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Ruggels transmission rebuild thread

8K views 76 replies 7 participants last post by  Ruggels 
#1 · (Edited)
so my trans recently took a dump again with no warning at all dropped the pan to find black fluid and fine metal shavings covering the bottom so im in the process of pulling it out, im going throw in a junkyard 2nd gen and rebuild the current... i have many questions but im going to go one at a time as i get to it, first off when i last replaced the trans 3 years ago (my first time working on cars besides spark plugs... yea great way to start) i followed Chilton and it told me to remove the TQ to flywheel bolts and i had to replace them,,, since then on this website the 606/42LE ive found says nothing about this, can it just be pulled with TQ in place?

oh and ill be posting plenty of pictures of the rebuild and sexy burnt up clutches to keep the whores entertained :drool:
 
#32 ·
ground is good its on the opposite side of the bell housing connected to the bottom starter bolt... the starter is not turning at all it just clicks and sounds like a bad battery connection but if that was the case it woulda worked on the jump

ill go check that little wire i think i know what one your talking about

what do i hook up to my ohm meter to check the voltages
 
#35 ·
i never removed it only one i messed with was ground and its back in same spot... but i did just check em for snugness and nothing also it seems when i turn the key to crank ABS light comes on the when key is turned back it turns off
 
#36 ·
Also, you could have a situation where the starter solenoid contacts just happened to go bad when you had it out - unlikely, but not unheard of. Although, I don't hear of many 1st gen starters having bald solenoid contacts.

Manually turn the starter bendix by hand to see if you can get a different spot on the commutator inside the motor on a different spot...

If the click you hear is the starter, I'd guess your solenoid when wonky. DO NOT REPLACE THE WHOLE STARTER, just rebuild the solenoid... If you are in a hurry, take the back cover off the starter (three screws), and clean the carboned contacts with a wire brush.
 
#38 ·
for some strange reason im not sure if its the drop in temp or what other things started to randomly get a problem.... a few days ago i was under it and all the sudden the lower rad hose started leaking and i hadn't been near the damn thing!

ill try moving it by hand but i have 0 experience with starters i just know they are brushed DC motors, do i need to take it fully out and rotate the little protruding gear?

also id imagine starter related is the only course to go? theirs not many more options?
 
#40 ·
Starter is about the only thing it can be at this point.

You may be able to turn the bendix (gear) with a screwdriver while starter is installed. Won't take much turn.

As for removing the cover and repairing, it is pretty simple. Remove starter from car, and on the bench take it apart. I can't remember, you got the 3.5?
 
#41 ·
yea the 3.5 and cleaning the connections didnt help any ill try fishing around with a screwdriver and it looks like work is going to once again get in the way of finishing my car if turning it dosnt work it may have to wait till tomorrow :glum:

i assume any parts store would have the rebuild kit?
 
#43 ·
I don't know where you'll find the rebuild kit, other than online. Rock auto may have it. I personally would just remove the starter, open the thing up, and clean the contacts. I'll try to put something together in pictures for you.
 
#44 ·
:glum:

Well, rats - I miss-remembered the type of starter that is on the 1st gen 3.5... I was thinking about the 3.3...

Here is the 3.3 starter:


Remove the gold cover seen visible in the upper left corner picture, and behind that are the contacts to clean. BUT -

The 3.5 starter is this style here:


This style has a replaceable solenoid, but NOT a rebuildable one. you unbolt and completely remove the solenoid, and can replace just that, but I don't see that being worth it, honestly. Find yourself a remanufactured drop in warranty replacement, if the starter is bad.

Here is a picture of the solenoid alone:
 
#45 · (Edited)
HOWEVER!

I would like clarification from you - you say that the starter goes click, but no turn... Have you confirmed that the engine will roll over by hand now that you think you have it all bolted up?

Grab the crank shaft harmonic ballancer bolt with the 15/17/19 mm socket on a breaker, and lean on it, trying to turn the engine clockwise. The engine should turn over free enough to almost drop the wrench out of your hand... If it does not, you may not have the TC properly indexed onto the input shaft, and you'll have to re-seat the TC in the bell housing and pump input shaft.

I'd be happy to help you verbally by phone or even by webcam if you need - just PM me the details of how to reach you.
 
#46 · (Edited)
thats around what my friend was saying to try to just hand crank it.... but what your saying is that if i try to manually turn over the engine and it does not turn over then the TQ is improperly mounted? or if it dosnt turn over easily? which one?

when putting in the bolts the TQ was able to seat back into the trans about 1/8 of an inch between the flywheel and TQ, until the TQ bolts are installed which bring it flat onto the flywheel.... does that sound right? i made sure when i put the TQ in that it seated down 3 times before the TQ was back far enough that the crank sensor was about half past and half on the TQ, and was unable to seat it any further

edit: and PM sent
 
#47 ·
Got your pm.

Yea, you've done the right seating then, like Devan describes. And since you had a gap when the Trans was installed that you took up with the installation of the TC bolts, sounds like my fear of it having to come out are unlikely...

But yes, may as well try it with a breaker bar. The times I have done it wrong, the engine is locked up completely-not just hard to turn-but I guess it could go either way.

If you go out to play with it before I can call you, I'd start by turning the engine by hand, then if it turns over nice, remove the starter to bench test it with a jump pack or jumper cables.

I've got a 701 area code, so you know who is calling you.
 
#48 ·
so i figured out that the starter is fine and i believe it to be the trigger wire as the culprit now, the guy at napa said with the key in on possition it should get 12 volts... it did not i also had someone try cranking it and still no voltage the power wire, and battery voltage were both fine.

so looks like im about to rewire that plug... and can anyone confirm that test was right?
 
#50 ·
I already tried the starter relay and nothing but im not sure im doing the test right can anyone confirm that the little wire should have 12v when the car is turned on or cranked?

I've tried cutting that wire further into the harness and testing it their where it wouldn't have been crimped or anything and still no volts? Could it be the plug that wire runs into or am I in wrong direction?
 
#51 ·
so after talking with cean we've discovered the problem lies in the TPS sensor

as i noticed when installing the plug the female end on the transmission indented inwards the popped back up when pressure was released.... while my older trans did not.... i was hoping it had no effect unfortunitly i was wrong :glum:

it seems that the gear selector will light up R, D, 3, and L.... but P and N will not illuminate im going to do a few more tests before i decide to jump in a change it but im making a call for anyone whos had exp and switched this sensor before, i understand ill need to remove the valve body an solenoid, but know little past their....

Adpros ive heard you may be able to help?

tomorrow ill take the shift cable off and go threw the gears just to make sure the linkage isnt way out of wack
 
#52 ·
so heres some pics before i go take out that sensor since ive been teasing of some the entire thread and none yet ill start uploading more i promise :D

this is the battery acid i found after removing the battery when i was checking the starter wiring as you can see i had to dig out the bolts to remove the tray the right is how it looked before being dug out



this is the fluid that came out only 30k miles on the life of ALL the fluid with 2 pan drops in that 30k..... the fluid on the left is OIL for a comparison..... yummy clutch material



and the old trans! i really dont fully know the year on this thing but is believed to be a 98 (the ID tag has been removed)


more yummy fluid
 
#53 ·
dont have any pics of the new 04 trans however :glum:

ill take some pics while i have the valve body off though!

it seems to be easier then i thought it would i was scared at first when i found out i had to go inside the trans but its very simple i just have to watch for the accumulators falling out on me and mixxing them up
 
#54 ·
I believe you meant the TRS sensor. I have not done any cross generation swaps so I can't offer much help other than telling you all the accumulators are the same except for the springs that are inside them. If you end up crossing one or two, the effect will not be fatal. Just be sure they are installed in the proper orientation. Accumulators that are upside down can cause lots of wierd shifts.
 
#55 · (Edited)
so im a bit confused in the 42LE manual it says "move shift lever as far as it will go clockwise, one past L, and remove the shift lever" does that mean remove the part the shift cable attaches? i would think if that where removed and was not put on exact same way the linkage would be all out of wack? or is it guided somehow by being "one past L"

and the manuals call it the MVLPS - manual valve lever position sensor - but thats to much to say so im gunna call it POS sensor :sneaky2: made an almost perfect 2nd gen trans take that bit extra before i get her up and runnin
 
#56 · (Edited)
so when i woke up i facepalmed and realized i could look at other trans to see how the lever lines up and yea had to wait till after work but got the valve body/ solenoid out now and got a bunch of pics

just the valve body after it came out its very clean and you can see the accumulators came perfectly out with it.


close up of the accumulators


the underside of the transmission with valve body/solenoid pack out


and the sensor in question




it to me seems almost as if it is made to be pushed down then back up by use of the spring... the entire black plate that goes around it is able to be moved up and down.... im debating my next move as the new sensor from dealership is over 50$ when it appears to me it is made to do that but i cant tell.... makes me wonder if somethings wrong with my solders on the plug
 
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