Original 68 Buick th400 just failed

[brave sir robin]

Taking the transmission in and out isn't that big a deal for me. I am waiting to do it until this weekend because Harbor freight is having a sale on good floor jack on Friday and I need to source some junk pieces of wood for engine support anyway.

The plan is to drop the transmission
re seal the front pump install new output shaft seal (not leaking btw) and move it to my proper parking space at minimum. I will look into actually tearing the entire thing apart when I need to cross that bridge or have a bit more time.

apartment life n all


oh and previous fill was half dex VI and half Maxlife. There were no problems at all with DEX VI even in the coldest part of winter or the heat of summer. The transmssion had been up until this point perfectly reliable. I picked up two gallons of some cheap supertech dex III. If everything is ok after a few days of driving I will probably add a bottle of lubeguard red

I replaced the pan gasket and loosened up all the bolts in preparation for removal this weekend.
The only thing that was a bit odd was the o ring on the pickup tube was somewhat swollen and the replacement filter kit did not come with a new one so I used a spare HNBR o ring from my ac repair kit.

The fluid was cherry red and did not smell burnt at all. I did a pan drop drain and fill back in 2013 probably 30k miles ago. Just the normal transmission schmoo nothing chunky in it.



Because I know bitogers I thought I would post some pics lol
The ring you see is from the pan magnet I have attached to the bottom

 

[brave sir robin]

***update***

I removed the transmission and replaced the front and rear seals as well as pump gasket and O ring.
This did not correct the problem as fluid is still spraying and gushing out from around the torque converter. The car is immobile and I am currently calling various transmission shops around town because my apartment complex will tow it on Friday.

While I had the pump off I took a glance at the clutch pack and did not notice anything obviously messed up. The pump itself does not appear to have abnormal wear and the sealing surface had the lightest of witness marks from the pump gears BUT it did have a passage that had some rust and collected schmoo.

 

[ironman_gq]

There were some seal incompatibility problems in other transmissions with DexVI, not sure if they're relevant to this one or not.

 

[brave sir robin]

Originally Posted By: ironman_gq
There were some seal incompatibility problems in other transmissions with DexVI, not sure if they're relevant to this one or not.


The external front and rear seals were in very good shape and still pliable and the rear had been replaced at one point because there was a bit of orange high temp silicone under it and I do not believe they used it at the factory back then.

 

[clinebarger]

The Pump Bushing looks pretty beat-up.

 

[brave sir robin]

Originally Posted By: clinebarger
The Pump Bushing looks pretty beat-up.


Are you talking about the bushing behind the pump gear itself or the bushing on the shaft? The grit you see in the pic from my dirty paws handling it. I didn't see any type of scoring or weird looking marks on either while I had it apart. But I have never seen what a new bushing looks like in person for comparison.

My current plan is to tow the car to my sisters house after work today. Remove the transmission on Saturday and take the entire pump assembly along with the converter to one of the shops on the way to work and have them take a look.

 

[brave sir robin]

closer pics of the pump bushings and converter
both parts are going to transmission shop on Monday and I am crossing my fingers that they can correct whatever it is so I do not have to fork out nearly 1500 dollars for a transmission
because that is how much the local shops want for a rebuilt one.

 

[clinebarger]

Your bushing picture is the Rear Stator support bushing, Not the Pump Bushing. Look at your converter hub....It's damaged! You have a pump bushing failure.

I can build you a BOP TH400 for $850 including a torque converter, 3 year unlimited mileage warranty, No core charge. You keep your trans & I ship you a built one for whatever the freight charge is. Fastenal has a store to store freight service thats very reasonable.

 

[BigD1]

That's the same price a local shop charged me to rebuild a Tubo Hydramatic 125C. Only got a 12 month or 12,000 mile warranty.

About Dex 6 in old transmissions. I asked them what transmission fluid they used in my rebuilt trans, and they said Dex 3. They said they do not recommend Dex 6 in in old transmissions. I asked if it was because Dex 6 cost more, and they said Dex 6 was not too much higher buying in bulk like they do. They basically just said Dex 3 worked very good in Turbo Hydramatics for years, so there was no need to change.

 

[brave sir robin]

Originally Posted By: clinebarger
Your bushing picture is the Rear Stator support bushing, Not the Pump Bushing. Look at your converter hub....It's damaged! You have a pump bushing failure.

I can build you a BOP TH400 for $850 including a torque converter, 3 year unlimited mileage warranty, No core charge. You keep your trans & I ship you a built one for whatever the freight charge is. Fastenal has a store to store freight service thats very reasonable.


when it rains it pours..................
The Pathfinder is now leaking coolant big time and I am pretty sure its the water pump..ugh
The sprag clutch is making noise on the bike too.
The Buick is currently parked on my sisters driveway up on jacks. My sister is a lawyer and her future husband has never so much as changed the oil on any vehicle he has owned. They are the exact opposite of bitogers so do the math on that one

In a few minutes I am going stop off at a local shop and see what they can do in the short term.