More than a few projects have been done on jackstands. If looking at them really does cause the nightmares, try wrapping some old beach towels around them. Then your dreams will be filled with thoughts of fun at the beach.

Or... You'll learn to hate the beach and never go to enjoy it again...


For me, working on the car is a kind of therapy. Cheaper than professional help I think. But I did finally break down and buy a lift for the garage. The stands still come out for things, just not as often. :-)

 

I will say this car is about the easiest thing ever to put up on stands. Takes about a minute, bing bang boom. The rigidity of the unibody is great. I slap some hockey pucks on top of the stands for padding/grip and it's super solid. The rad obviously needs no lift to remove, but most of my thoughts gravitate to the looming transmission work. Bleh.

 

By the way, here is the subject in question:



Not too shabby from afar.

 

better lighting = better pics

 

Brilliant - thank you!

I think I have a decent idea how to make it all happen. If all goes well, it should buy some time and be able to co-exist with a replacement radiator in the future.

 

I do note that on your work done list you have not included fuel lines. That should be tops on the list if not done already.

 

I believe my bro in law did that while they had the car, along with timing belt, AC overhaul, and various other things. I'll check. They do look fairly fresh.

 

Well, I'm certainly scratching my head now that I've spent some time under the car. Trans fluid was pristine, and there is NO leak at the radiator cooler. Very little debris in the pan, no metal.

But when I removed the filter after letting things drip for a while, a bunch more fluid gushed out from the valve body above the filter - so it seems the filter is super clogged. Maybe it's loaded with dirt from the time a previous filter failed.

I guess I will just do a quick check of the valve body to make sure nothing is sticking (it looks squeaky clean), flush the cooler lines and check governor/B1 for cleanliness, slap a new filter on it and see what happens.

:shrug:

Thanks for the help anyway... At least I'm prepared now in the event the cooler does leak, or if I decide to add a supplemental cooler down the line.

 

Some of the passages will vacuum lock and hold fluid for a while. Did you drain the torque converter first? Has a separate drain plug.

 

Drained both. A couple months ago I had the main valve body, b1, governor, kickdown solenoid, all completely apart for a thorough cleaning after the previous filter failed and sent dirt through the whole works. I ran a fresh filter for a few short drives to try to flush crud into the pan, then did the tear down and cleaning and another new filter.

When that first filter nuked, I found a little pepto-bismol looking fluid at the cap, and fluid was a bit cloudy in general, which is why I suspected a possible radiator issue. Now I'm thinking the cap might have just let water in from some rainy drives - I replaced that o-ring and the reservoir fitting then and there was no pink fluid this time around.

Governor looked great at the last cleaning, moved freely, no wear on the gear - Is there anything else to check there?

And B1 seems fine, since I have solid engagement in reverse and 2, and kickdown to 1 was working fine too, solenoid seems happy with good o-rings.

I guess I'll get to enjoy another valve body experience to look for sticky things, and maybe pull the lower cover this time to check the strainers.

Is that "lower cover" valve body gasket reusable? Manual doesn't say to use a new one.

 

On first starts after a fluid replacement, you can expect to have some aerated fluid/foam at the top. The fill procedure is iterative fills interepersed with engine run, letting the front pump fill the converter. If you suck the sump level down to much below normal level, the pump sucks air and shares it throughout.

If you suspect that you have water/coolant contamination, grab a sample and let it sit overnight in a glass jar. Water/Coolant will drop to the bottom, in an obvious layer. The trans fluid floats to the top. Coolant is miscible in the oil but not soluble. Unfortunately that means that any that accumulates in the trans will sink to the bottom of the sump, first to get sucked up and pumped through when the engine is started. That also means that the first dribbles from the drain plug after the car sits overnight will be water/coolant, so you can grab a quick sample before moving anything and see what's lowest in there.

The seal on the cap will let you know when it's leaking, usually by leaving a mini lake of ATF on the floor when parked. Running liquid level is up at those hig marks on the reservoir; Shut the engine off hot, and the fluid level will be higher than the cap. There's a separate vent tube from the top of the reservoir to the case that allows the reservoir to show you sump levels accurately. We refere to that bottle as the "reservoir", but it's closer to a "stilling well" for level indication, except when you are actually adding fluid to it. As a percentage of total fluid in the system, it's miniscule.

 

OK - I can safely rule out water contamination. Fluid is clean, and the cooler up front is squeaky clean.

Governor is A-OK. Kickdown solenoid is also OK. Selector OK. Bowden OK.

Main valve body is also clean, and all pistons operate smoothly.

Took the "lower cover" off, and the metal thimble strainers in the lower cover were pretty clogged. Also, the lower cover plate gasket is all kinds of warped and wavy - to the point that I don't want to put it back on.

Problem - I can't find a part number for the gasket to buy a new one.

It's #5 in the picture attached... any ideas where i can get a new one?

 

I found the MB part # (1262771480) and a new gasket is on its way.

I'm going to let this thread sink now, since it has strayed pretty far from the original topic. If the new valve body gasket and fluid/filter doesn't get things back in action, I guess I know the next step will be dropping the trans for a rebuild.

Thank you all very much for your help!