There She Blows!

[Christianfishn]

well my truck "chuncky" finally blew up with the ailing engine that was in her. Pretty certain it was cam bearing failure and we will know soon enough. I have a spare engine ready to go but had a few questions. The motor is siezed up pretty good and i think its that way for good. Does this mean I will need to pull the tranny and engine together? or is there another way for me to get the flex plate bolts out? I have already started taking the front clip off and the engine is unhooked from everything sans motor mounts and transmission. Any quick tips or help here with the easiest way to proceed is greatly appreciated. Once I get it out ill post up some carnage, poor ol gal.

 

[Recovry4x4]

You can separate them leaving the torque converter attached to the flex plate. Leave one easy to reach trans bolt in place and lift engine until it clears the clamshell then block up trans to that height. Balance of the engine will be a guess on your part. Keep them aligned as best as possible as you separate them.

 

[Christianfishn]

Awesome! For some reason I believed sliding the engine off the the TC would be hard without any rotational play. I will set to it this evening!

 

[Chaski]

Yep, that method works. Be prepared for a quart of atf to spill out of the torque converter the second you separate it.

 

[Christianfishn]

Got the engine out today, thanks for the input worked great. I have to replace the inner fender as well as it was rusted really bad. The other motor is preped and ready to go in but now Im thinking I want to put in the 700r4 while I have everything out. Anybody know where I can find a tv bracket or if someone has one for sale please PM me.

 

[Christianfishn]

Got the brand-used engine in today woopie! All of my buddies were busy so I had to wiggle it in alone. All went well So I thought... I bled all of the injectors and she started right up wonderfully, It's nice to have a running engine again!
After a good while of idling and warming up I put the truck in drive and let off the brake she started to roll then lurched a little and this continued for a short second. Almost like a lurch stop, lurch stop, kind of motion. Not violent but gently. The engine was idling smooth the entire time so I am fairly positive this is not the issue. It felt like a transmission problem. There also sounds like there is a faint rattle coming from the transmission tunnel area that hasnt been there before. I checked the fluid level and it was fine... I pulled out of the garage to go on a slow test drive and transmission stays in 1st gear until you rev the engine high and then it just slips.... UGH!!
The only thing i can think of is that the Torque converter that was mounted on my new to me engine is bad. Does this make sense? I have the torque converter on the blown engine I could swap over, I know that one is good.
Does anyone have any input of ideas what could be causing this problem? I really need to get my truck back on the road. Thanks.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I have brand new rebuilt torque converters for diesel th400s. PM if interested

 

[02smokemaker]

It sounds like the pressure plate in the torque converter is cracked. This allows fluid to leak by and it wont build any pressue for the valve body and clutch plates.
Been there.....

 

[Christianfishn]

Ok, I got the working TC off the blown engine and going to install that today.
I disconnected my drive shafts and bell housing bolts, speedo cable shift linkage and all other connected entities. I do not have a transmission jack... what is the best way to go about getting the transmission slid out enough to change the TC and then get it back in place? I have a buddy helping me today to make things a little easier but wondered if anyone has any tips before I struggle for a few hours...

 

[02smokemaker]

Bolt a piece of wood to top of standard jack to match oil panin size. place under pan put slight pressure then crisscross two wratchet straps around tranny and wood to stabilize it.

 

[Christianfishn]

Well finally got the tranny out, TC replaced, and mounted back in and she LIVES! It wasn't too bad only took 3 bottle jacks and 3 floor jacks and a couple of ratchet straps. Oh and it only took me 7 hours... good think I don't do this for a living.
Ended up using one jack on the front oil pan with a block of wood and then two more on the ends of the cross member to balance and rotate it. It took long because I was figuring things out. We pushed the truck forward to separate then dropped all the jacks together to get enough room. Once the New TC was on we lifted it up to where it looked like the bellhousing to block guide pins would line up, we put a ratchet strap on the rear bumper connected to a d ring in the shop and slowly pulled the whole truck back to mate with the transmission. BINGO!
I think I overfilled the transmission a little so I need to drain that out and also need to check the gasket on the pan anyway from supporting the tranny there. But She starts up drives and shifts. It is shifting a little soft in the 2 miles I drove it and is shifting a little late, I recon that I need to adjust the vacuums modulator etc.
There is still a subtle interesting ticking noise coming from the bell-housing area, Unfortunately I believe it is most likely the flexplate which I inspected and thought was fine. At least that wont be as terrible to change...
Once I get some free time After maple sugaring is over I will tear into the old 6.2 which suffered a terrible death.

 

[Tinstar]

Glad to hear it!

Hopefully you checked and retorqued the flywheel bolts while you had it off.
Others have found them loose and even some missing.

 

[02smokemaker]

Glad to hear you got it!

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