My Trans Builder is a HACK

SixOhh

SixOhh

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Aug 4, 2008
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I had the ol lady's 47re rebuilt almost a year ago. Nothing special, just an upgraded converter and a fresh VB to go with the rebuild. well ever since she got it back i noticed it had a rough engagement in gear. all shifts are fine and everything else is great but since the weather has cooled down and the fluid has thickened up it will literally stall out her 24v on a cold morning....
I work out of town, so she has had to warm the motor up for 20 mins before she goes to work. After the first run of the day its fine after it warms up. she has dealt with it for months.

Now that i have returned home and looked into it the rough shift into drive will either stall the motor or chirp the tires at idle on concrete. both her u joints are trashed. (she is a slow driver and does not tow)

upon inspection i find that it is definitely not ATF in there. its not red at all and it smells like gear oil. its not burnt but why in the heck would anyone put something other than ATF + 4 in a chrystler trans????

... so on down the line, he has had it for a month, he has been driving it home every day. He says it was in the VB, then he blamed converter lockup and now it is back together and he blames the trans cooler for creating more pressure.

if he doesn't know how to work on a 47re he shouldn't be touching them! Im no trans builder but even i can swap a converter, VB or even flush out a system. I also put a meter on the TCC solenoid before i took it in and i know it works properly.

anyways, she is picking it up today and im tearing it down myself. what would cause such an aggressive engagement in gear to stall a diesel engine like i was dumping a clutch on a 5spd? and what the heck did he try to put in place of ATF? was this thicker fluid put in place to create a band-aid fix?

thanks for the input trans guys. this is the second shop in my area that has now been put on my **** list. now he wants to crawfish on the warranty because of the mileage and make me pay after i have been trying to get it in his shop for 8 months. he knew i had a problem when it when i got it home from the rebuild too!
 
Depends if you are willing to walk away from the whole thing or put the shop on the hook. When going after the shop most of your initial actions are evidence gathering. Probably get the oil analyzed, after that verifying components you purchased were installed, and installed per specifications. I don't know of any transmission shop that will use anything but ATF. I do know quite a few people who use Hy Guard, or Hi Tran's fluid. Slightly higher viscosity, but certainly not like gear oil.

I bet if you flush the system and replace with ATF you will see exactly how the transmission operates (probably even more shiddy).
 
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So far I've found it very difficult to understand the houston area shops. Most don't want to help you for schit, and if you ain't buying anything from them then it's gtfo. Anyways, you know Chris at relentless knows his schit, but if you're looking for help I have an atsg book you can look over if you need to.
 
I run CaseIH HyTrans straight and I have a 200rpm lower stall converter and the only time it will lug the engine down is when it's around 0deg F or lower, but it wont stall it.

I'd definitely do a fluid flush so you know what you're working with, but are you sure it isn't locking the TC? I pinched my TC lockup ground while swapping my hydroboost before and when I'd go into drive, it'd die or chirp the tires. It was pretty obvious what was happening when I still had reverse, and then when I got it moving in drive and noticed it was locking it up instantly.

If your fluid is clean, I doubt you need a full tear down. I'd swap fluid, and then diagnose to make sure it's not the TC.

One more thing, when it was really cold (-35F or so), if I tossed it into drive cold, it'd put me into 3rd gear almost instantly. If I popped the TCase to neutral and the trans to drive and let it sit for 30seconds or so, it'd be fine after that.
 
Swap fluid..
it is probably gear oil.
the other guy iknow running it describes the same cold issue.
but he does it for maintaining enough warm pressure till he rebuild it
 
I have a 98 that will stall the motor after start up and within the first 2 minutes of driving.
It is locking up.
If I put the shifter to 2nd it doesn't do it.

I'm sure this is a pressure issue for the lock up clutch.
I suspect a leaking seal on the input shaft.
The converter uses pressure to both lock and keep unlocked, as I see it.

I do not think you have an issue with hydraulic fluid in place of ATF.
I have to put up with it for now because I am without a shop to work on it. I will stay on this thread and help if I can.
 
with that kind of engagement or shifting, that stock input is prolly twisted.
 
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