Leigh Likes Pulling Things...

OK, I know Irish has been waiting for my explanation from last Friday......

I left work and made my way home.

Successfully avoiding all of the out of state / down state morons trying to get to the Adirondacks, and Vermont, one last time.

I was actually looking forward to the weekend, as the paintball / airsoft field had three days of events planned.

Pulling out of a side road onto the two lane, a truck came around the corner, so I kicked the old girl in the ass.

It pulled through first gear, grabbed second - and a half second later, the tach blew right through the roof!

Desperate, I pushed it up to Neutral, then back to Over Drive - gave it throttle...... Nothing.

I pulled it down to Drive - gave it throttle .... Nothing.

I pulled it down to First, and it didn't down shift.

The engine was no longer connected to the drivetrain.

FRIG ME!

I turned on the four-ways and coasted down the edge of the road, for a quarter mile.

I had to slow to let three cars go by; then just barely made it across the road, without having to get out and push, into the local Country Store.

Going on a hunch, I put it into Reverse - Nothing.

Now I had a good idea what the issue was.

Initially, I had hoped that I was low on trans fluid, and had uncovered the pick-up.

Having no effect in any gear, it wasn't a lack of fluid.

Pulling the dip-stick confirmed it too.

It appeared over full - which was another hint at what went wrong.

The curse of the AX4N transmission - the pump-drive hub in the torque convertor had more than likely stripped out.

A few phone calls later, and help was on the way.

Then came the humiliating part - getting flat towed home behind my neighbor's Silverado.

We just dumped it in the yard, as the garage looked like a disaster zone.

I was bummed out, but the wife convinced me to go to The Field and not let the car ruin my weekend.

So, I didn't do a damn thing with it.

I gamed all weekend, at The Field, and thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of my self.

Monday, I spent all day cleaning the garage.

Tuesday afternoon, I went to The Farm, and retrieved my engine hoist and stand.

Tuesday night, I pulled the hood off, pushed it inside, and pulled as much off of it as I could.

Basically, I had it down to where the motor mounts, bell housing, and tranny bolts were all that was holding it in.

 

  

Took about four hours to get to this point.

Yeah I've done this before, too.

Wednesday I had migraines from the storm front moving through the area. I stayed in the house.

Tonight (Thursday) I finished unbolting it, and pulled the engine. Took about two more hours. 

Suspicions confirmed!

The Torque Convertor is junk! 

See the smooth hole at the bottom? That is supposed to have splines to match the pump shaft.

This is going to be an easy, relatively inexpensive fix - because the pump shaft looks almost pristine. 

 

Sweet!

Friday I have to order a convertor, seal, trans filter, and exhaust gaskets for the manifolds and one cat.

The Torque Convertor has a 24 hour lead time. Probably the same for the gaskets.

Everything else should be in stock.

If I didn't have to work The Farm, this weekend, I would have it back on the road Monday.

Barring any complications, I would think it will be operational Tuesday night - Wednesday, at the latest.

The sooner the better, so I can get out of my Father's Impala.

It is a nice car, and gets better mileage than the Taurus. (27 mpg)

Which is amazing, because it has about double the horse power - which is the problem with it.

Me and a 300 HP car are a bad combination - just tooooooo much fun! 🤪

Leigh

Behind enemy lines in NY