fishcrazy

Thanks a million for that info. I was just about to go back out there with the BIG HAMMER! lmao I did not know where the dowels are but knowing that will definately help! Thanks again!

fishcrazy

Well I did get the trans droped out. ON MY HAND! The thing sliped off the jack after I had it all the way down. I for the lifed of me dont know how it happened but it did. I had two straps on the unit and it still sliped off. The reason it seemed stuck was that I had overlooked 1 bellhousing bolt at the top where there was a hanger plate bolted on top of it and made it look like the bolt was out of there. A more experienced person would not have made this mistake. Live and learn. These top bellhousing bolts are all but impossible to get to on this Escalade. The ones with studs are especially difficult because they require a deep well socket but the socket I used was just barely short enough to get the job done. Im going to find a slightly shorter on for the install. I had a shorter SK brans 15mm that would have been perfect but it was cracked. Of coarse that was the one I needed. But life is good the thing is out! let the rebuild begin. Hope I dont flub it somewhere along the line. There is so much I do not know. But I have come this far so I will forge ahead.

mrvedit

Congrats on getting the trans out! Sorry to hear it fell on your hand.
I was just going to post and ask if you remembered the 12 O'Clock bolt,
which can be difficult to reach in some cars. Glad you figured that out,
but I should have thought of that in my previous post.

I PM'ed you my cell phone number and you are welcome to call. Really!
I probably won't be near a computer much this weekend, but you can call.
(I'm so excited to finally have thick ice at our cottage lake for some
maintenance work with the tractor. Never froze thick enough last year.)

fishcrazy

I appreciate all the help you have provided. It makes a hugh difference when someone who has done these before tells you what to expect.

Fortunately the thing didnt hit my hand with a lot of force and only mashed the pinky a bit but it is sore. I never feel quite right about my auto repairs if I dont have banged up hands from it.

My wife is from Alpena Michigan. We spend every Christmas up there and if we get ice on Fletcher Pond we go Pike hunting. Had a lot of fun fishing on the ice this christmas. Hope your maintenance goes well and you dont break through the ice. Careful!

joecar

The 12 o'clock bolt can be reached easier with a long extension and by pulling downwards on the rear of trans (tilting engine on its mounts; undo air cleaner duct first).

fishcrazy

Thanks Jo. That 12 o'clock one is hard to get at and I had a too long deep well socket but it did sneak onto the head enough to break it loose. It seems impossible when you first look at it. My first thought was " How in the Heck am I gonna get at that?"The ones to either side of that one were my hardest to get at though.

fishcrazy

ok the first thing I did was strip one of the bellhousing bolts. If I had no bad luck then.... Be that as it may, Where do I go from here? Do i drill it and easy out the remains? Can the pump come out without removing the extension housing? I guess more importantly can the pump be installed with it not removed without destroying the pump seals? Thanks for any schooling you might offer. I am using a TP-50 bit.

mrvedit

Just give me a call and we will go over your options.
I PM'ed you my number last week.
Or email me - ted -at- vedit -dot- com.
Ted

fishcrazy

ok all but 2 are out. those are mangled beyond aqll belief! lol Any suggestrions? I am reluctant to cut a slot in the head. I would lean more towards squaring it off and fit a wrench or channel locks or something like that to break it, or drill it and easy out it. The heat helps but it is still very hard to break.

mrvedit

Sorry for the slow reply; I was expecting you to call.

Guess you will have to drill them out. Use DeWalt "Cobol" drill bits with "Magic" cutting fluid.
I had no idea these could be so hard to remove; I've never had trouble with my 600 ft/lb air impact wrench and putting a lot of weight into it before I hit the trigger. In the future I will tell people that hand tools just don't make it.

fishcrazy

It is all in the technique I guess. Most of the bolts came out with a slow release after the heat was applied. But a couple just destroyed the heads of the bolt. Dont know why but they did. I probably goot off center of the bolt and caused it. Oh well. Thank goodnes for the drill!

carlsonauto

You are using a "torx plus 50" correct? I keep 4 of those bits in my toolbox at all times as those bolts can be a huge pain to get out (as you have noticed). I usually hit all of them with an air hammer before I even try to get them out so that that impact from the air hammer breaks them loose. I have had to use heat, lots of air hammering and sometimes even my big 1/2" impact (thats why I have 4 bits, the 1/2" gun is kinda hard on em). At the point you are at I would just drill the heads off and make it so the bell housing is out of the way then you can grab them with a pliers, channel lock, vice slips etc.. If you still cant get them out set some 1/2" nuts over the studs and mig weld them on(good and hot the heat will help a lot) Then you can use a wrench and they will come right out.

fishcrazy

I might just have to get one of those air hammers! But since I dont have one I guess I will drill them out. Those TP50 bits are hard as nails though. They mangled the head of that bolt and its head remains pristine. Thanks Carlsonauto!

fishcrazy

Is there a good reason that these bolts are used instead of a regular bolt. The pump that sits right beside these bolts uses a regular head.

fishcrazy

Well I have it all taken apart down to the spring assembly, low and reverse clutch(694),piston(695) and seals (696). Im going to get those out next but I must say that I see nothing jumping out at me as the failure point I am looking for. The unit has been leaking fluid and I do think it is from the rear. Could those seals that I have yet to lay my eyes on be the culpret? Or should I be pointed somewhere else?

mrvedit

I should have suggested that you do an air test of just the pump, input drum and reverse drum; before you disassembled the reverse clutch. Or perhaps you still can.
Place the reverse drum on the input shaft/drum assembly, add the pump on top and flip the entire assembly upside down for some test, while supporting the pump. (I use a really thick and stiff 8" by 8" by 8" cardboard box to support the pump.) See my earlier post #37. IIRC the leftmost hole (not bolt hole) is the reverse feed hole. This will test the teflon rings and the reverse piston.
Hmmm, guess you need an air compressor for this too.

Are you sure the teflon rings on the stator shaft are good? Post a picture?

fishcrazy

I was just in there looking at that and reinspecting the parts for integrity. I detected some more than acceptable wear on the reverse input housing bearings. Namely on the top bearing on the pump side. The inner looked fine. There was scowering to the point of transmiting wear to the interior portion between the two outer bearings of the housing. That leads me to suspect the shaft seals but they dont look bad just from an appearance standpoint. But you must read into this that I dont know from experience just what they should look like. Be that as it may, the wear on the bushing itself cold allow enough pressure drop to maybe cause my issue? The teflon bushings did not look that great to me also. I will snap some shots and hopefully the condition will translate. If you feel the seal it does not protrude any at all above the shaft surface so I doubt the integrity of the seals.

I did compare the new sun shell with the old and it has not been updated so the new beast was a good purchase. Even though the old shell seems fine and did not display any signs of failure.

fishcrazy

here is a picture of the bearing area of the reverse input housing. i think this is probably where my problem is coming from. what do you think?

mrvedit

Wow that is really bad. You will need a new stator shaft too as the bushing is scored.
You will need to take your pump to a trans shop to have a new stator shaft pressed in; it is even tricky for them to do with a press. A generic stator shaft is about $30 wholesale. Sonnax makes an improved one for about $40; I would recommend it becomes it is a bit more forgiving in the alignment process. (The pump has a dowel and the stator shaft has a hole for it; if it is slightly misaligned during the pressing process, a tiny bit of metal is stripped off the dowel and lodges underneath the shaft, making it non-square and causing rapid wear of the input shaft bushing.) The Sonnax stator shaft you need is #74529H and available overnight from TranStar to any trans shop.

And yes, this is why you lost reverse.

fishcrazy

I was thinking that very same thing about the stator shaft so I took a closer look at it and thought it looked ok. But after your comments here I looked again and by golly YOU ARE RIGHT! I can see where one of the teflon seals is traped in its grove and will not allow the seal to move as the shaft has become mashed or worne funny at the grove. I thinking that is no surprise to you. Thanks for not letting me screw this up. I cant tell you how much I appreciate the expert advice.