shaft that engages the converter) are stripped.

$50 is not a bad deal. If the fluid looks clean you will probably do ok. If not it 's a good core or between the two you can buid a good tranny if the stator shaft is ok on one of them.

[75BeauJames]

Well it had fluid, right now it's all out on the ground under the truck.

There is no grinding when going in to park, and the first thing I did last night was check the drive shaft and it's not spinning.

Still waiting on the flatbed to get here so I can go get it off the side of the road and throw it up on a lift. I'll check the gear in the tail housing when I get it back here. Thanks for the tips!

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by 75BeauJames
Well it had fluid, right now it's all out on the ground under the truck.

That aint good!



$50 is worth the gamble if you can handle the swap. Parts to rebuild one is under $150 including a stock rated rebuilt converter.

Not hard at all. If you can handle a motor build then you can handle a TH350.

[75BeauJames]

I think I'm going to try my luck with the $50 tranny. Still trying to make up for Christmas and can't afford a rebuild right now.

So my next question is, are there any seals/gaskets/etc I will need to pick up from the parts house to install the new tranny in? Since I've never worked on a tranny before, I'm not sure what all I should replace when installing the new tranny.

Thanks in advance!
Scott

[Slonaker]

You don't need any gaskets to replace it, but it would be a good time to replace anything that looks like it is leaking. I picked up a complete seal kit for mine at a transmission supply house here in SA for less than $30. If it has a lot of parts that are leaking, that might be cheaper and easier than trying to buy the individual parts.

I guess a lot depends on your plans for it. If it is temporary, you may want to throw it in there and hope for the best. That would allow you to save your money to rebuild the old one. If you think (or hope...) that it will last you a while, it might be worth replacing any seals or o-rings that leak right now.

Slonaker

[75BeauJames]

Thanks Slonaker...

My intent is just to get it back on the road. The weather is good now, so I don't mind riding the motorcycle, but I'm sure we'll be having more cold weather before summer...

My plan is to get this thing in just so I can get to work, and have the original tranny rebuilt and regeared next month when I have the cash. Then I'll reinstall the original when the loaner dies or I have a free weekend, which ever comes first.

Thanks again for the input!

Scott

[chevychic]

I'm glad I read this thread!! My tranny did exactly the same thing to me last week. Except that I think I can hear my drive shaft spinning. I'm gonna check for sure. It would be really good news if it's my rear axle and not my tranny since my tranny is only 2 years old.

Anything else I should look for Grim?

Sorry to hi-jack your thread Beau!!

[75BeauJames]

No problem on the hijack; We're all hear to learn...

One test a local mechanic told me to do with the symptoms I had. First, check the fluid. If it's out of fluid, add some, let it warm up, and see if it will engage in to gear. He said that if it still won't go in to gear then most likely the pump has given up the ghost and is not pushing fluid in to the tranny, and with no fluid you can't get in to gear. If it does have fluid (which mine did), he said no real way to know whats wrong without pulling it out...

[lukecp]

If the driveshaft spins and the truck won't go, the tranny aint the problem!

One of my friends had a similiar thing happen....truck wouldn't go, and grinded when it was put in park. Turned out he had broked a C-clip in the rear axle, and when he drove it (in 4x4) the axleshaft came flying out!

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by chevychic
I'm glad I read this thread!! My tranny did exactly the same thing to me last week. Except that I think I can hear my drive shaft spinning. I'm gonna check for sure. It would be really good news if it's my rear axle and not my tranny since my tranny is only 2 years old.

Anything else I should look for Grim?

Sorry to hi-jack your thread Beau!!

Stripped stator shaft makes a nice grind with vibrations for a short while. If the drive shaft is spinning it's puked the Diff gears, clutches (G80 RPO) or R&P. Around here you can pick up a 14ff for $100. LOL. Ran across a van width with 3.73 or 4.10's I should go get for my 75 and run hummer rims.