Time to play name that metal in trans pan..

[65skyturbo]

I wish it was that easy. I had an old solenoid lying around and a new one I borrowed from CarQuest and they did the same exact thing. I could believe the old one I had being bad, but three in a row. Plus they all test fine putting air pressure on them. I know the wiring is all correct so unless I have three questionable solenoids it has to be something mechanical. For the last 8 years I have been doing auto and 12V electrical work so I know that is functioning perfect. Plus LEDs, multimeters and good old test lights have verified it all to work correctly. It has to be mechanical, but what...

 

[chris718]

you already checked the pump.maybe the converter clutch signal oil from the shift valve is not making it to the pump/.

 

[turbokinetic]

That piece of material you found sounds like part of a radial-roller thrust bearing, like those used between the planetary carrier and sun gear on some transmissions. (I am not familiar with the exact construction of the 2004R)

The same thing happened to my car (different trans) and it trashed the planetary gearset when the pieces of the bearing got lodged in there.

If the bearing is slightly off position when the transmission is assembled (especially if a heavy component is dropped into the case onto it); or if the end thrust clearance is wrong; it can fracture the bearing race and lead to this failure.

In my opinion, you need to tear down the transmision before it is ruined. It will probably destroy most of the hard parts in the transmission if you run it with the damaged bearing. Hate to see it cost you alot of additional parts and downtime.

Thanks,
David

 

[65skyturbo]

The more I thought about it, I realized that by reversing the convertor clutch valve it also was testing the pump. I was too cold to think things through completely yesterday. So the pump and the convertor are working. CK mentioned that the oil might not be making it to the pump. Any chance of the pump gasket being the wrong one or mispositioned? The trans functions correctly in all other ways so I don't know if that could even be a possibility. I'll pull the valve body and check everything there, make sure the plate and gaskets are all correct with no obstructions. I'll get a fourth solenoid from GM and try that too, just in case I've had three intermittently bad ones. At least things are now getting ruled out. As for the metal in the pan, the past three times I've pulled the pan, it has been clean, no metal or clutch material. I will continue to monitor the situation, but I wonder if it was some debris from the rebuild process. Thanks guys.

 

[65skyturbo]

Ok, so today I installed a fourth solenoid, a GM OE $65.00 part, took the valve body apart and made sure everything was clean and not stuck. Put it back together and took for a test drive and found that I still don't have lockup. So just to rule any variables out of the wiring I ran the wires into the car directly to the battery so I could lock it up myself at highway speeds. Still no lockup. LEDs confirm the electrical circuit is working, reversing the clutch valve verified that the converter and pump will lock and I've had four different solenoids (2 different manufacturers) and still no lock up. I don't have a good understanding of the hydraulic circuits of this trans, but if I had the wrong VB gaskets or pump gasket would the trans still operate correctly in all ways other than this? Did GM ever make a non lock up VB or sep plate in a factory application? I have verified all individual compenents to be working but they are not working together? I need some of the 2004r experts here to try to wrap their brains around this one because something is strange and out of the ordinary. Thanks.