Zeus

[imiceman44]

My ability to tinker on the truck is kinda slow cause of work stuff...we'v been doin this little bull **** field problem for the past week, still have a week to go. Stuck livin in the motor pool 24/7. I only get the chance to do anything when I can sneak out to the parking lot and at night.

When I get a chance I'll go pull the governer cover and look in there...although still not real sure what I'd be lookin at. I would have replaced the modulator already, but autozone didn't have one. Is that a parts store item or..?

It has good strong vacuum at the modulator, so I know that line is good. I guess the next step is to find the shift solenoid hing and take a look at that. Also inspect my throttle cable/linkage...it's always had a small sticking point right off idle. Maybe the mud/sand exagerated that problem.

For the governor, there is a cover held by a rod style clamp (best description I could come up with) when you remove that clamp the cover can be popped and slide out the governor.
The governor has some weights that will open up on centrifugal forces or if you just move them with your hand, those hardly ever have a problem, but they are attached to a valve inside the unit, and it somtimes can get stuck.
Wiggle the thing and try to move things and make sure everything is free to move.
If the wieghts open up but the valve doesn't move up and down then you have a stuck governor.
It's litterally a 10 minute job from the time you get under the truck till you put the clamp back on.

 

[Zeus33rd]

I got out there and poked around a bit. The governer cover is held on by 4 bolts. I should be able to get to that later tonight. As for this detent solenoid thing that's supposed to be on the pedal or on the linkage/throttle body, I can't find it. There's a wire running into the drivers side of the tranny case, just forward of the governer cover....but for the life of me I couldn't see where it goes. I'm gonna have to get someone to help me trace it down. I'm also gonna pull the modulator off and look in there....see if anything looks wrong.

By the way, its frickin hot out here.

 

[Fordum]

You work in the motor pool????

Got any OD paint??

Quick paint job, few numbers, and it could just roll in the motor pool............

Just sayin.......

 

[Zeus33rd]

I'm in the maintenance platoon for a foward support company attached to a CAV Squadron. 75% of my life is spent in this godamn motorpool.

 

[Fordum]

Jeeze, you work in the motor pool and come home and work on Zeus..........
Talk about your motorman's holiday.

But still a shame you could not sneak Zeus into the shop on base.........

 

[imiceman44]

I got out there and poked around a bit. The governer cover is held on by 4 bolts. I should be able to get to that later tonight. As for this detent solenoid thing that's supposed to be on the pedal or on the linkage/throttle body, I can't find it. There's a wire running into the drivers side of the tranny case, just forward of the governer cover....but for the life of me I couldn't see where it goes. I'm gonna have to get someone to help me trace it down. I'm also gonna pull the modulator off and look in there....see if anything looks wrong.

By the way, its frickin hot out here.

I need to take another look at mine, maybe I remember the 350 cover?

 

[Zeus33rd]

New modulator didn't fix it. As soon as the tranny cools down a bit, I'm gonna pull the governer cover and see what it looks like in there.

Note to self....don't just yank the old modulator out and expect to not get covered in hot atf....

 

[imiceman44]

New modulator didn't fix it. As soon as the tranny cools down a bit, I'm gonna pull the governer cover and see what it looks like in there.

Note to self....don't just yank the old modulator out and expect to not get covered in hot atf....

Same with the governor.

 

[Zeus33rd]

Doesn't look like I'm gonna get to that governor thing tonight. It's dark and I don't feel like layin on the gravel in the parking lot. lol

When I do get to it, will the fault be obvious? If so, I'm assuming a transmission shop would be the only place I could find whatever part needs replacing? Could it be ordered online somewhere?

 

[Slapperbar]

I'd Bet Napa would have the Modulator , its not a dealer item

Quoted for truth. If you really need to, Summit has 'em. They have a shop in McDonough at exit 216 off of I-75.

 

[imiceman44]

Doesn't look like I'm gonna get to that governor thing tonight. It's dark and I don't feel like layin on the gravel in the parking lot. lol

When I do get to it, will the fault be obvious? If so, I'm assuming a transmission shop would be the only place I could find whatever part needs replacing? Could it be ordered online somewhere?

Yes, just follow what I decribed.
If you find mud in there you might be able to clean it and it will work, if you find it clean and it's sticky or stuck then yu need another one.
If it moves freely then it's not your problem.

 

[Zeus33rd]

Wasn't the governor. Pulled it out a few minutes ago. Clean as a whistle in there, the plastic gear is ok and every thing moves freely.

So much for the cheap/easy fix. Bleh.

 

[Fordum]

Well, FART!

I really thought it was something simple. I'm going to pin my hopes on the throttle problem now.
The fact that both problems started at the same time is my only hope.

Get someone to push the loud pedal with the engine off, and watch for what binds. When you find it, look around in that area to see why it messed up, and if anything else is involved.

OK, my schematics only go up to 87, but I show an orange wire going to the transmission kick-down solenoid, and up to a switch on the throttle. It then becomes a pink wire and goes to the ignition side of the fuse block.

The switch is shown as a slide switch if that is any help.
Also the wire goes hot at full throttle.
Slide under, and either unplug the wire from the tranny, or cut it.
That should take the solenoid out of the running, and let you know if the switch is the problem.
If it doesn't shift then, and the shift linkage is not messed up, then I'm out of cheap ideas.

 

[Zeus33rd]

Pulled the pan, changed the filter and finally installed my deep aluminum pan. The filter tube and orings were both in place. There were a few drops of dirty water and a small amount of gritty stuff in the bottom of the pan, nothing that really shocked me. Almost 2 gallons of atf later, off I went on a test drive. For most of the drive it acted like it should. Took off from dead start ok, 1-2 and 2-3 shifts worked like normal. Even had good kick down shifts and passing gear. Hit 80mph no problem. Then the problems started up again...seemed sluggish from a dead stop- lots of rpms, not the good hard launch it had before. Got up to speed again and it was fine, but starting from dead stop was no good. Stopped at a light and decided to drop to first and manaully shift to second then drive, thats when it totally reverted. After dropping to first, it stayed there, regardless where the shifter was. I parked and noticed fluid leaking from between the converter and the case. What does that indicate? Torque converter failure? It seemed to act normal till it got hot. What happens when a tq converter goes? Is there a seal between the converter and case that could have been destroyed by the mud/water?

I apologize for the 20 questions, I'm an auto-trans n00b. Bleh.

 

[79rustyk10]

I wonder if it might be an issue where the pump isnt creating proper pressure when it warms up?

Worst case, a TH400 is one of the cheapest transmissions to rebuild.

 

[Slapperbar]

There is probably a pine needle caught between the converter and the pump seal. The "golden BB", that got it.

 

[imiceman44]

Most likely the pump seal is bad, and if you are going in for that I would check the pump.
Not big of a job once the tranny is out.
But you will need to drop it now that we know you have a leak there.

 

[texas4x4rebel]

Sounds like a converter or a pump issue either way it needs to be pulled I would just get a new pump and converter. The pumps are very easy to replace.

 

[Fordum]

Sure sounds like a pressure problem. All autos live or die by pressure. There are ways to check the pressure, but in this case its a waste of time since you already have a leak.
That is going to have to be fixed no matter what, and that should fix the pressure problem too.

I apologize for the 20 questions, I'm an auto-trans n00b. Bleh.

Everybody is a noob about something, except me, of course.......... But, look on the bright side. You are about to become an expert!

There are basically three kinds of car or truck owners.

One, who knows nothing about their vehicle except how to drive it, to get it serviced at regular intervals, and take it to a shop when a warning light comes on.
This type Needs AAA.

Two, basically a shade tree guy. He can change his own oil, grease what needs greasing, repack wheel bearings and change U-joints and spark plugs.
Rear end, transmission, engine problems, he takes to a shop because he has to.
Usually does not buy AAA unless its for his wife, because he can change a flat and get his buddies to tow him home if something breaks.

Three, this guy knows his truck.
If he thinks he hears a rattle in the engine, he reviews in his mind how he torqued the rod bolts down last time.
If the transmission does not just "snick" into gear, but the synchronizer takes a little longer to adjust the gear speed, he gets out and adjusts his clutch.
When his gas gauge starts acting up, he debates with himself whether to drop the tank or pull the body.

He always buys AAA, because he knows that there are times when it will do more damage to flat tow than to use a rollback, and wreckers are free.
And, if he is smart, and lucky, he takes it to a shop more often than you would expect. Because he knows the guy who runs it, trusts him to fix it right, and the guy will let him watch and/or help.
Plus, he knows no matter how good he is, he can learn something from a guy who works on 100 vehicles a week.
On top of that, by making friends with the shop owner and bringing him some business, he can borrow special tools and equipment for a one-off job.

This is the guy, who, when something breaks on his truck he has never worked on before, is bummed out because his truck is down, but realizes that this is an opportunity to learn more about his truck that he should know about.

Hang in there, Joe. You have guys here who can rebuild that tranny in their sleep, and they are standing by to walk you through it.
Start rounding up what you are going to need to pull it, and watch that damn 205, it weights a ton.
Make sure your camera has good batteries, and post pics when you get it out. Unfortunately, I'm still a Ford guy, so I won't be much help, but you will get plenty here.
Why the heck you could not have stationed at Ft. Benning...............Or better yet, Rucker.

 

[folkenheath]

IIRC, it's first and reverse that use the same bands on a TH 400, and most other auto trans of that era. SO then I would say modulator valve, or something plugged with $hit leading to or from that vacuum line.

I wasn't talking about the band, I was talking about the clutch pack. We know reverse works (rear band and direct clutch), and 1st works (forward clutch and rear band), so 3rd should work too (forward and direct clutches) is what I was saying.

I got out there and poked around a bit. The governer cover is held on by 4 bolts. I should be able to get to that later tonight. As for this detent solenoid thing that's supposed to be on the pedal or on the linkage/throttle body, I can't find it. There's a wire running into the drivers side of the tranny case, just forward of the governer cover....but for the life of me I couldn't see where it goes. I'm gonna have to get someone to help me trace it down. I'm also gonna pull the modulator off and look in there....see if anything looks wrong.

By the way, its frickin hot out here.

If you ever think the detent solenoid wire is stuck on again, you can just unplug that wire at the tranny. All it dose is kickdown (and increase pressure). The tranny will work fine without it, but pressure will be lower and WOT and there will be no kickdown. That's a simple test. But that doesn't prove the solenoid itself isn't stuck or not, just the switch feeding it.

Pulled the pan, changed the filter and finally installed my deep aluminum pan. The filter tube and orings were both in place. There were a few drops of dirty water and a small amount of gritty stuff in the bottom of the pan, nothing that really shocked me. Almost 2 gallons of atf later, off I went on a test drive. For most of the drive it acted like it should. Took off from dead start ok, 1-2 and 2-3 shifts worked like normal. Even had good kick down shifts and passing gear. Hit 80mph no problem. Then the problems started up again...seemed sluggish from a dead stop- lots of rpms, not the good hard launch it had before. Got up to speed again and it was fine, but starting from dead stop was no good. Stopped at a light and decided to drop to first and manaully shift to second then drive, thats when it totally reverted. After dropping to first, it stayed there, regardless where the shifter was. I parked and noticed fluid leaking from between the converter and the case. What does that indicate? Torque converter failure? It seemed to act normal till it got hot. What happens when a tq converter goes? Is there a seal between the converter and case that could have been destroyed by the mud/water?

I apologize for the 20 questions, I'm an auto-trans n00b. Bleh.

Like these guys stated, it's the converter seal in the pump. I have another question for you, you keep stating it's not right, but what is happening when it isn't right? Is it slipping the trans and revving up? Or is it just not shifting? If it's slipping thats a lot differnet than just not shifting.

Its starting to sound like it needs a rebuild. But a TH400 will go a long time with a good rebuild.

Amd what type of "gritty stuff" was in the pan? There should be very minor film on the bottom of the pan, like a paste feeling stuff, but only a thin film of it, any sludge or shavings is usually not good. And ANY water is not good, that might have killed it right there.