iv got a 86 trans am with a 700r4 in it. i took out my old motor because it threw a connecting rod. it sat in drievway for a month and a half on blocks in front. most of the trans fluid leaked out of the tranny while it was sitting. i filled it back up, but now i still cannot get it to do anything. reverse, forwards, 1'st and second nothing. its like its in neutral all the time. can rev to 6000 and it wont budge. car rolls free, can push it around in driveway. the tranny onley has maby 5000 miles on it, and it is a gm crate transmission.

can i possibly have air in the tranny lines?
or what else do you guys think it could be. i just spent a ton of money on my motor, would like not to have to replace the tranny right now.

thanks

 

Disconnect the bottom line from the transmission at the radiator. Put the line in a bucket or bottle and start the engine, you should see fluid immediately, if not the front pump is broke.

 

ok thanks. ill try that tonight after work. would this clear air from the lines?

 

700r's have a vent tube, my guess is that somehow the converter slipper off the pump... id pull the converter bolts and make sure it was engaged to the pump ... my 0.02

 

ok, i pull them out and try that too... thanks. it slip off even tho its bolted up and everything?

sorry all my experience is in manual trannys

 

thought you had said that you pulled the old motor, and then it sat. was thinking if it sat with no motor, and then was moved or somthing to put a new one in it might have slid..

 

i took the converter off and bolted it to the flywheel before installing it in the car. maby i messed up the pump when i was puttin it in, but i dont member bein rough with it at all...

 

ya.. pull the converter bolts, grabit and spin it while applying pressure towards the trans, you should feel it clunk back as it engages the pump, then put the bolts back in the flywheel, unless it hurt somthin goin in it should be good to go then

 

Did you refill the tranny according to tghe dipstick, or # of quarts you put in?

When the torque converter fills with fluid, the trany actualy holds almostr double the amount listed for a fluid change.

If your dipstick isn't reading Full after putting fluid in, the torque converter is filling & the dipstick only shows whats in the pan.

 

ok, i put in 4 quart of fluid. the dipstick shows fluid, not full but close. the converter was draiined when i pulled the motor out. and prly a quart leaked out of the cooler lines. does the convereter take awhile to filll? i had it running for about 20 min now from my cam break in. it wont do anything. ill try unbolting the converter and reseating it tonight after work if i dont go to the track. ill unhook one of the cooler lines too and see if it has any flow. thanks for the replys.

 

so when you try to go through the gears does the shifter move freely or do you still press the side button in to click into different gears. Cause if thats the case your linkage could be messed up. i did this to a mitsubishi lancer one time. i rented the car while mine was being fixed and in a rage i smashed the shifter into gear. i broke something and it wouldn't go into forth or OD.

 

Just to clarify, before you put the converter back on you filled it with trans fluid correct? If not the car will never move.. If you put the converter on dry, take the converter back off fill it with fluid, reinstall and be on your way. It will never fill with fluid if you put it on dry, it needs to be installed filled. Pull the trans, fill converter, reinstall and you will be on your way.

 

with the converters i have replaced, i only put one or two quarts in them(not near enough to fill them) and never had a problem.



my guess is you damaged the pump trying to install the converter bolted to the engine. most of the time the converter needs to be spun to mate up to the pump splines, input shaft splines, and rotor lugs.

 

iwas gonna say... no-one else sees a problem with installing the converter to the engine first?

 

it doesn't have to be completely full, that would be pretty hard to do without spilling some out while mating it to the trans, but putting it in bone dry just won't work. See the above post. I normally put in 2 quarts or so before putting the converter on depending on the size of the converter. Bottom line, it needs fluid in it before installation. It is quite likely he did damage something installing it the way he did, but hopefull it's just a bone dry converter. Only way to find out is to pull the trans and give it a look. If there isn't any apparant damage I'd simply dump a few quarts in the converter, pop it on the trans, bolt it back in and see what happens.

 

unless he put a new converter in it, there is no way he drained enough out to leave it bone dry unless he drilled a hole in it. i cut these torque converters open on a daily basis as part of my job. unless it has a drain plug, there is no way all the fluid came out. always a couple of quarts left.

 

Wow, ok.. you're really reading into this waaaaaay too much.. ok not BONE dry and not COMPLETELY full. Let me try to put it a different way, it needs ENOUGH fluid in it or will never work, it simply will not work if there isn't enough fluid in it and it won't fill up on its own. If you dump the fluid out of a converter as he said he did and install it the car will never move until you take said converter back off and put fluid in it. Weather or not is is completely FULL or completely EMPTY is besides the point.

 

Next time I will choose my wording more carefully. Basically if you take a torque converter, dump the fluid out, and put it back on the trans and install it, the car won't move, not matter how long you sit there and run it, rev it, whatever. It just won't work. Granted it won't be BONE dry, but it still won't have enough fluid in it to work. When you install a torque converter it doesn't have to be completely full to work, but it does need ENOUGH fluid in it to work, typically I try to pour as much in as I possibly can without it dumping out all over the place while installing it. Thats the best I can do wording wise, I apologise if it isn't clear enough.

 

thanks guys, i get fluid from the tranny cooler lines. and the linkage is fine, it moves the lever on the trans. i can go through all the places on the selector. just feels like neutral in everything but park. i did not refill the tourke converter with any fluid before install. didn't think it was necessary. i guess that my lack of experience in autos kicking in. only way to fix the problem is to remove tourke converter and refill. then replace. correct? have to see if that fixes it. I didn't have time tonight to get it jacked back up before it got dark. and i dont have it in the shop right now, had to push it out to make room for my dd to fix it. thanks for the reply s guys.

 

yeah you need to fill the stall converter before you put it on the tranny or else youll be waiting a while for it to fill, tranny wont move unless its got enough fluid

 

no, not reading to much into it. i built the tranny that is currently in my car. new converter upon install. i only put the 12oz. bottle of lubeguard in the converter before i installed it. over a year later and the trans is doing fine. he still had more than 12oz. of fluid in that used converter. the converter will fill up....if the pump is pumping fluid.

 

should i idel it sum more and see if it fills up? would towing in gear help? i really need to get this running easily as possible. my truck hasblown a headgasket, and the head is at the mechine shop getting redone. i need to get this car running. riding my bike to work aint that easy, i work 20 miles away.

thanks

 

Yep. That's a big no-no. There's no way the converter will go onto the input and stator shaft and engage into the pump properly.

Providing nothing got damaged installing the converter that way, pull the tranny. Pull and reinstall the converter onto the transmission. It should have 3 separate steps going on. You normally have to wiggle and rotate it to get it aligned and onto all 3 steps. Once install on the transmission, the converter mount tabs should be behind the mounting surface of the bellhousing and the backside of the converter should almost be touching the pump. When you put the tranny back in and it's bolted to the engine, the converter should spin freely and will need to be pulled about 1/16" out of the tranny to touch the flexplate.

It's very possible you damaged the converter or the pump installing it that way.

 

you might get away with removing the torque convertor to flywheel bolts and twisting the convertor into place

when it is fully seated you should not be able to get you index finger between the convertor and the front pump

honestly you should really drop the tranny and take a look first but it you have more ***** and dont mind making a mistake or two- basically if your a gambler- give it a try

worst case senerio- front pump and torque convertor on the shopping list

in all honesty if you reved it to 6k then they are already on the shopping list