[scrnic1]

Beginning; picked up a nice used soild core (from a member here, thanks again) First step was taking the converter in to be rebuilt and restalled up to 2500.

Second step; Ordered a master rebuild kit off of amazon, pioneer I believe.
Third; tore down and cleaned everything one pieve at a time.
Fourth; opened valve body, cleaned, did stage 5 modifications.
Fifth;replace clutches and steels and all the seals I could access with basic hand tools.
Sixth; reassemble, fill converter, install whole lot. This all is abbreviated of course.
Before the first start,I added fluid until it puked out the breather about 5 quarts.
I got the engine running, trans in park. Let it run for about 45 seconds. Shut it down added two more quarts, started again added two more quarts while running, all the while going through the gears at slow intervals.
The car has been up on jack stands the whole time, all 4 corners, not at an angle with just the front up.
Here's my problem- at no time did I have reverse.
Neutral worked fine
First,second,third(manually shifted at the trans) seemed to maintain the wheels spinning and seemed not to want to stop when I applied the brakes. I tried adjusting the reverse band to no avail.
Today I pulled the pan, and the fluid is full of what looks like aluminum shavings. I was hoping to just pull the valve body and do the air check again, but this looks like I screwed up some basic fundamental step during assembly. Thoughts?

 

[arnoldtx]

If there's a bunch metal in pan pull it and find it. You wont have to guess then.

 

[FEandGoingBroke]

X2...

 

[scrnic1]

Damn...any typical causes for the no reverse issue i should be looking for?

 

[FEandGoingBroke]

Well, you only replaced the seals that you could get to with conventional tools. How many ribber O rings are left over from the build kit?

 

[gregaust]

Well, you only replaced the seals that you could get to with conventional tools. How many ribber O rings are left over from the build kit?

That was my thought also .. Did you replace reverse servo piston?

 

[scrnic1]

That was my thought also .. Did you replace reverse servo piston?

Nope I didnt....seemed pliable and soft though. Intact, all of the seals were in what seemed like good condition. All pliable and soft. I'm going to pull it here shortly and see Wtf is going on...I just don't know where all debris could be coming from. Every thing turned freely. Maybe I didn't have enough fluid in it before I ran it the first time? I'll know soon enough i guess...

 

[scrnic1]

The only thing I could see that appeared to be rubbing was the planetary set inside the reverse/high clutch hub. It looked more like something hard got dropped in there and got ground to bits. When I put the planetary in the hub it moves freely and doesn't make any sound. When I do the same and put pressure on it, it doesn't move as freely but does not sound like it is grinding... The thrust washer between the two is worn a bit, but doesn't appear to be damaged. Thoughts? Clean it out and try again? It's not hard to get out, but the process is frustrating and trans fluid is EXPENSIVE these days...

 

[gregaust]

There's something very wrong there with aluminium shavings I'd be hesitant to reassemble without a cause . Maybe post some pics of the pieces and layed out as iy came apart we may pick something wrong , worth a try at least

 

[AdrianS]

Since you said you only disassembled the part you could handle with normal hand tools, you must not have replaced the reverse clutch plates. That requires a clutch spring compressor to release the snap ring. That may explain why you had no reverse, but it could also be the reverse servo (on the driver's side of the transmission) or the band wasn't adjusted properly.

The aluminum shavings, if you're sure they are aluminum, must have come from the planetary gear carrier. Unless something was able to contact the housing. All the other rotating parts are iron or steel.

You can get reasonably new & used transmission part from here - https://www.wittrans.com/Default.aspx?