Ok, so i recently had a rebuilt tranny that had a transgo shift kit and i believe it was a monster rebuild. I burnt up the 3-4 clutches and put in a rebuild. The guy who put it in used the torque converter that was already in the car. i drove it home and had 4 issues.

1) i had much less top end power. off the line it was fine, but going 40 and above, not as much kick as i would expect.

2) i floored it once and i heard a knock and then the throttle kicked back in. didn't happen after that, but still wierd. its like i heard a thump and then i got the acceleration back

3) i got home after a 45 minute drive and fluid was leaking from what i think was the vent area under the tranny. it was dirty and smelled like burnt rubber. so i was freaking out cause the tranny was shifting fine but i knew the tranny fluid shouldn't be leaking or smell like that. so i checked the fluid levels and the tranny fluid smelled burnt and was dirty pinkish and was way past the hot line...almost like there was too much fluid.

4) when i shut the car off after i parked it, there was a lot of steam coming from the hood and under the car. it smelled like burnt rubber also. at this point, i was confused. the guy had replaced my exhaust manifold gaskets and used some silicone to seal it up really well. he said the smoke could come from him installing the gaskets. but i let the car sit for 3 days and drove it today and it steamed again.

one more thing i noticed was a very very slight ticking noise and when i looked at the car running in the dark, i saw that the ticking was coming from a spark that i could see under where the headers attach to the engine.

does anyone know what is going on? did he overfill the tranny fluid, and what is the ticking noise coming from that spark? do i need to get the pcm re-tuned to get my high end power and shifting back? and what was that clunk i got when floored it that made me lose acceleration and then get it back?

 

ps. the leaking stopped when i turned the car off.

 

Well it should not be leaking but if it overfull it may leak out then vent get the fluid level corect should be at very top of crosshatch on stick hot,
The spark you see at the header is likley a bad plug wire or loose plug wire arching to th header which may explain the way the car has less power and would be the tick sound,
The steam or smoke may be the fluid thats leaking hetting on your exhaust.

 

so was that clunk a misfire because of the sparkplug? also, do i need to do something about this right away? is it ok that the fluid looks dirty because the guy said it may be the from some of the old fluid that was in the torque converter? is it ok to drive it?

 

Well I would get the fluid level rigt imediatly, He could be correct on the converter fluid as for the clunk I would check mounts and torque arm make sure good and bolted in,
The spark will just cause car to run poorly and may inhibit lockup and cost you fuel

 

yea ive been losing gas slightly faster than normal. i think im gonna suck some fluid out of it tomorrow. so that misfire or clunk isn't because of the spark plug/wire deficit?

 

Yes its very possible I would certainly fix that imediatley also

 

k what spark plugs do u suggest? or does it not matter?

 

check for a loose wire before you replace the plug. the wire might not be on all the way

 

i dunno, the wires are all attached except for a half an inch at the end. i couldn't push them in anymore, so im thinking that is where they are supposed to be, but i can see the spark that's making the noise when im in the dark looking below the exhaust manifold gasket.

 

also, do i need to get the pcm retuned to the new transmission?

 

anyone?

 

no one has any advice?

 

those spark plugs are NGK T55's, replaced them just before you got the car

from what your saying here, I would follow all your spark plug wires to make sure none of them got burned by the headers as the guy probably moved them to replace the gaskets.

I would think the exhaust gaskets would have been done burning if you drove the car 45 min home. Unless there was some trans fluid still left somewhere in contact with hot pipes or engine.

 

yea just found out today that the tranny cooler line is lose and is either missing an o-ring or something cause it won't tighten anymore...so thats where the smoke and fluid were coming from. im still confused with the spark plug issue, cause all the wires seem secured.

 

Have you checked to see if the spark plug is screwed in tight ?

 

ok today a guy who works for gm checked the car out on his spare time and said i need new wires. by number 8 spark plug wire was hitting. so that solves that issue. now though im hearing some knock coming from the mid engine area. it sounds too high to be a bearing... u think it could be carbon in the piston or a wrist pin? tranny cooler lines were tightened = no more leaking or steaming. i got an oil change and had them put a thicker oil in it 10w 40 and some lucas oil treatment. knock is sometimes very very quiet and other times now that my exhaust manifold gaskets were replaced i hear it.