need tranny help..............

[69 air cab]

I have an 84 Silverado, 350/350. I just finished installing a new 350 engine. The tranny was pouring fluid out before replacement but was shifting fine.........well..........shifting ok. So........I replaced the filter and modulator, and seals and install her with a new torque converter (at the advice of the previous owner who is a friend).

Today I was going to drive it for the first time and I had to give it a good bit of gas to get it to go in both rev. and drive. I did not even go 25 feet with it and shut it off.
I called a tranny shop and they told me to pull the converter bolts to see if the converter is turning freely first. It did turn free. I called the tranny shop back and he said it sounded like the pump had gone bad.............if I take it to him he will rebuild for $450 with 6 month war.

I did fail to tell him i did over fill it as much as about 1/2" on the dip stick.
Can you all think of anything else it might be before I put that baby back out?

[grayw0lf]

I wish I knew enough to give you a better answer, but I do know that many people buy the step by step rebuild videos & usually have good luck afterwards.

Just a thought before you drop a couple big notes.

[badone07]

Make sure the converter is engaging with the pump and is pushed all the way in. Sometimes have to shim them where they attach to flexplate. Also you did fill the converter with tranny fluid right, before installing? vacuum modulator hooked up, no pinched tranny lines, etc. Just checking the obvious before you pull it back down. If the pump IS bad, not hard to replace though, but still must remove the tranny. Make up 2 pullers from 3/8" threaded rod, washers, nuts and 2 small pieces of pipe. Then grind down a hacksaw blade smooth and flat, to seat the seals for installation.

[69 air cab]

I have not checked the modulator line b ut will. I put 2 qtrs in the converter. Knowing the history of t his tranny I would bet it is bad.
I will check all the things you mentioned.
Question - what does a true "rebuild" actually include?
Thanks

[MylilBowTie]

All the soft parts clutches, steels, seals, and basic stuff like that. It doesn't include hard parts like valve body, front pump, and shafts. Most shops will just replace the soft parts, and hard parts as needed rather than replacing everything.

[badone07]

Basically everything that MylilBowTie said. It depends on who is doing the rebuild. Not all places replace every soft part, other than seals. Some "rebuild" them just to make sure they get through the warranty period. I would check around with other shops and make sure you get everything in writing, like what they replace and the exact extent of their warranty(mileage and/or time period). Also who does the removal and installation as far as the warranty goes, if trans. fails. Personally cost wise, if I didn't do the rebuild myself, I would take a chance on a used one first.

BTW, when you added the trans. fluid, did you cycle the tranny through all gears, while holding down the brake? Then checking fluid level after each each gear cycled, before attempting to drive?

[69 air cab]

what's the normal going price for a used Tranny? Yes I did cycle the gears but not for long..........maybe no more than 10 sec. in rev and 10 in drive.............you suggest longer? The initial fill of fluid was a bit over and once I started with out putting in gear it went down about a qtr so I added that back.

[MylilBowTie]

Just depends on what the person wants out of it. Most should be about 200-500 ball park depending on the condition maybe less. You need to run the transmission in all the gears for 15 seconds at a time to fill the valve body. This is what the transmission needs to operate on, the rest is the reserve. After you do that pull the dipstick wipe it put it back in to check it. This will tell you what the reserve is left in the pan and fill it to the mark. Sometimes you have to go in small steps so that you dont over fill it.

[69 air cab]

Well here is the latest. I cycled the fluid as recommended. THen I discovered I had not pugged a round plug (electrical) into the right side of the tranny (not sure what that does). YOu still have to give it lots of gas to make it move. I can only think it must be a bad pump.

[MylilBowTie]

What color does the transmission fluid look like? Does it smell burnt? It could be a front pump but it should be making some noise, like a whining (gear drive -blower) type sound. More likely than not its time for a rebuild or replacement.

It could also be a torque convertor that is failing or about to go. Have you tried to drive it and shift it manually? Does it feel firmer shifts or not slipping as much?