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Uh Oh! Dead 700r4 transmission on my K5

Kia.

Kia.

1/2 ton status
 Premium
Joined
Jan 26, 2002
Posts
173
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Location
Holland
This isn't something I ever wanted to write, however...

Ok, after a great trip in Spain with my beloved K5 for 10 weeks, and on my way back to Holland, the K5 trans died on me in France (!!!) while on the motorway.

Oil everywhere, some smoke (it was dark so didn't notice till it was too late) the truck came to a crawled stop and will not engage any gear.

Yeah, not good!

I have a service that's towing it back to Holland in about 10 days. So when it's there I will pull it out and attempt a rebuild myself.

I had it 'rebuilt' many years ago, then it sat for a long time, but it was fine. Personally I don't think that F$CKER did it properly. And as we all know: If you want something done 'right' do it yourself. So why the F$CK not!

Once it's back, my plan is to drop it, disassemble it, watch a bunch of video (already doing that LOL!) then see what parts I need, order them and put it back together.

So my question... What should I look out for when trying to assess the parts I need?

Yes, I'm a novice and never done it before. But if you don't do anything, you will learn nothing!

Any helpful tips, parts, upgrades etc would be REALLY appreciated!

IMG_2364.jpgIMG_2362.jpgIMG_2366.jpg
 
I’ve done a couple of those. They’re not any more complicated than any other transmission from that era.
Just follow the instructions, do not deviate from them in any way.
Be sure to use a quality parts kit.
Always reinstall a converter of known good quality.
After the rebuild/ install, your Throttle Valve cable adjustment is super important. There are instructions, be sure to follow them closely.

Hopefully, you got super lucky and just developed a leak, leaked all the fluid out and that’s all that went wrong.
But…
 
Kia said:
This isn't something I ever wanted to write, however...

Ok, after a great trip in Spain with my beloved K5 for 10 weeks, and on my way back to Holland, the K5 trans died on me in France (!!!) while on the motorway.

Oil everywhere, some smoke (it was dark so didn't notice till it was too late) the truck came to a crawled stop and will not engage any gear.

Yeah, not good!

I have a service that's towing it back to Holland in about 10 days. So when it's there I will pull it out and attempt a rebuild myself.

I had it 'rebuilt' many years ago, then it sat for a long time, but it was fine. Personally I don't think that F$CKER did it properly. And as we all know: If you want something done 'right' do it yourself. So why the F$CK not!

Once it's back, my plan is to drop it, disassemble it, watch a bunch of video (already doing that LOL!) then see what parts I need, order them and put it back together.

So my question... What should I look out for when trying to assess the parts I need?

Yes, I'm a novice and never done it before. But if you don't do anything, you will learn nothing!

Any helpful tips, parts, upgrades etc would be REALLY appreciated!

View attachment 521977View attachment 521976View attachment 521978
Click to expand...
I rebuilt my first automatic transmission a th350, by just taking it apart and taking video and pictures, laying the parts in sequence, got the recommended parts and put it together with no special tools.
It worked and I ended up building 3 more for my other vehicles.
I am getting ready to build a 700r4 for my diesel suburban because the one I had built by a shop lasted 3 months.
 
BoondocK5 said:
I’ve done a couple of those. They’re not any more complicated than any other transmission from that era.
Just follow the instructions, do not deviate from them in any way.
Be sure to use a quality parts kit.
Always reinstall a converter of known good quality.
After the rebuild/ install, your Throttle Valve cable adjustment is super important. There are instructions, be sure to follow them closely.

Hopefully, you got super lucky and just developed a leak, leaked all the fluid out and that’s all that went wrong.
But…
Click to expand...

Yeah, the 'just leaked' is what I'm hoping for! But the smell of burnt fluid is something I can't figure out, unless that is the same 'issue'

Funny thing about the TV cable: I had a shifting issue i the past, so have seen soooooo many videos about that already! hahaha so glad I have now :-)

Is there a way to 'test' the converter when it's out of the housing?
 
BoondocK5 said:
I’ve done a couple of those. They’re not any more complicated than any other transmission from that era.
Just follow the instructions, do not deviate from them in any way.
Be sure to use a quality parts kit.
Always reinstall a converter of known good quality.
After the rebuild/ install, your Throttle Valve cable adjustment is super important. There are instructions, be sure to follow them closely.

Hopefully, you got super lucky and just developed a leak, leaked all the fluid out and that’s all that went wrong.
But…
Click to expand...
But if he did leak and drove it till it was dead it's toast.
Happened with my brother after an accident and we drove it home, it died at our doorstep
 
imiceman44 said:
I rebuilt my first automatic transmission a th350, by just taking it apart and taking video and pictures, laying the parts in sequence, got the recommended parts and put it together with no special tools.
It worked and I ended up building 3 more for my other vehicles.
I am getting ready to build a 700r4 for my diesel suburban because the one I had built by a shop lasted 3 months.
Click to expand...

Awesome! Sounds like the best plan.

Taking apart is the easy part, for me. I think the putting back would be a little challenging, but as @BoondocK5 pointed out with a good tip to always follow the instructions.
 
Kia said:
Yeah, the 'just leaked' is what I'm hoping for! But the smell of burnt fluid is something I can't figure out, unless that is the same 'issue'

Funny thing about the TV cable: I had a shifting issue i the past, so have seen soooooo many videos about that already! hahaha so glad I have now :-)

Is there a way to 'test' the converter when it's out of the housing?
Click to expand...
I always rebuild or replace the converter
 
imiceman44 said:
But if he did leak and drove it till it was dead it's toast.
Happened with my brother after an accident and we drove it home, it died at our doorstep
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're probably right. But I think it was only driven about 1-2 miles before I noticed it.
 
Kia said:
Awesome! Sounds like the best plan.

Taking apart is the easy part, for me. I think the putting back would be a little challenging, but as @BoondocK5 pointed out with a good tip to always follow the instructions.
Click to expand...
Yeah, now I have book to follow and I will do some upgrades since I learned more.
 
imiceman44 said:
They cut them open rebuild them then weld them back up.
I saw them do one
Click to expand...

Aha, ok. I wasn't aware of that.

Maybe I should just get most of the internals upgraded anyway. But once it's open I'll know more.

I'm actually looking forward to doing it!
 
Kia said:
Aha, ok. I wasn't aware of that.

Maybe I should just get most of the internals upgraded anyway. But once it's open I'll know more.

I'm actually looking forward to doing it!
Click to expand...
I don't know if in Holland you can find one rebuilt at the store but here we can now so I just do that.
The guy that used to do my converters shut down
 
imiceman44 said:
I don't know if in Holland you can find one rebuilt at the store but here we can now so I just do that.
The guy that used to do my converters shut down
Click to expand...

Not many places here, also I'd like to be able to do it myself (the rebuild that is) The converter, I'd probably just get another one (if needed) maybe an upgraded one.

Not sure if this is a trans issue also, but in Spain and France, the mountain road are a b!tch. I was working the truck a little hard. So while the trans is open, I'd like to 'heavy duty' it.

Also it's my daily driver, so stock is great, but heavy duty would be better for when I go go away again later this years.
 
When rebuilding a trans you'll want a nice clean, uncluttered area. A steel bench top with a why to control oil from dripping off is nice.
I strong suggest you sorce a new/rebuilt converter. Any debrie from damaged parts or ware will be stuck inside the converter. Plus if you were in 4th lock up when failure occurred the lick up clutch is probably burnt beyond use.

There are many great up grades you should take advantage of. Look for hard parts for 91 up 700r4 gm made many updates over the years.
A large external cooler coulped with your internal radiator cooler is strongly encouraged.
Yes the TV cable adjustment is critical to the function and survivability of a 700r4.
If you find aquiring everything you need to expensive or impossible, maybe a whole rebuilt shipped to you, Phoenix Transmission in Texas. Owner is a member here, user name escapes me atm, quality stuff.
Be sure to ask for a K case. I am assuming yours still has it's original K case

Good luck keep us up dated.
How did the last trail repair work out?
 
Loosing fluid will kill your line pressure at some point and then the trans can't engage any gear. So it's possible that all you did is blow a big leak, like a broken cooler line or it blew out the front seal. Theoretically that could mean the trans is actually still OK, but a common way to kill them is to lose the fluid. While the pressure is dropping, you start spinning a clutch that was engaged and it tears it all up. If you're putting 50hp through the drivetrain and that all becomes slip, that's 37kW of heat in a thing the size of a saucer. The smoke is probably not from the trans itself, but from oil hitting the exhaust. Take a look and see if you can see where the oil came out.

So the question is whether loss of fluid killed it or a hard part failed and caused loss of fluid. If the former, the pan will be filled with friction material. If the latter, the pan will probably have metal in it. Some failure modes are way less bad than others. For example, if the pump blew up, you might be in good shape because there is screen filter on the outlet. Regardless, you may choose to redo as much as you can, but my preference is to tear down and inspect first, then order parts based on the knowledge gained.

Don't forget to flush (or replace) the trans cooler before putting the unit back in. I was told recently by a trans guy that pushing fluid through the radiator cooler doesn't always get the debris out, so they have a machine to back flush by pushing oil in one direction and air bubbles in the other. If you find you're not chasing metal debris, this becomes a lot less critical. The friction grit is easier to clean out. Once you do one of these, you realize why the shops charge so much.

@Wes Harden is referring to @Greg Ducato.

There is such a thing as a torque converter flusher and tester, but not all shops have them. Here, you can get a remanufactured one for like $200, so that tends to be the method used.
 
Last edited:
Blue85 said:
Loosing fluid will kill your line pressure at some point and then the trans can't engage any gear. So it's possible that all you did is blow a big leak, like a broken cooler line or it blew out the front seal. Theoretically that could mean the trans is actually still OK, but a common way to kill them is to lose the fluid. While the pressure is dropping, you start spinning a clutch that was engaged and it tears it all up. If you're putting 50hp through the drivetrain and that all becomes slip, that's 37kW of heat in a thing the size of a saucer. The smoke is probably not from the trans itself, but from oil hitting the exhaust. Take a look and see if you can see where the oil came out.

So the question is whether loss of fluid killed it or a hard part failed and caused loss of fluid. If the former, the pan will be filled with friction material. If the latter, the pan will probably have metal in it. Some failure modes are way less bad than others. For example, if the pump blew up, you might be in good shape because there is screen filter on the outlet. Regardless, you may choose to redo as much as you can, but my preference is to tear down and inspect first, then order parts based on the knowledge gained.

Don't forget to flush (or replace) the trans cooler before putting the unit back in. I was told recently by a trans guy that pushing fluid through the radiator cooler doesn't always get the debris out, so they have a machine to back flush by pushing oil in one direction and air bubbles in the other. If you find you're not chasing metal debris, this becomes a lot less critical. The friction grit is easier to clean out. Once you do one of these, you realize why the shops charge so much.

@Wes Harden is referring to @Greg Ducato.

There is such a thing as a torque converter flusher and tester, but not all shops have them. Here, you can get a remanufactured one for like $200, so that tends to be the method used.
Click to expand...
Remember guys he is in Holland the country in Europe so while it's an option, most likely it will be too cost prohibitive. I am sure he can find the part and services there, it just will take more searching.
Worst case he could have a remanufactured converter shipped if he can't get it there.
I doubt he would do a complete transmission like @Wes Harden suggested.
I still think he might find someone there who still does the converters
 
Yeah realized eu. Not very up on import cost vat and all and now what ever tariffs of the week. Might be easier to import "1" item as opposed to many.
 
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