All Flushed

While the tranny seemed to shift fine, this trans hasn't been a daily driver for some time, so I flushed the fluid and put in a new filter. Now it shifts really well. No, I didn't bother to adjust the bands. Didn't feel it needed it. After driving it after the flush, I still don't think it needs it.

Just a little bit of sludge in the bottom of the pan, nothing that wasn't expected. Judging by the gasket, this was the first time that the pan was dropped.

It's kinda nice not having Hanky mark its territory on my concrete driveway when I park it outside.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Alan dropped off the 'new' transmission and t-case yesterday and after a brief sojourn to Three Brothers, the organ transplant got underway. With a lot of help from my trusty assistant Igor (er, Brian), we got it under the truck and lined up before he had to make a hasty retreat to go celebrate his wife's new job (congrats Kathy!).

The hard part was done, so all I needed to do was hook everything up. The front hard line was a b**** to get on. Took at least 20 minutes to get the threads started. Ugh. Also had to swap off the shifter cable that was on the trans (it was stuck solid).

Once all in and buttoned up, I took it for a run a block down to Brian's place. Runs like a champ, but really wasn't far enough to tell how it performs. Checked the fluid and it's a pint low and looks like there is a little bit of water in there, so I'll need to flush it out. This morning, I took it for a run to the beer store and it shifted nice and smooth. No signs of any leakage (hallelujah!).

We might just have a winner here! Can't wait to get the top back off and cruise topless.

p.s. while waiting for Alan to make the delivery, I started cutting what I though was a credit card area of rust under the gas pedal. Well, you know how that goes. It'll need to be twice that size by the time I get it all out.

Out with the Old, In With the New - redux

Pulled the transmission and transfer case today in anticipation of a 'new' one arriving from Alan. Pulled the converted to see if it was obvious from where this one was leaking. It wasn't. I don't know where it's leaking. Must be from the input shaft seal, but the thing looks perfect. Whatever.

Note to self. Place the tranny jack as far aft as possible when moving both the trans and t-case. It got a wee bit tipsy on the way out. But I got it down and out from under the truck without having to separate the two. A little creative tilt and spin to get that shifter lever cleared is all it took. Now it's a giant paper weight in the middle of my garage floor.

I'm thinking that while it's out, I should put in that dual exhaust and take the sawzall to a couple of rusty spots. It will be a lot easier now while I have extra clearance.

Left or Right?

Here's a question for ya: should I wrench with the left hand that has torn ligaments or with the right, which has severe tendonitis in the elbow?

That's right - BOTH! No pain, no gain.

Got in to the garage tonight and undid everything that's bolding the tranny and transfer case in the truck, save for the bellhousing and crossmember. If I can escape the office early, I'll see about dropping them out in anticipation of hooking up with Alan this weekend so I can put the 'new' one back in.

Keeping all my sore fingers crossed that I won't F&%$ this one up.

Good Days and Bad Days

This weekend was decidedly two of the latter. Well, it started out well enough. Bill D and I made a jaunt out to Crazy Ray's to see what's what. I scored a radiator for Heavy D and Bill scored a washer bottle, a speedo out of an old wreck and a dome light for his Saturn. Then back to Bill's place to install my spare starter in Peer Pressure. Voila, that did the trick and she started right up. Bill's problem solved.

Then the tide turned. Hanky dripped a little trans fluid at Bill's place and at Duesenbergs when we went to lunch. But when I got home the whole bottom of the truck was covered in trans fluid. It was dripping from EVERYWHERE. Ugh. So, the only thing that I think it could be is the input shaft seal. The one that I just changed and had given me so many headaches. I must have f***ed it up after all. OK, so trans has to come back out again. Deal with it.

Bright and early this morning, I put the 'new' radiator in Heavy D, filled it up and...

... it leaks. #)($#&%)*$%&$%$*$%*^!!!!!!

But, always hopeful, I'm thinking tha maybe, just maybe that water (yes, only water) is left over from having hosed off the engine bay before fiting it up (yeah, I know, why did I decide to hose off the engine bay before I tested this read? Hey, I was confident). So anyway, I let it sit a while, go hear my brother sing some opera, whip up a pot of chili, then go back out to fire it up. Hmmm, idling nicely and no sign of a leak. Might be lucky. Maybe it's just not hot enough yet, so I do for a 4 mile loop around the neighborhood. It's running good, sounding nice... until I get about half way. Something isn't right. Look at the temp guage and it's climbing fast towards 250.   %&$@$&%&!!!

Get it to a place where I can pull over and stop and already I can see it's leaking. Pop the hood and see it's thrown the fan belt - again! What the f***? OK, it wasn't the mandatory two belts, but that one belt was as tight as I could get it. Of course, I didn't put any tools in the truck, so I couldn't get it back on. So I waited until the temp dropped back down below 190 and limped it home. When I get there I walk around front and can see clearly one of the leaks, shooting right out through the grill.

So, I'm back to 0 Internationals that are road worthy. Time to take my original radiator to the shop and just have a pro fix it.

Then some time this week I'll start unbuttoning Hanky's transmission.

Frustration is setting in...