I'm working on a swap putting a LS1/4L60E into a '77 corvette, the motor is in the car and hooked up ready to go but I'm having transmission problems. I bought the motor used on eBay and I had a feeling that the trannsmission was completely drained (torque converter and all) so I added about 4 quarts as best I could (the fluid kept overflowing out the dipstick) while I was adding I ran it a couple times to circulate the fluid, but it blew fluid out the filler neck when I shut it off. At one point I got it good enough to drive around the neighborhood but there was still no fluid on the dipstick when I checked with it running... So I added another 3 quarts or so and tried to drive it again. As soon as I came to a stop I heard a loud pop and a huge puddle of fluid appeared under the car, turns out I'd blown out one of the transmission cooler lines. So I'm thinking I've got way too much pressure in the system somehow. All that to say, now I'm back to square one and I get the feeling I'm doing something wrong. It still feels like I've got no fluid in the torque converter, the car barely moves in drive, but I keep overflowing out the filler neck.... Is there some trick to adding fluid in a way that will force it into the converter? PLEASE don't tell me I'm going to have to pull the motor to fill the torque converter. I've never done much at all with transmissions and I'm completely over my head here so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

The converter will fill while the engine is running. I would do the repair to the cooler line and then attempt to refill it again with the engine running. What are you using for a filler tube? If it is a lokar then it is going to be extremely hard to fill and I understand what you are going through. Just make sure that the trans is full before attempting to drive it again. Vince

 

Check the vent on the top, could be plugged or kinked not letting any air out. If the air can't get out, the fluid can't get in. Not sure about the cooler line issue, might be a different problem. But like Vince said, do not drive it if you are not sure on the fluid level, it can burn it up fast.

Chris

 

I'm no pro, but since you'll be playing with cooler lines make sure the cooler isn't plugged or restricted.

 

Both above comments are very good points that I did not mention. Definitly a couple things to look at. Vince