Dropping the transmission, tips n tricks

[Mopar1973Man]

15 hours ago, dave110 said:

because the ECM was slow to boot, which points to it starting to fail.

 

Booting issues of the ECM will stop the truck from even starting. The very first instruction is to do the blub check for the WTS and fire the grid heaters if required for the IAT temperature.

[rogerash0]

Does the tranny fill line pull right up and out? Also does anyone use loctite on the comverter bolts, and what torque? I think it's 45ft lbs, perhaps a bit on the high end. Or we can just go hella tight.

[Dieselfuture]

I believe on the dipstick there is just a bolt that holds it to engine and it pulls right out, I think there may be an oring or something similar. It wouldn't be a bad idea to use some Loctite, torque is always good, but a lot of times I just went hella tight too ha ha. I've tightened so many bolts in my life my hands are kinda like torque wrench now.

[Mopar1973Man]

There is a specified torque for all those bolts in the FSM. Yeah in stock design these numbers are fine. Now aftermarket stuff it might change some. Check with your part supplier if there is changes in torque values. I tend to favor the torque wrench on assembly because it gets everything evenly tight less issues of things coming apart in high stress applications.

[CTcummins24V]

Yes loctite on TC to flexplate bolts. I thinks its 35-45 ft-lbs.

 

installing a new aftermarket TC? If so, use only 6 supplied bolts.

[rogerash0]

Going from the 300rpm lower than stock stall to stock stall is a huge difference. Overall power feels down 20%, but Im in the meat of the rpms @ 2k-2100 off the line at lights so smoke is very minimal now, which was my goal. Its like I need to re-tune with my quadzilla, give it lots more fuel. I was test driving on "extreme" though, which normally lays down the law pretty good. I went to 95% throttle and it seemed like the quad was limiting rpms to a max of 3305....... thats all I saw out of it. It never locked up in fourth tho. 1105 EGTs is all I saw out of it. Normally I'd probably see 1200-1250 at that throttle, on that run, how I accelerated that time, on that tune, on that exact road, etc. I test drove my route to work which I drive both ways about 3x a day. So I know it well.

 

I have a weird sound thats rpm dependent. Its very noticeable from the drivers side doors on either side, but not if your in front of the engine while its running. Also not super noticeable when I was playing with the tip of the exhaust, moving it around to see if that was what was vibrating. It sounds like a vibrating exhaust, quite frankly. I tightened the DP very well, touched it, put pressure on it, loosened where it mounts to the "mid-pipe". No difference. It sounds like when you push a kickstarter down on a dirt bike while its running. Its a metal sprag sound thats hardcore sounds like its coming from either my oil pan or TC when Im under the truck, while its idling. Its there in P or N. It also doesnt seem to be the fill tube. The sound also appears at random intervals whilst driving in gear, when Im dead pedal coasting. I cant make the sound repeatable though while driving, its like around 1100rpm or something whacky. Its got me feeling pretty uneasy about the whole thing. But I drove the truck 15 miles /w no problems. Engine turns over with the barring tool smooth and easy. I tightened the TC bolts to 50% torque, criss-crossing as I went, then to 100% torque of 45ft-lbs. Used red loctite. The bolts were grade 8, came with the TC, same length as I took out. Only 6 went in.

 

I cleaned under the TC really well, and Im not seeing any shavings. The transfer case has fresh oil and the transmission is filled with oil to the proper level, 50-60% in the OK crosshatch @ 152*F. I did put a quart in the TC prior to installing it.

 

Otherwise it runs well. It did take me four days to do. I cleaned every nut and bolt as I went, wire brushed lots of brackets, cleaned all the wires with electrical cleaner, greased them all up, etc. Took my time, trying not to make a mistake. I left the transfer case on and it shifted on the jack, that really hurt how things were going. Also my floor has big divets from how they poured it, which were my enemy. It took me 6 hours just to get it lined back up, 3 late at night with my wife and 3 hours the next day by myself after we both got really frustrated previously.

 

Im still nervous and not sure how to feel about the whole thing. It was a lot of effort, but the first time doing anything normally its that way.

 

Oh ya, my airdog went from 31-33psi at idle to 37-39psi at idle now. And the only thing I changed was my torque converter, period. I specifically didnt touch a single boot or anything, because I wanted one change at a time. The truck does sound a little quieter at idle like I can hear more engine hum now, feels a bit smoother at idle for sure, and no hard starts, but the grids did come on initially. Even after it got hot, no hard starts.

Edited May 9, 2018 by rogerash0

[GSP7]

On 4/26/2018 at 6:41 AM, Dynamic said:

 

 

When the converter is in all the way, the front cover will be sticking out of the bell housing about 3/4" - 1" or so.

 

"Front cover sticking out of the bell housing" ?  what the heck do you mean by this? Maybe a typo?

 

 

Edited May 11, 2018 by GSP7

[Dynamic]

30 minutes ago, GSP7 said:

 

"Front cover sticking out of the bell housing" ?  what the heck do you mean by this? Maybe a typo?

 

 

 

No typo... I mean that the front of the torque converter will be protruding from the bell housing about 3/4-1" when the converter is fully seated.

[GSP7]

8 hours ago, Dynamic said:

 

 mean that the front of the torque converter

 

[Royal Squire]

A photo here might be appropriate 

[rogerash0]

Rick at firepunk and Phil at dpc both said it's torque converter chatter from a few extra thou clearance. Hurts nothing, just annoying

[CTcummins24V]

1 hour ago, rogerash0 said:

Rick at firepunk and Phil at dpc both said it's torque converter chatter from a few extra thou clearance. Hurts nothing, just annoying

 

Mine sounds like bells/metallic, only when TC locks at lower rpms. Same thing just annoying. My single disc didn’t make this sound, only the triple.

[rogerash0]

The one I just took out started doing that at lockup a long time ago. The new one doesn't do it. Phil was saying you can modify the valve body with a Dremel to test the fluid in park, have more flow in park, and he said that would quiet the noise down, but I'm skeptical bc the noise is the same in N.

[notlimah]

What brand converters are you guys running that’s having these noise issues?

[CTcummins24V]

2 hours ago, notlimah said:

What brand converters are you guys running that’s having these noise issues?

 DPC

[Dynamic]

I have had zero problems with either DPC or Goerend when it comes to any rattling noises. I'm not saying that it's not possible, but I haven't seen it, and I use a TON of both. I have, however, had quite a few customers do their own installs and not get the flexplate bolts tight enough and have them start rattling. It's a little bit of a chore to get them tightened and torqued to spec.

[Mopar1973Man]

That's something I'm weird about. When it comes to flex plates, flywheel, pressure plates, and torque converters I grab the torque wrench torque everything to spec also go around a second time checking I didn't miss anything.

 

Man I really do hate dropping a transmission a second time because I missed a bolt or didn't torque it enough.

Edited May 22, 2018 by Mopar1973Man

[Dynamic]

Yes, you definitely want to use a torque wrench on the flexplate bolts!

[Mopar1973Man]

19 minutes ago, Dynamic said:

Yes, you definitely want to use a torque wrench on the flexplate bolts!

 

Could you post up the torque values for these bolts for people?

[rogerash0]

I torqued them to 48ft/lbs with a brand new 3/8" Craftsman digital torque wrench from sears.com. I know it's not the best torque wrench but at least it's new and probably not too far out of calibration. 

 

It would keep rattling when dropped in drive and reverse, if the bolts were the problem, right?