This is probably a stupid question but I want to make sure...

My car has a 4L80E and I am going to put the driveshaft in. The engine does not have a wiring harness and does not run.

Once I put the driveshaft in, every time I move the car around with a tow truck, the rear wheels are going to turn the transmission. Will this ruin my transmission? I don't know how much fluid is left in there, and it's been about 4 years since the trans has run.

I usually move the car from one bay to another bay so I can use the lift and work under the car. We're probably talking about 100 ft moving forward and 100 feet backwards each time I move it.

Thanks, -Dave

 

Thats not going to hurt it.

 

No worries it will be fine.

 

You're all good on the 100 ft trip
but if you are gonna tow it at a high speed and long distance I would make sure you have fluid in it.
John

 

I would remove the drive shaft if towing it for a long distance. The issue with most transmissions is lube needs to be pumping through them. With that being said I have seen many transmissions get melted down when being towed. Vince

 

What do you consider long distances?

 

At 20mph your planetaries are spinning at a tremendous speed WITHOUT lube. Also a trans sitting for 4 years may have seals that are deteriorating. You may find a problem when you finally start to run the trans. After 4 years, there is no ATF on critical parts that need to be lubed. Pull the shaft, stick a plug in it, and then you will be safe to tow. If you are moving the car from bay to bay, very slowly, you should have no problem.

 

Kind of a loaded question depending on the trans. In a 4l80e as you know there is a lube orifice in the back of the trans case that lubes the extension housing. Personally in an 80 I would not want to tow it very far because of this. I have seen E40D transmissions melt the back of the case when being towed for as little as 10 miles. I have a test yoke at the shop for our dyno that was damaged in less then 10 minutes of testing. This was because the lube orifice had a piece of crud in it when testing an 80. That was about a $500 whoops! Dyno adapters are expensive!Vince

 

Now that I think about it, the trans has been sitting for about 3 years since it last ran. Do I need to do some sort of service to it now to keep it from going bad? I expect to have my project running in about 4-5 months.