Alright, not much forward progress this week, as we had a HUGE problem. Last Tuesday I tried dropping the trans in gear to make sure everything was right with it. Nothing, no forward, no reverse, no hydraulic fluid flowing and filling the cooler. What had happened, was that during the mating of the Cummins and Allison, the torque converter slid forward inside the bellhousing and off the pump splines, which would be why there was zero hydraulic pressure.
What had actually happened.... when I purchased all the adaptation pieces to convert my 5.9 Cummins from automotive (Dodge) to Industrial, I had received a weird #2 bellhousing, weird in that it was 5/8" too deep. The incorrect bellhousing was the first mistake that wasn't caught (by me OR my parts guy). The second mistake, made by my parts guy, was when I asked if it was ok that I had to slide the torque converter forward to get it touched up against the flexplate, and the answer I got from the "Allison mechanic" was that was completely fine.
I thought "oh well, he's the Allison pro, if he says it's fine, I guess it is. Oooops... should have went with my gut feeling that it wasn't right.
I then had to pull the Allison and get it on the ground, remove the bellhousing from the engine, all underneath the cab at this point, and replace it with the correct shallower bellhousing.
And of course....... the new bell housing has completely different motor mount and starter positions. I had to torch out my motor mounts I spent a day building, and spend another day building new ones to fit the new bell housing.
We got the trans re-stabbed and tested it yesterday and am good to go. Sorry for the long rant, but I was pissed, for having the wrestle a 600lb tranny for a reason that wasn't my fault, and loose damn near a week worth of time.
I did manage to finish the mechanical side of the steering system though.
This week I plan to get the charlene valve installed, along with the hydro tank and lines, hood installed, rims painted, and rims & tires installed.
I don't think holding a quarter in the tread would work very well in this application, so how about a hand.
