Vert Ventures, Part 4
August 22, 2003
We left off with my replacement engine in the car but the car immobile due to a failure of my transmission to engage. I was driving home from work last night when I got a call from fellow WMCC member John Cole on my cell phone. We had a lousy connection; he sounded like a frog with a cold.
"I know what's wrong with your car," he croaked. "The middle shaft in the transmission that drives the front pump has popped out, so that the front pump isn't running."
This fit with what happened when we put the engine back together with the transmission. We bolted to the torque converter to the flywheel and then assembled the motor to the transmission. It did not go together easily, cinching with a couple of hard jumps.
Following John's suggestion, when I got home I put the car back up in the air and supported the motor with my cradle. I then removed the front transmission mount crossmember, allowing it to hang on one end by the shift cable and wiring it to the bottom of the car on the left side so that it was out of the way. I then lowered the transmission about six inches, which is about as far as it would go.
Per the shop manual I loosened the jamb nut on the low band adjusting screw and tightened the screw down. The shop manual calls for removing the front cover of the transmission with two J-6585 slide hammers and J-6585-3 front pump adapters. I happened to be fresh out of J-6585s and J-6585-3s, so I was stumped for awhile as to how to get the cover off. Then I realized that I had a real fine harmonic balancer puller and a very nice pilot bushing puller. I took the center spider from the harmonic balancer puller, bolted it to the cover (the middle five bolts attach to the front pump that comes out with the cover), and then attached the pilot bushing puller to that.
It did the trick, and soon I was bathing is a cool, refreshing shower of transmission fluid. It helped to wash away some of the dirt and grease encrusted grime that had been raining down earler.
I love working under the car.
I then pushed the front pump back in and got the front pump properly seated, trying my best to keep everything clean. The front cover went back on, and I readjusted the low band adjusting screw. Then the crossmember was reinstalled, and the car went back down.
Then, the moment of truth. I started the car, moved the shift lever and it moved.
I topped off the transmission fluid and took the wife for a ride around the block. My convertible moves under its own power again!
The lesson here for those who are remedial learners like me is to assemble the torque converter to the the transmission and then bolt it to the flex plate once the bell housing and engine are fully bolted together.