Update

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! It's STILL being a pain to start the first time of the day!

I don't know what to do now........ I can't have it being this way as the weather keeps getting colder and I NEED it to run right.......


For those that wanted to see the new wheel covers on it that I got in the mail yesterday though.......

I still need to cut the centers out of the 2 for the front.......

Fuel lines

Well I replaced the fuel lines that run along the rail between the tank and engine compartment. It starts alot easier now....... It still has some small bubble show up in the return line, and it had a good size bubble in it before I started it, but it's ALOT better than what it was before.......

Fuel System

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! : :

Trying to figure out where the air was getting in my fuel system, I decided to replace all the rubber hose on the suction side of the system..... So I dropped the tank to replace those hoses, and end up breakin the line on the sending unit for the return line about halfway off... So I tried using some JB Weld to fix it until I can buy a new fuel tank and sending unit.....

Well that didn't work.... It decided to stay broken (maybe it got a little too cool overnight for the JB to set up good) so I just break the loose part off the rest of the way so I can just slide the hose on further up the tube, and all seems good......

So I get the tank wrestled back into place and bolted back up and start it up..... Seems to run pretty good for a couple of minutes then starts sputtering and almost dies before I can hit jump in and hit the throttle. Got it to somewhat idle so I could get out and check the clear hose I have on the return line and it looks like a shook up soda in there..... so I shut it back off and start looking for the problem and guess what?................. apparently the 20 year old metal fuel lines couldn't handle a little movement back at the tank...... the tank is wet with fuel coming out of a hole I can't see in the return line.......

Looks like I'm replacing all the steel fuel lines now (stupid rust)........... I think I can get them off and back on with out dropping the tank again ( I think I left those hoses long enough)........... If I have to drop the tank again I'm just replacing it and the sending unit too........ so yay more money I have to spend that we don't really have/want to........

Fuel System

Well I think(hope) I found where the air was getting in the fuels system. I took the fuel filter base off and took it apart to clean it up and see if any seals needed to be replaced. After taking the airbleed and drain screws out I saw some dirt or something of the sort on the end of the screws that seals in the end of their bore, cleaned that off and checked for leaks. No leaks found so I put it all back together and so far so good...... the real test will be starting it tomorrow......

Transmission Works!

Well... I took the transmission to a shop a couple weeks ago and finally got it back fri. night. Got it installed yesterday morning and took it for a test drive. Everything seems to work pretty good now. Just have to figure out a better way to work the lock-up...... Toggle switch on the dash just isn't gonna cut it for me.....

I gotta figure out where air is getting in the fuel system now too......

Noise.....

Well I forgot to update this...... Got the noise sorted out in the rear axle. Appears to have just been some rust scale that fell into the drum and was dragging. So I knocked all that off and painted everything I took off before I put it all back together.

Took it for an actual test drive and it somewhat worked. Seems to run and shift OK as long as it's in D instead of OD. Put it in OD and it doesn't hardly want to go at all. So it appears that I still have a slipping clutch........

Success?!?!?!?

Success?!?!? Got the transmission back in and hooked up. Tested on the jackstands again, like last time. Transmission appears to be working correctly now, YAY!!!

Now I just have to find out what's causing the marbles in a can sound that started at the left rear wheel..........

Time to see what went wrong.....

OK then, so back apart it comes......

Oh no! it's missing some guts!



Reverse input clutch assembly.... Still looks brand new........



3-4 clutch pack assembly.......... still looks brand new......



Forward clutch assembly with forward clutch sprag......... still looks brand new.....



Overrun clutch assembly......... Hmmmmmm....... Notice anything funny?



Overrun clutch assembly spread out as much as possible........... Notice anything odd?



That's as far apart as it will come........ the 2 friction discs burned up and welded themselves firmly to one of the steel plates........ Not sure how I screwed up but that's the result of it.........

More new parts on the way.......



Just in-case anyone's ever wondered how many tools it takes to remove/re-install a transmission/transfer case assembly under a 1989 4x4 Suburban..... (screw-driver can be substituted with a small pry-bar) (transmission jack not pictured......)

Transmission

Well, before I started taking the transmission back out I thought I'd take the finished pics I was going to before it messed up.

New external trans filter, and the new pan.



Dropped the pan............... This doesn't look to good.........

Transmission

We'll...... looks like trans is coming back out tomorrow...... (just cuz I don't feel like doing it today......)

Transmission's in

Well I got in and all hooked up yesterday. Got my external filter all plumbed up and mounted today. Decided to try and run it a little while still on the jack stands to try and find any problems before actually road-testing it. Looks like it's a good thing I did........ First it seemed like things were OK, then heard a clunk so shut everything down to make sure nothing broke that I could tell from the outside. Everything looks good.... OK then, so started it back up and darned if reverse don't work now and the wheels turn like it's in drive when it's in neutral......... According to the book, both symptoms have the same common problem....... The forward clutch not disengaging. After going over my ATSG book and my FSM (that just happened to come in the mail today while i'm out working on it) I'm thinking (hoping) it's just a stuck valve in the aux. valve body keeping the forward clutch engaged. The valve I think the problem may be moves one way in LO and the other way in Reverse......... So tomorrow i'm dropping the pan and the aux. valve body to see if that valve is stuck............ So hopefully road-test tomorrow...........

Transmission Rebuild DONE!!

YAY!! The rebuild is done!!

New servo assembly.......



Now just have to swap it back out.....

Transmission Rebuild cont.

Well i'm still working on it........ It's getting there though.....



Woo Hoo pretty much done!! Finally!!

(just have to wait on the servo pin to get here...... since I broke the add on tip that came with my kit...........)




Ooooooo new torque converter......

Transmission Rebuild cont.

Yay! finally got it completely apart!!!



Some things are ready to go back in now....



Now it looks like it did this morning....... Except it's already going back together.......



Now all that's left is to rebuild the input drum assembly and finish putting it back together.

Custom tools worked good so far.....

Transmission Rebuild cont. Custom tool time!

Well all I got done today was building a couple of custom clutch pack spring compressors. Not bad for a few hours work with a drill, welder, 3" cutoff tool, a pair of aviation snips, a hammer, and a couple of files huh?

(just ignore my crappy looking welds)



So now tomorrow I should just be able to job out and get the clutch packs done........ Hopefully....

Transmission Rebuild cont.

Not too much to report on today. Just finished up the valve train and got the pump all cleaned up and rebuilt.


Check out the gap on this clutch pack!!!



No wonder this transmission didn't work except for first and reverse..........

Time to build some custom tools now.....

Transmission Rebuild cont.

Well i'm well into my first transmission rebuild now......

(Sorry about the lack of pics during actual disassembly but messy hands aren't good on camera's so this is at the end of day)

It's mostly apart now....



Though some things are already put together ready to go back in when the time comes...



Well well, what have we here....... Yep Just as I suspected, the band is just about completely burnt up......



Here's what it's supposed to look like. (Or rather here's what a new better one looks like)



Here's the 2-4 Servo assembly......

Old one.... (without the pin because I already assembled it into the new one)



New one...... ooooooo shiny.....



New one on the left, old on the right....



(I just realized I didn't take a pic of the new torque converter that came with my kit.......... D'OH!!)

Oh yeah..... External filter kit is on the way too...