The late roller when installed into the over run drum needs to be loaded in one direction so it hooks itself in there. If this is not done or its a bit off I have seen the planet free-wheel. In some cases it barely grabs and will chatter on engagements. I have heard of a neutralled condition as well but will move with the shifter in the lower ranges. If the OD OWC is damaged I could see where this could be an issue in in the OD or reverse ranges. However in your case you said that the trans still will not engage in the D3 and lower shifter positions when the over run clutch is applied to help the OWC out. I like the advise Chris is giving you and I'm pretty sure I know where he is going with this. I would try this first after that you need to go inside the unit to see what was damaged in the process of the swap. Jake certainly has some valid points and I respect his advise. Best of luck getting this fixed and please update the thread when you find it.

 

I pulled the shims today and it didn't make any difference. So I guess my weekend fun will involve pulling a tranny

 

I did not think it would make a difference. I was thinking maybe we were blocking the flow in the converter, but apparently not.... Have a fun weekend!!

Chris

 

Well I got it out and partially disaassembled. The only thing so far I see is the pump to case gasket obviously got out of place when I put the pump in. As you can see in the pic the holes are about half a hole off (gasket is still stuck to pump) The gasket was torn and out of place in a couple spots. Havent taken the pump apart yet....

 

Well, I went ahead and tore the tranny all the way down and refreshed/rebuilt it. All new clutches, steels,new sep plate etc etc. Got rid of the Transgo vacuum modulator kit and put a PCS back in there. My new converter arrived this evening so I wasted no time installing it into the trans and then I put the trans in the vehicle. It is hanging uder there with a couple bolts-ran out of time. I should have time to finish it Saturday evening...will report back here on how it shifts as soon as the road test is complete!

 

I got it going-trans engages like it should and shifts great. I guess the pump gasket was the culprit causing the engagement problem.

I took it to my local 1/8th mile track and made some baseline passes. It went 8.39 at 86mph....about what I expected.