[96Z71VORTEC]

I have a '96 Z71 5.7L auto trans. I like to get on it every now and then to hear those sweet sounding flowmasters. so the other night after work, got on it ok, then all of a sudden, was hitting the rev limiter and couldn't do anything but coast to a stop.

sitting in wal-green's parking lot, put it in park. tried forward, reverse, nothing. got out, saw my long trail of trans fluid, and got it towed home.

I'm not certain because it was pretty dark outside, but I think most of the fluid was coming from the bellhousing/torque converter cover.

So I've taken the trans pan off, still had a little bit of fluid in it. however did not find any metal shavings. there were what looked to be a couple of pinky-nail sized rocks/clumps of dirt at the bottom though. going to take off the rear driveshaft and the converter cover to see what's going on in there. anybody have any possibilities of what the problem may be?

the rocks/clumps of dirt got lost somehow during cleanup as it started getting dark out. don't know where they're at.

am i going to have to have the trans completely rebuilt? is it just the torque converter? is it just the pump? seal on the pump?

i have got the truck up on 4 ramps in the driveway. guess tomorrow i'll get to wrenching and see what happens.

i don't have a lot of $$$ to have it rebuilt, and i'm hoping to do this the cheapest way possible. i've researched some rebuild kits from monster trans, they're about $500. i've looked for rebuilt tranny's with warranty's and they run anywhere from $625 to $1200. I'm really not looking to spend that kind of money but if it's that screwed up i don't really have any other choice but to try and come up with it.

any and all advice/answers is greatly appreciated.

 

[murdog94]

Sounds like the front seal took a dump.. but you wont know till you have the trans on the ground.

 

[stephan]

X2 on the torque convertor seal because of where the fluids coming from (I hope, as the seal will be the cheapest repair you can have here)
The convertors themselves don't commonly suffer the type of failure where they start spewing fluid unless a rock got thrown up in there & ripped an external hole in it, or the tc hub got ripped off. If it's not the TC seal, then it could be the case broken/cracked, pump broken/cracked, main shaft broken, torque convertor hub ripped off, pump gasket.

 

[96Z71VORTEC]

well the plan today is to get the transmission on the bench. don't know how well that will work cause the weather's been screwy. hopefully i'll know more tonight. would be nice if it's just the seal. thanks for the quick replies.

 

[96Z71VORTEC]

so i've got the converter cover off (magically), front and rear driveshafts are off, all electrical connections are disconnected.

all i have left to remove now is the transfer case shift lever knob and boot, the dipstick, d/c the shift linkage from the transmission, the fluid cooler lines, speedometer cable or Vehicle Speed sensor (VSS) connector, downshift cable, vacuum modulator line, throttle linkage, transfer case and the adapter, and transmission (all that are applicable, some may not be).

i'm hoping it's just the front seal. don't know how much more i can do this week cause i work evenings and get up in the afternoon. this might be a month long project....uggh

 

[stephan]

A month? I don't think we can wait that long. That's kind of like watching half of a suspenseful movie & having the TV blow up & then having to wait a long time to find out how it ends
You have any pics of your '70 Chevelle ???

 

[96Z71VORTEC]

not really sure how long it's going to take, i'm hoping it won't be a month. but it will definitely be another week before i can get any further. will need to borrow/rent/buy a transmission jack

thar she blows cap'n