TH400 issues

[kmanrsss]

I have replaced my th400 with a junk yard unit. Its all in and i started filling it tonight. Put 1qt in the converter before reinstalling it. I broke the shifter arm shaft and replaced it, pretty straight forward replacement as far as i can tell. seemed like it would have been difficult to f it up but im sure its a possibility. have everything installed and started the truck, let it run for 30 seconds or so. checked the dip stick and the level had dropped. i added 3 more qts as it was no  longer showing on the stick. restarted the truck and the fluid didn't seem to drop much if any. put the truck in gear and nothing happens. its on my lift so there is no resistance on the wheels or anything like that. I let it run for a min or 2 shifting through all the gears and got nothing in any gear. this was all at an idle. do i need to let it run longer? where should i be looking? its possible that this tranny is junk from the get go, but the filter and fluid that came out of it didn't look too bad. this is an 87 4x4 v20. the transfer case seems to be in gear. got nothing in any modes of the tcase. thanks

[VileZambonie]

Is your transfercase in Neutral? Is your driveshaft connected? Is the manual valve actually moving? When you broke the shifter explain...

[kmanrsss]

As far as i can tell the transfer case is in gear, going to double check tomorrow night. Both front and rear driveshafts are connected. I was attempting to remove the nut that holds the shifter linkage to the transmission as the junk yard tranny had a different bracket. It was rusted and i ended up breaking the threaded end about flush with the housing. I removed it and replaced with a new part. seemed pretty  straightforward, remove the nail that captures the pin internally, remove the nut that captures the toothed gear selection lever on the shoulder of the shaft, remove broken shaft replace new shaft. is it possible that the converter isnt seated all the way even though the pump seemed to circulate fluid the 1st time i started it?   

[Engineer]

There is a peg on the shift shaft detent wheel that engages a groove in the manual hydraulic valve. Check to make sure the manual valve is working back, and forth (in, and out) from the valve body.

If your converter wasn't seated in the pump you would have broken the ears off of the bellhousing when you bolted it up to the engine.

[kmanrsss]

Is the peg in question the one above the 3rd detent in the wheel?

[kmanrsss]

Well I think I figured it out. I always learn the hard way. I took the pan off the old tranny and boy does she smell burnt. Anyways right away I saw my f up. Im almost positive The peg on the shifter detent wasn't in the groove on the hydrolic valve just as engineer said. Only issue is I'm baby sitting my daughter tonight so mama can go out, and its 0 out and no heat in the garage. Tomorrow is another day I guess. Thanks guys.

[Engineer]

The TH400 is an awesome tranny.

My learning experience with the pin in the manual valve was not paying attention when reinstalling the valve body. I bent the manual valve and had to buy a new one.

That was 25 years ago. I am a lot more careful now.

As you say, live, and learn.

Right now I am in the process of researching a build on a TH400 that will handle 1200HP+. Not that I'll ever need that much capacity, but the mods are worth the extra time while doing the build up.

What isn't cheap is the 7 disc direct, 4 disc intermediate, and 6 disc forward clutches. The 34 element sprag wasnt $80.00 when I built my first TH400 either. Man I wish I would have had the interweb 25 years ago when I first started messing with these things.