TH350 problems

[RedBrute]

A little back ground first. My Dad gave my son his 1979 K10. It has sat for 4 years, only driven to get inspected. It has been driven with no problems for the last 5 weeks. This weekend we put a MileMarker part time kit in it (501) following the instructions posted by Grimreaper. We took it for a test drive and everything was fine. Today the trans seems to be slipping as you pull away from a stop. Truck shudders a bit acts like its low on fluid, but after it gets rolling it shifts fine and goes down the road ok. It doesn't shake/shudder/slip in reverse, only in 1st. We just got done with a fluid filter change and the fluid looks like pink metalflake paint, filter about 50% plugged, bottom of pan covered with goop and a few tiny slivers of aluminum. Based on the fluid/pan crud,I think the tranny is about to crap out. We put in 1 quart of Lucas trans treatment and the rest ATF. What I'm looking for here is any advise,expierience,recommendations,comments from those that have been down this road before. I Think a reman trans is in the near future unless someone has a trick/tool/method that could fix this. I think the part time kit can't have anything to do with this other than I heard him spin the tires down at a friends house shortly after the test drive. You don't think he did a few burnouts do you? Naaa, not my baby boy /forums/images/graemlins/whistling.gifThanks

 

[RedBrute]

Anybody???

 

[down4thakrown]

ethier tranny goin or the pink residue is water leaking from radiator into resvoir for tranny cooler unless you have an external tranny cooler other then that its fillin up with fluid and causing the problems

 

[XHitman396]

ya i'd say she's on her way out, not sure where the shavings were from, maybe planetary gears, or pump, no idea on the aluminum shavings, best of luck to ya...

 

[RedBrute]

Actually the "pink metalflake" was in reference to the color of the fluid, nice and pink like new, not burned and brown like a heat problem. The metal in it is a bad sign. I'll post up as to the actual fate of this if it finally goes. On a side note, Auto zone wants $500 for a remanned unit with a 1 year warranty, anybody have any experience with Autozone stuff? Thanks for the reply

 

[RingMaster4x4]

I have bought reman. Transmission for my blazer for a place called advance autoparts. I had good luck with them I went throught 2 in 3 years and I have a big block with 44 and I like to smoke the tires. /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif

 

[big83chevy4x4]

if you still have the fluid, see if the flakes are magnetic, most of the parts inside are steel, the only aluminum is the case, and a few hubs. all the parts the carry any weight are steel.

never had any experiance with autozone trannies. i would find a local rebuilder andsee what he charges and what he replaces, etc.

 

[RedBrute]

I drained the fluid into a clean jug, just ran a magnet thru it. Picked up some steel, but not as much as I thought I would. I'll take your advise and go to a transmission shop and see what they think after a test drive. Odd thing is it seems to be getting "better", sunday it would shudder/shake every time it pulled away from a stop. Monday it did it about 1 out of 5 stops. Maybe the "snake oil" is helping it ???

 

[RedBrute]

Called a couple of local tranny shops, all said they'd test drive it and said "whats the problem?" After explaining the symptoms, both said "your forward clutch(s) are shot. One place said the older TH350 are dirt simple to rebuild, he can do it for $400 plus another $100 for a new torque converter, 1 yr warrantee. He also offered advise on the Mile Marker 501 conversion kit. He said add a pipe elbow to the fill hole, that'll increase the fluid capacity to help the thrust bearing from running dry. He also recommends putting into hi-lock every fillup just as GrimReaper did in his article to insure lube. So this weekend my son and I yank out the tranny /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[hawkeye649]

[ QUOTE ]
Called a couple of local tranny shops, all said they'd test drive it and said "whats the problem?" After explaining the symptoms, both said "your forward clutch(s) are shot. One place said the older TH350 are dirt simple to rebuild, he can do it for $400 plus another $100 for a new torque converter, 1 yr warrantee. He also offered advise on the Mile Marker 501 conversion kit. He said add a pipe elbow to the fill hole, that'll increase the fluid capacity to help the thrust bearing from running dry. He also recommends putting into hi-lock every fillup just as GrimReaper did in his article to insure lube. So this weekend my son and I yank out the tranny /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd go straight to a truck tranny shop. If you see a pile of 70-80 GM trucks out front, your in the right spot!

1 year on the warranty is a little shallow for me. /forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif

Have fun pulling the tranny. Tell him they do better burn outs in 4 low, easier on the tranny too! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif