P38A Gearbox Fault. No drive!

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RatCav said:
I have the later sump apparently. The extended one with the two holes. I have poked, prodded, and rummaged. Tried even to see if there is any play in the TC. No play, and nothing visually untoward.
Click to expand...

Ok see what you find but if flex plate had parted i would still expect something to catch somewhere. May well be that oil pump has gone AWOL and broken drive fingers off torque converter. Let us know what you find.
 
Will do. Oil is a little dark, but nothing I would be concerned about. Sump plug had some small tiny filings on. Both gearbox and transfer case oil are in good condition. So far everything is ok, but I haven't got into the bell housing yet.
 
RatCav said:
Will do. Oil is a little dark, but nothing I would be concerned about. Sump plug had some small tiny filings on. Both gearbox and transfer case oil are in good condition. So far everything is ok, but I haven't got into the bell housing yet.
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Sump plug is there to capture metallic particles. A fine grey dust is fine, actual identifiable shiny filings are not good.
 
Took a photo of it. I didn't think it looked bad.

IMAG0234.jpg


Those spikes are actually made of tiny tiny particles all sticking together. No actual "splinters"
 
Yup .. I have to admit it gave me some hope. If there were chunky bits that you could chew on I would start pricing new (second hand) gearbox's :D
 
Ok .. braved the weather today. Got the gearbox off. Not too bad a job if you excuse getting the props off. Shone a torch up onto the flex plate and it looks fine :(

I did notice flakes of metal on the end and teeth of the gearbox input shaft though. Noticeable flakes almost 1mm square. The oil that came out of the gearbox was clear of this debris. I am thinking torque converter again now. Looking into the end of the gearbox I cannot see anything untoward.

Next question. How do you remove the TC from the flywheel. I turned the engine until I could get a socket on one of the 10 (not sure how many) 13mm bolts and started undoing it. I then noticed that these bolts didn't seem to hold anything obvious. I was going through the hole on the passenger side. Do the 4 off bolts for the flex plate show through the drivers side hole in the sump. Please don't tell me I have to drop the sump to get to them.
 
flex plates can loose drive but still appear good, till you remove them ,tc will have 4 bolts removed from engine side ,the 10 bolts hold ring gear on
 
Plot thickens :)

Firstly apologies for the delay. Bad weather, stray kittens, many trips to the vets etc etc. Long story short I managed to get the box and TC off finally. Initial discovery is the flex plate is fine. No cracks or splits or anything. In fact it is pretty unmarked. Thoughts are now heading towards Torque Converter or Oil pump. I have no idea how to test either, but I do have a good auto transmission shop near me. Two other things I have discovered. It is a second hand box. Someone has written 4.6 V8 in yellow scrappy pen on it. Also another bell housing bolt is missing (top drivers side). The TC output shaft has been chewed slightly. Anyways photo's:

IMAG0387.jpg

IMAG0389.jpg

IMAG0390.jpg

IMAG0391.jpg

IMAG0392.jpg

IMAG0397.jpg

IMAG0399.jpg
 
Verdict is in.

The box is second hand. Which ever muppet installed it should be hung, drawn, and quartered. They didn't put the TC onto the gearbox properly and then slide the assembly onto the engine. They must of bolted the TC to the flex plate and then jammed on the gearbox drawing it in with the bolts. This has critically damaged the oil pump and its housing. Net result is everything has got chewed up sending bits of metal everywhere. TC has broken down inside and the poor oil and contamination has knackered the clutch plates of the box as well. Basically new TC and gearbox. Not impressed with whichever cockwomble is responsible.

Now to source replacements.
 
RatCav said:
Verdict is in.

The box is second hand. Which ever muppet installed it should be hung, drawn, and quartered. They didn't put the TC onto the gearbox properly and then slide the assembly onto the engine. They must of bolted the TC to the flex plate and then jammed on the gearbox drawing it in with the bolts. This has critically damaged the oil pump and its housing. Net result is everything has got chewed up sending bits of metal everywhere. TC has broken down inside and the poor oil and contamination has knackered the clutch plates of the box as well. Basically new TC and gearbox. Not impressed with whichever cockwomble is responsible.

Now to source replacements.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately there are a lot of cockwombles about.
 
RatCav said:
Verdict is in.

The box is second hand. Which ever muppet installed it should be hung, drawn, and quartered. They didn't put the TC onto the gearbox properly and then slide the assembly onto the engine. They must of bolted the TC to the flex plate and then jammed on the gearbox drawing it in with the bolts. This has critically damaged the oil pump and its housing. Net result is everything has got chewed up sending bits of metal everywhere. TC has broken down inside and the poor oil and contamination has knackered the clutch plates of the box as well. Basically new TC and gearbox. Not impressed with whichever cockwomble is responsible.

Now to source replacements.
Click to expand...
its the measuring thats important too
 
Does anyone know where I can get a set of bell housing to engine bolts from? Missing one of the top ones and the set that bolt to the later extended sump to the bellhousing.

I cannot post in the wanted section for some reason.
 
I assumed as much. Common thing on forums to prevent spammers. Just couldn't immediately see something along those line in the rules. Not to worry.

P.s. no bother about the dodgy post ;)
 
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