Spirited Drive and cooked the transmission

[Witt1962]

Hello again guys.
I had finished the brakes and had been driving the car to work regularly. I drove the car hard yesterday from Miami to Key Largo, 60 miles with a number of full throttle kick downs and up shifts. Just a great run with light traffic.
Now the bad news. The trans fluid smells like a forest fire. The car no longer goes into high gear. I have to pedal the car to get it to shift. A sudden rush of power sends the engine to the rev limiter, about 6500. I now find out the PO only fixed reverse and did not change the clutches and bands. My bad for pushing the trans so hard, it was working so well I thought it had been rebuilt. I just killed it. So much for my projected 2500 dollar budget for repairs. Ha ha. The car has 161k miles. The fluid used to be cherry red, now, the fluid is clutch lining brown.

1.) What would it cost for a quality rebuild?
2.) Is there another model transmission that holds up better behind the V8 or was this tranny just tired?

thanks. David

 

[nocfn]

Rebuild what you have. I had it done on mine and it was around 1600. I had some other stuff done as well but under 2g including the flex disks center carrier bearing. Mine was on a w126 but same tranny, full rebuild.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Klink]

Hello again guys.
I had finished the brakes and had been driving the car to work regularly. I drove the car hard yesterday from Miami to Key Largo, 60 miles with a number of full throttle kick downs and up shifts. Just a great run with light traffic.
Now the bad news. The trans fluid smells like a forest fire. The car no longer goes into high gear. I have to pedal the car to get it to shift. A sudden rush of power sends the engine to the rev limiter, about 6500. I now find out the PO only fixed reverse and did not change the clutches and bands. My bad for pushing the trans so hard, it was working so well I thought it had been rebuilt. I just killed it. So much for my projected 2500 dollar budget for repairs. Ha ha. The car has 161k miles. The fluid used to be cherry red, now, the fluid is clutch lining brown.

1.) What would it cost for a quality rebuild?
2.) Is there another model transmission that holds up better behind the V8 or was this tranny just tired?

thanks. David

Trans in those was fairly durable. Check for a kickdown switch (under the gas pedal) that is stuck down before you do any other trans repairs.

 

[Witt1962]

Thanks for the input. I will check the kick down switch. And thanks for the typical cost for rebuild.
cheers

 

[Witt1962]

Checked the kick down switch. Switch is good, and thanks for the idea. I believe it's time for a rebuild. Darn.

Klink, Thanks for the switch idea, wish it had been that easy.
David

 

[Klink]

Checked the kick down switch. Switch is good, and thanks for the idea. I believe it's time for a rebuild. Darn.

Klink, Thanks for the switch idea, wish it had been that easy.
David

I am assuming you pulled it apart? It is supposed to be one piece.

 

[gsxr]

Yup, looks like he popped the outer cap off.

 

[jhodg5ck]

2X what kink said, these are Stout boxes..
We like to take it a step further with Kevlar lined bands and High Energy clutches...plus if you want a more aggressive valve body..that too can be arranged...

If you want to get Really serious using V12 internals allows one to stuff a few more steels/clutches in, but you Really shouldn't need that...we haven't in the track car!


jono

 

[Klink]

Yup, looks like he popped the outer cap off.

Yeah, that's the actual pushbutton. I'd like to know that the pushbutton was at least reinstalled, and that the switch then clicks nicely back-and-forth.

Regardless, driving it without the switch plugged in can rule the switch in or out. The possibility of the "B" position switch in the shift gate housing being knocked out of position has to be considered as well. I will say it again, as I have many times in the past: If anything is powering the kickdown solenoid full-time, the transmission will act nuclear stupid, and no, those stupidities will not be intuitively predictable. It should still be driven with the kickdown solenoid unplugged, just to see what happens. If it is all good after that, check out the "B" switch in the shift housing. Sometimes it can inadvertently knocked out of position during and enthusiastic session of hooning. Some aftermarket shift handle assemblies also have a stalk shape that contributes to the condition....

 

[Klink]

2X what kink said, these are Stout boxes

And who doesn't like those?

 

[gsxr]

The fluid used to be cherry red, now, the fluid is clutch lining brown.

The fluid turning brown overnight is not a good sign, IMO. However, you could try a last-ditch effort of pulling the pan, inspecting for debris, and replacing the fluid/filter for grins. Maybe try Type F and see if that squeaks a little more life out of it.

 

[Klink]

The fluid turning brown overnight is not a good sign, IMO. However, you could try a last-ditch effort of pulling the pan, inspecting for debris, and replacing the fluid/filter for grins. Maybe try Type F and see if that squeaks a little more life out of it.

what Gixxer said.

It probably did not "turn brown over night" The hoonage probably just stirred the crap up. The buttafuoco was probably already in there. I suppose it's possible that the reverse brake plates or something else shed material rapidly, but that's not likely either. I'm sure Witt has enough mechanical empathy to not keep his foot buried in it when it starts misbehaving, and that's what it would take to go from perfect to filthy all at once. The filter could've plugged, and the resulting suction and turbulence could have pulled the element loose, allowing the debris to circulate through the normally clean internal bits. I'd give the innards of the pan a good look-see even if an external cause is found.
Lots of possibilities, unfortunately....

 

[nocfn]

Klink, you are killing me with this buttafuco stuff! My wife is belly laffing over this description .[emoji160]

 

[Klink]

Klink, you are killing me with this buttafuco stuff! My wife is belly laffing over this description .[emoji160]

It's just how we roll, Louie...

 

[nocfn]

We saw a show like 25 years later...

Pretty remarkable forgiveness by the ex wife. Tried to explain the hype to my 17 year old pre Internet. Then again, we all knew Michael Jackson when he was black too....

 

[Witt1962]

Guys,
Thank you kindly for all the replies.
I pulled the kick down switch and snapped off the cap to see if I could spray contact cleaner in the switch before the 12volt check. The switch works perfect. I reinstalled the kick down switch and it made a nice smooth click.
Drove the car with clean kick down switch and same bad symptoms. Removed switch and same bad trans symptoms.
Im not even going to pull the pan. The car has made it 160k, time for a fresh trans and a quality build.
Hooning. Ha. Buttafuco. Ha. Ha.
The 420 just needs to make it up the car trailer now.
All the Best and thanks for all the input.
Witch