[zjrog]

I have this project complete now.

In the teardown of the trans, I found the overdrive planetary section had broken, and the forward clutch friction plates were all as smooth the steels between them. No metal chunks in the pan (well, a couple slivers from the the OD section that broke), beyond the normal wear and tear "fuzzy" magnet. The forward clutch failed because of a cut in the piston seal. Was it from the OD section failure? I do not know. I replaced the OD planetary, bands, torque converter (a HD replacement as there will be some towing with it) and a soft rebuild kit with steel and friction plates. THe valve body was cleaned thoroughly. and everything put back together. A couple of thrust washers were replaced with torrington bearings. Don't know if that will help FE or not.

Everything got put on hold when my wife fell ill and was hosptialized for a week. 4 days in the ICU with the first day the docs were not expecting more than a couple hours. She pulled through and is doing better. On O2 for a while and earned herself a handicap placard for the rearview mirror. She is doing better and improving daily though!

Finally got the trans back in the truck last week, and this past weekend we rolled it out of the garage and took it for a drive. I decided it was going to work, or I was going to kill it. It just seemed like it was holding gears against each other. In neutral, it would roll forward, but not backwards. When it shifted it felt like the brakes were grabbing, then it would take off. So I did the most illogical thing. I took it on the highway and floored it. Must have been an airblock of sorts, somewhere, because it sounded like high pressure air escaping (which made me think I killed it...). But then, it shifted smooth, no more feeling like the brakes were applied. In neutral, it rolled forwards and backwards. Reverse worked. And NO LEAKS!!!

So, we drove it around town for about an hour and just keeps getting better. My son and his fiance are happy, and can barely wait for me to release it to him. I'm happy it works, and now I can move forward on other projects (like the solid axle swap into the front of my Ranger)...

For a truck with 190,000 miles under it, it sure drives nice. Starts easily, doesn't smoke or make any odd noises. Doesn't have any strange rattles or other noises when going over bumps (interior plastic thats 15 years old does make some, but I'm not worried about that). Tracks straight with hands off the wheel. Brakes nice and strong but smooth. And it runs quietly. Now to put some new tires on it and give to my son. THe boy is setting a goal of 20 MPG with it. I'll let you know if he gets there.

I'm no longer afraid of automatic transmissions, but I'm not real sure I "look forward" to doing it again anytime too soon.