TH350: no reverse, no drive?

[kmcbride74]

Vehicle: 1985 silverado c10 1/2 ton 2wd.  Just put in 74 350 with th350 from it that worked fine in the truck it came from.  I drove it, so it was not a scam.

I split the tranny and engine when doing my engine work.  I put front, rear, and shifter seals in the tranny.  After completing the engine, bolted up the tranny, ensuring the TC snapped into place.

I replaced the fluid and filter last night, no gears, no reverse, no drive.  Any thoughts on what this might be?  I read up some on here and will try the Lucas tranny fix if nothing else pops up...

Kurt

[VileZambonie]

Did you bolt the convertor to the flexplate? Is the linkage hooked up? Is the fluid level correct? Are you sure you safely engaged the pump?

[kmcbride74]

Thanks for the quick response!  Answers in-line below...

Did you bolt the convertor to the flexplate? Yes.
Is the linkage hooked up? Yes.
Is the fluid level correct? Yes.
Are you sure you safely engaged the pump? By this, you mean when putting the converter back on after front seal change, yes, I think so, I mean, I didn't clam it on, but eased it on, turned it until I heard is sort of snap/click into place.

[kmcbride74]

Even if the there is a root cause I'm missing, is there any harm in putting the Lucas in the tranny?

[Irish_Alley]

did you hear two clunks or just one when you put the tc in?

[jaredts]

Lucas won't fix your problem.  Did you fill your torque converter with transmission fluid before putting it in?  Embarrased to say I've made that mistake many moons ago.

[kmcbride74]

did you hear two clunks or just one when you put the tc in?

hmmmm, was a number of days ago and beverages ago.  I think maybe just one.  Should there be 2?  Is there any easy way to confirm its in there properly after its already in the truck and bolted up?  Or do I need to unbolt it and back it up from the engine to confirm?

[kmcbride74]

Lucas won't fix your problem.  Did you fill your torque converter with transmission fluid before putting it in?  Embarrased to say I've made that mistake many moons ago.

I was told this is not necessary since it is not a lockup th350?

[jaredts]

Lucas won't fix your problem.  Did you fill your torque converter with transmission fluid before putting it in?  Embarrased to say I've made that mistake many moons ago.

I was told this is not necessary since it is not a lockup th350?

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe every torque converter needs filled up on any automatic transmission before install.  Right or wrong my Dad called a friend when I did it and he said to let it idle to fill the converter, but there would be a risk of burning up the pump.  It idled for almost an hour before everything worked correctly, but I never had a problem after that.  This was on a front wheel drive Nissan that was very difficult to do a transmission change on.  In your case (assuming I'm correct) you'd be better off to just put some long bolts from tranny to engine and slide the tranny back enough to get the converter off and fill it.  Other than a few swaps I'm no transmission guy, so someone please confirm this.

[VileZambonie]

You should always prefill the converter. How much fluid did you put in? Did you flush the cooler before you installed this trans? What was wrong with the old one?

[VileZambonie]

If you're sure everything is correct, drop the pan and inspect the filter and the manual valve.

[kmcbride74]

You should always prefill the converter. How much fluid did you put in? Did you flush the cooler before you installed this trans? What was wrong with the old one?

I filled the pan to th high mark on the dipstick, I have the cooler line fittings plugged off for the moment, I sold the old tranny, its gone, it was slipping

[kmcbride74]

If you're sure everything is correct, drop the pan and inspect the filter and the manual valve.

Put a new filter on it last night.

[jaredts]

You have the cooler lines plugged or looped into each other?  I'm not sure transmission fluid will circulate properly if they are plugged.  Is there a good reason to not hook it up correctly?

[VileZambonie]

Flush out your old cooler and make sure there's no garbage in there. Hook up the cooler lines. You shouldn't even try running it without the cooler lines hooked up.