Transmission advice/help

[xissix]

Pulled off the pan on my trans today and found some not so positive pieces in the pan.

Little background: I purchased a th400/np205 combo last fall for a pretty good price. Seller was parting out a diesel truck and wanted to get rid of everything quick. He didn't know anything about the trans as the truck didn't run when he bought it. It was only $300 for the whole setup including adapter, shifter and crossmember, so I bought it.

Findings: Cleaned off all the layers of oily dirt and found the trans has been painted blue twice, and it has a transgo reprogrammed sticker on it, figured I may had gotten a steal of a deal . I pulled the t-case off and it's a 32 spline, even better. T-case feels near fresh, almost no play and it all turns super smooth. Figured the day was going really well, so drained the fluid and dropped the pan, here is what I found inside.

What do you guys think, is is bad? Pieces are not magnetic and vary in size from tiny to grain of rice, only about a 1/4 teaspoon's worth and none thicker than about a hair. Should I maybe shelve this trans and buy a new one, or is this case worth a rebuild. He said it was a good case, but I'm not sure what that really means.

 

[xissix]

Must be bad news... no replies Can anyone tell me if that is a valuable case or not? Has an HD in the casting, a deep pan from the factory, and the bottom bellhousing cover goes on with some larger bolts than I have seen.

 

[dyeager535]

I'd say bad. I certainly wouldn't put it in and hope it lasts, not with as much work as that is. TH400's are "easy" to rebuild, but whatever lost those pieces is probably going to need replaced.

 

[xissix]

That's what I'm figuring, but not sure if I should spend money on this case, or look for something else. If this is one of the stronger cases then I'd like to go with it.

 

[76zimmer]

its a 4x4 case, but those parts look like steel? regardless, time to dissassemble.

 

[xissix]

Yeah, I thought they where stell as w3ell, but they are not magnetic. They are pretty brittle too (don't bend, they break when you fold them). Since it's a 4x4 case, I think I am just going to pull it apart and go through it just for good measure.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Around here a good 4x4 400 core is worth 400.00 all day long. From the looks of that pic it looks like clutch material and time for a rebuild. Also remember that coming from a diesel the convertor and governor are different than for a gas rig.

 

[xissix]

Cool, I'll definately keep it then and use it for the rebuild.

I had read the diesel where different on another post, but wasn't sure all the differences. I'm going to get a new converter since it didn't come with one, but didn't know about the governor. Will a gas governor just go right in? I'll have it out anyway for the tear down.

 

[xissix]

Double post...

 

[xissix]

Double post....

 

[dyeager535]

Yes, gas governor will go right in.

You can also fine tune the governor you have via springs and weights. Never looked for the TH400, but they exist for the TH200-4R, so they should for the 400 as well.

 

[imiceman44]

Around here a good 4x4 400 core is worth 400.00 all day long. From the looks of that pic it looks like clutch material and time for a rebuild. Also remember that coming from a diesel the convertor and governor are different than for a gas rig.

Hey Scott wanna make some money?
I have a few of those cores here, I want $200 each you can pocket the rest
But no seriously the price you paid is good for the 205 32 spline and the adapter, and the core you got.
I would definitely rebuild it before putting it in.
And yeah the governor is a one minute job, pull the cover off, pull the governor, slip in the ogas governor, put the cover back on.

Oh and the HD K case you got with a deep factory pan is a good case.
I have one of these waiting to go in my truck.

 

[xissix]

Cool, thanks everyone! I think I have a spare BPO TH400 lying in the back of my dad's shop, so I'll steal the governor from it.

Thanks Iceman, I was hoping it was a good deal, sure felt like it was at the time. I had never seen this kind of case before, or a factory deep pan. One question, does the deep pan take the same filter as the standard shorter pan?

Going to pull it apart this next week and then I'll find out the source of the flakes.

 

[4X4HIGH]

The deep pan takes a different filter.

Iceman, i'll ask my trans guy if he needs any cores right now.

 

[xissix]

Finished up my tranny rebuild today.

Found all 3 sets of clutches where brand new, but burned from being installed dry. Tranny was nearly brand new inside, but replaced all the soft parts anyway. I think I found out why it wasn't used for very long, somehow the rear sprag had been destroyed and caused the panetary to have hard contact with the reaction carrier.

Replaced all the bad peices, inspected and did a bunch of measurements, tranny should be ready to go now

For anyone to reference, found the sources of my metallic looking flakes in the pan. I wonder how they did it? This is the torque converter bushing that is in the pump...

 

[4X4HIGH]

Someone probably started the engine with the convertor hooked up but without trans fluid in the trans.

 

[xissix]

That would make sense and explain the clutches being hosed. Might explain the sprag as well. All fixed now