Totally Dead

[turbojimmy]

Well, my brother and I took the GN out to Home Depot today to get some junk. On the way back, I nailed the throttle to dispose of some chick who thought her G6 was fast. It downshifted, took off and then redlined like I had thrown it in neutral. I got nothin' - no hint of any gears forward or reverse. I pulled into a parking lot and had it towed home.

The car wasn't making any bad noises and still doesn't. It was shifting perfectly and solidly. Fluid looks great, no hint of metal or shrapnel.

It's a Level10-built trans with about 15k miles on it. It has a 9x11 converter from CK Performance in it. The converter is about a year old with about 5k miles on it.

Any guesses as to what went wrong?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Firechicken]

Since you have no gears at all, I suspect you either broke the forward drum, or the input shaft. My money is on the forward drum.

When you have the transmission rebuilt, use a billet part from either CK or PTS. They are expensive, but cheaper than another rebuild when the stock piece breaks again.

Let us know what you find out when the trans is apart.

 

[turbojimmy]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping it wouldn't require an entire rebuild since there aren't many miles on it and it functions fine otherwise. Level10 did their 'bullet proof' rebuild (at no small expense), which I thought included billet and hardened parts.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to get to it, frankly. I'll post back when I find out what it is though.

Thanks again,
Jim

 

[2quiktocare]

Before you go pulling your trans, check to make sure you have line pressure. Either hook a gauge up to it and check for pressure or do the pull a line at the raidator to see if it pumps fluid. You may have very well popped the front pump as well.

 

[turbojimmy]

Originally posted by 2quiktocare
Before you go pulling your trans, check to make sure you have line pressure. Either hook a gauge up to it and check for pressure or do the pull a line at the raidator to see if it pumps fluid. You may have very well popped the front pump as well.

I read some prior threads on such sudden failures and saw your advice to check for pressure. I'll unhook a line and see if there's any pressure. If there isn't any, you think there's a chance I just popped the pump or would I necessarily have had to have broken something else, too?

If there is pressure, then I guess the forward drum is a good bet. I'm not sure Level10 would have put a billet piece in there and I can't find my receipt from the rebuild.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[2quiktocare]

I doubt they installed billet pieces in the trans. Not many of us build them and I know we don't sell to them. If you do have pressure look for either the forward drum or possibly the input shaft. Let us know.

 

[turbojimmy]

Originally posted by 2quiktocare
I doubt they installed billet pieces in the trans. Not many of us build them and I know we don't sell to them. If you do have pressure look for either the forward drum or possibly the input shaft. Let us know.

You're probably right. I'll probably get to it Friday or Saturday. I'll post back with my findings.

Jim

 

[WE4]

Hey Jimmy...

I would like the oppertunity to repair your stuff. I know that sounds corny, but you are always on here posting and I would like you to have a "great" piece for a change. Then, I bet you would be a smilin'.......
Get in touch with us when you can and I will work with you myself. Tell " That Mark guy" (lol) that you would like to speak with me and to find me. Hehe
I will do what I can.
Bruce
WE4
www.PTSXTREME.com

 

[turbojimmy]

Thanks Bruce. My posting here has been light since I got my Caddy. The restoration was a huge project and I racked up hundreds of posts in the Caddy forums while I was working on it. But I've popped back here lately as that project winds down (thank gawd - bit off more than I could chew on that one). TB.com has always seemed like 'home', though.

Anyhow, when I said 'get to it' today or Saturday I meant to check the line pressure. I really appreciate your offer, but I'm not sure when I'll actually be pulling the trans. Last time I had the trans done there weren't 2 kids competing for time and money. I'll have to bite the bullet at some point, but I'm afraid it might not be very soon I'll definitely post back here with the line pressure results. I'll probably sneak out to the garage next 'couple of hours here to pop off one of the cooler lines.

Thanks again,
Jim

 

[turbojimmy]

Okay - unhooked a cooler line and fired it up. Holy moly do I have pressure. When I did the same thing on my Caddy (to flush the water out) it didn't seem like I had that much volume. With the GN, it came out like a firehose. Made quite the mess, but now I know the pump is good.

If I can get some middle-of-the-nigh time to work on the car this weekend I will.

Jim

 

[2quiktocare]

Sorry Jimmy. I should of told you to hook up a rubber hose and have it run the fluid into a jug of some sort. My bad. Looks like you need to pull the trans to see what you broke. Good luck and let us know if we can help in any way. Mark

 

[turbojimmy]

Originally posted by 2quiktocare
Sorry Jimmy. I should of told you to hook up a rubber hose and have it run the fluid into a jug of some sort. My bad. Looks like you need to pull the trans to see what you broke. Good luck and let us know if we can help in any way. Mark

No problem. I knew if the pump still worked that it would obviously come out, I was just surprised at the volume. It's not a show car under the hood so I'm not worried about a little spillage. Plus trans fluid cleans stuff up nice anyway.

Jim

 

[jpwalt1987]

if i was a bettin' man...

....my money would be on the forward drum. been there done that. lucky i was close to work when i broke it. good luck. jeremy

 

[turbojimmy]

Re: if i was a bettin' man...

Originally posted by jpwalt1987
....my money would be on the forward drum. been there done that. lucky i was close to work when i broke it. good luck. jeremy

I was pretty close to home. AAA pays for itself once again. At least once a year I get the dues back by breaking the GN and having it towed.

I just got the book from CK and it scared me. It's a great book, but there are a lot of seals, checkballs, snap-rings, o-rings, bearings, bushings and crap to keep track of. I keep going back and forth on whether to do it myself or not. Right now I'm thinking not.

Jim

 

[chris718]

jim you have the book and access to the parts next day service.give it a try and let the book and my products work for you,or drive in and pick up a trans.1649 in car tested 6 month warrantee,e4340 forward drum included.

 

[turbojimmy]

I probably will try it myself. People have been telling me it's 'easy' . I got the trans out on Sunday, probably start taking it apart this week.

Jim

 

[turbojimmy]

The trans is in da house!

So I brought the trans into my basement "workshop". It wasn't a workshop until this past weekend when I cleaned it out and built a workbench just for this project. Before this past weekend it was a junk/storage room. But I digress.....

Using the excellent instructions in the CK manual, I've gotten to what seems to be the point of no return with this thing. I found something that looks broken, and then was stymied due to a lack of a decent snap-ring removal tool. Here's a pic:

Is this the forward drum? I believe it is, but I can't get the rest out until I get a decent pair of snap-ring pliers.

Jim

PS - If you're really astute, you can play "Find Waldo" with the can 'o Budweiser.

 

[WE4]

Yep that is it

So it is billet drum time now I suppose.......

The ring gear should be changed also. That is the piece the shaft is stuck in. Don't even bother with the piece stuck in there unless you want a souvenior. Just replace both the drum and the ring gear to prevent problems later. When that shaft breaks it can minute crack the ring gear splines causing and issue later. Billet is recommended but not a requirement.
hope that answers your question.
Bruce
WE4
www.PTSXTREME.com

 

[turbojimmy]

Re: Yep that is it

Originally posted by WE4
hope that answers your question.

Yes it does, thank you. I got the rest of it out last night. After shining a better light in there I found what was holding me up was yet another, but easier to remove snap ring. Once that was out I was able to get the bigger snap ring out and everything just pulled out of it.

Lots of parts scattered around. Hopefully I can put it back together.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Otto J]

JIm,If you run into a problem box it up and bring it over.Im not that far.
Im doing 2 for a guy right now that are being picked up sat.