Carla's King Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Soo... About 2 weeks ago, I was racing a 98 riced out civic at 3am and normally I don't let carla loose on a normal race vs a civic but this guy was really irrking my nerves that night so I lettem have it, race went well and I left him two car lengths behind at the finish line. Put $500 in my pocket and drove away. Well as I left the dennys that we raced near, I noticed that from 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd, she would rev up and right when she should shift she would slip up another 1500-2000 rpms. I figured I had loosened up a vacuum hose from the holley 4, but I checked my hoses and they seem well connected. None the less, 2 days ago I pulled her out the driveway and as I headed out, she still slipped into second and then in second she began chugging like when u drive a manual and miss ur shift, jerking, and would not shift from 2nd to 3rd. When I got to the stop sign and hit the gas to go forward, she would not budge. Just revs like she would if she was in nuetral, reverse, 1-2 and d are all non functioning. I'm pushing the car home tonite and dropping the tranny tomorrow, and tearing her apart, but trannys aren't really my thing and I would honestly love a checklist of stuff that she be checked on, what to look for, and what to do if it looks that way. I have a th350 trans in her, and will be driving from california to miami with her around the 25th of this month and need her running 150% efficient before leave. I would be forever indebted to all of the members who are willing to help me. But how I'm looking at it right now is I can get it rebuilt for $500 but if I can keep the cost down, that's more gas in my tank. And gas is always great especially when your driving 2800 miles with a 70 monte carlo. Thank you all again and I look forward to hearing back from you. Let me know if you need anymore info or pics, I will be documenting the full process and maybe we can turn this into an faq/how to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Good Luck with that... I assume the race was under controlled conditions at a dragstrip since street racing is not only illegal but plain stupid and strongly discouraged by this club... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom's Car Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Street racing is bad.......mmmkay............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Well from your description it sounds like the trans is toast. You could pull the pan and check for debris and possibly a plugged filter, but if there is enough junk in there to plug a filter the trans is done anyway. It could be a valve body issue but again the way it happened I sorta doubt it. Good luck with it. By the way, street racing is not looked upon with favor by a lot of members. The track is the better place for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtankjones Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Good Luck with that... I assume the race was under controlled conditions at a dragstrip since street racing is not only illegal but plain stupid and strongly discouraged by this club... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7tonemonte Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I suppose you get the point from everyone here, sorry I cant offer you much help on the tranny other than it does not sound good. On the bright side, I guess you proved you can beat a honda, and win 500 bucks, which will almost get you halfway to a new tranny. Kind of a bad deal Id say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla's King Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 Umm. Ok. Thank you all for your concern. I know that street racing is frowned upon, but its not like I have constant access to a strip to be able to go every other day, and the way I look at it, is if your going to do something stupid, at least do it the smartest way possible. I have a group of friends that come to my races each with individual departments on speed dial ready to be called as the race starts. Police department, Fire department, Hospital, And family, Also yes it's a civic. And yes it was 500, but I had just said I could get a rebuilt th350 for 500. So I don't think I'm halfway there, I think I just about broke even... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monteman1971 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 It sucks when the nearest track is 2-3 hours away....We know that here on Long Island.... Tranny sounds like it's toast and needs a rebuild... and for the trip your about to take, better safe than sorry. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla's King Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 Thanks monteman I appreciate your serious and honest reply ill tear it apart some time today and post up pictures, maybe with some pictures u guys could help me determine the problem a lil bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 it's toast, forward clutch pack is probably burnt up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cudax Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Way to go Mike! It's always satisfying to give some anoying jerk a little lesson to choke on & lighten his pockets to boot. I would have done the same thing as long as the conditions were right & it sounds like they were. Sorry about the tranny though. I say fix the tranny and sucker him into another run so you can recoup your loses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overdrive Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Quote: it's toast, forward clutch pack is probably burnt up Exactly my thoughts. Michael, from the symptoms, I'd guess the final thin remains of the clutch friction material was seperating from the discs when you were feeling the slipping. Now the clutch discs are metal to metal. If you aren't going to rebuild it yourself, don't "pull it apart". Just remove the pan and see how much friction material is in it. $500 for a good rebuilt tranny is a good deal. I'd swap it out. I doubt you can get yours rebuilt for anywhere near that, unless you have a friend that'll do it for free labor. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla's King Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 I have a copy of the old chilton automatic transmission book. And it has a troubleshooting/diagnostic for the th350. I saw each symptom individually and the common answer between all of the symptoms was the valve body. I'm trying to figure out how to replace the valve body. And would prefer not to buy the new tranny, and just do the work on it myself. I think I can get a better tranny for less if I did it myself, and I plan on using a street/strip trans rebuild kit from BnM, http://www.spiderautomotive.com/bm30229.html That one to be exact. My next question is, is the valve body purchased seperately or does the parts needed to fix it come with the kit? Possibly a new torque converter would be good as well just to be on the safe side. But idk how to approach the valve body now... Thank you both for your response. And idk if that civic will wanna race me again after I spanked him, I saw him the other day while I was driving my 2012 altima, and noticed his rear tow bar had been removed (its a car club thing here in california, they attach a different color tow circle thing to the rear of there vehicle to show there from a certain club) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTSS454 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I'll bet it isn't a valve body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla's King Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 Why do you say that fast? And any opinions on that rebuild I linked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overdrive Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I've never had to do anything to a valve body other than install new parts from a complete transmission rebuild kit and install shift kits. You could call a transmission shop for their opinion of the possible problem. Here's what I'd do: Remove the dipstick and smell the fluid on it. Does it smell burned or is it just like nice new fluid? Does it look darker than new fluid? Remove the pan and check for friction material particles. If there is abnormal amounts of material in the pan, a new valve body will be a waste of money. Post a pic, if needed. If the clutch pack wear is the problem, you'll want to clean the old fluid from the torque converter, the cooling lines, and the radiator, no matter what transmission goes back in it. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTSS454 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I've never had to do anything to a valve body other than install new parts from a complete transmission rebuild kit and install shift kits. You could call a transmission shop for their opinion of the possible problem. Here's what I'd do: Remove the dipstick and smell the fluid on it. Does it smell burned or is it just like nice new fluid? Does it look darker than new fluid? Remove the pan and check for friction material particles. If there is abnormal amounts of material in the pan, a new valve body will be a waste of money. Post a pic, if needed. If the clutch pack wear is the problem, you'll want to clean the old fluid from the torque converter, the cooling lines, and the radiator, no matter what transmission goes back in it. Dan Dan is right, I think it is a failure of the friction and steel discs, valve bodys just don't fail like this. Even if it was a valve body failure you would be stuck in one forward gear unless it fell off the bottom of the transmission. The B&M kit is a good item if you want to rebuild it yourself. Make sure you take lots of pictures as it comes apart so you know how it goes back together, and yes do a complete flush of the lines and cooler. I would spring for a new convertor or have a trans shop open it up and clean it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla's King Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 Thanks for all of your serious replies, I kinda initially felt like I was being lectured by my mom about the race when I first made the topic. I know street racing is bad and all that, but like the previous replier said, under optimal conditions I think racing isn't that big of a deal, still stupid, but at least done safely. Anyways, I have a $500 budget, since that is what the new transmission would cost, but I would rather spend it rebuilding this tranny and doing some other things. For instance... $250 for the rebuild kit, $100 for the torque converter, $100 for new calipers cause mine are stiff, And $50 for tranny fluid, and an oil change. So much more I can do with that $500 then just replace the trans I'll be ordering the rebuild kit by monday, and removing the transmission and covering all the holes tonite and tomorrow. Gotta find my Chevy/GM Chilton Big Book first. Any suggestions as to what else to look for? I'm goin to go awakwardly smell my cars juices when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 If your going to try to rebuild it yourself heres a little food for thought. Th350 is not a real hard trans to do but you will need a couple special tools and theres a few things that are easy to screw up' find a book and read it good before you start. lay all the parts on a bench as they come out in order so they go back in the same was and make sure you get the check balls back in correctly. the valve body probably just needs to be cleaned real good. Also why not just rebuild the calipers you have it will save you lots of money, there not hard to do at all. Good luck with your project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTSS454 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Why not do a thread on the rebuild, taking and posting pictures along the way. That way if you run into something or we see something we can help out along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla's King Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 Sounds like a plan man, n I'll definitely do that. I need all the help I can get. I'd really like to approach this project solo since ill be movin to florida and won't have a mechanic to help me when I run into problems, itd be nice to know my way around the tranny as well since I know every square inch of my 350. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RARE MC Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I'd check/replace the modulator. A blown diaphragm can have similar symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 sorry about your transmission my monte was shifting good and running good for a while until the bearings in the engine made more noise and the fuel pump whent out so we decided to rebuild every thing and got a steal ... $ 350 for the transmissin being rebuilt with a nice pan and a warrenty to. just remeber every thing happens for a reason and a transmission going out is not the worst thing that could happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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