Hey all, My question is: is there some way to try to get a tranny to work without having to pull it back out of the truck? When I start it up and run the shifter through the gears, it does nothing. I made sure the shift lever moves correctly on the side of the tranny. Ive only tried it for a minute or so, should I try leaving it in gear longer (see below)? I have a 390 Ford with a C6 Transmission in my 49 Ford Pickup. I just got it to start after the engine and transmission were sitting for about 10 years. I used a B&M Frame mount tranny cooler that bolts to the frame beside the tranny. I didnt fill it with fluid before putting the lines on it. It did have mud dubber wasps that tried to burrow in and make a home in the transmission cooler lines and I dropped the pan, cleared the stoppage out, and changed out the filter while in there. It all looked clean inside the transmission with the pan off. They never made it in, just tried, and clogged up the little hole trying to get in with mud on them. I used the Air compressor and blew through the ports with the pan off and the air came into the valve body of the tranny just fine. It was really clean inside the tranny.....the fluid that came out of the pan did have a small section that had drawn moisture and looked kinda milky at the back right side of the pan when I pulled it but I assumed that was from when I washed it off before putting it into this truck. Other than that little area in the pan, the rest of the fluid looked like it had never sat. I do not have the heater hoses on the engine so I havent ran it for more than a few minutes at a time. I put 8 quarts of fluid in it so far and its reading half way up the dipstick (like its three quarts over full) after starting it up and going through the gears. It does nothing when I shift through any of the gears. It has the old vaccum module. but shouldnt it at least kick into gear wether the vaccum module is good or bad? Here is it starting up and you can see Im acutally shifting through the gears. It was 23 degrees outside. The fluid registers about half way up the dipstick. http://youtu.be/VPEDPoBQ_S0 What are your thoughts? Run it longer while in gear? I havent checked to see if there is fluid in the cooler yet.
Forgot to add, I had the transmission rebuilt 20 years ago and drove it 10years with never a problem. I drove it to where I pulled the engine (truck was wrecked but just body damage).
Agreed, Fords are especially bad about this, there is a drainback valve in the pump stator that may be hung, put it in gear with the engine running for a few minutes, hopefully the converter will fill and off you go. If not, pull the return cooler line and make sure you have pump output and cooler flow.
Did you check the fluid level with the motor running and in park?.....that is the only way that you can check the fluid level.And you add fluid while it is running till you get it to the fill line . I agree with the guys I don't think it has enough fluid in it yet.... Kenny
I did check it with it running and in park and it registered about half way up the dipstick. Of course, you can see in the video about how long I ran it before shutting it down since I dont have the cooling system hooked up yet. I put the rear up on stands and I am working on running the heater hoses so I can run it for more than a minute at a time. Ill keep you guys posted.
Connect up the missing water hoses, fill and bleed the cooling system. ('burp' the air bubble out) As Greg suggested, check for tranny fluid pump pressure at the cooler line. Run the engine for perhaps 15 minutes. ATF pressure is the first thing you are looking for, but transmission warmup is what will usually release whatever is 'stuck'. (servo 'O' rings, stuck valve(s), etc) Bring to operating temp, if still no operation consult the Motors manual. There are numerous ports to check pressure at, making diagnosis simple.
Put the rear end on jack stands, got the heater lines hooked up, ran it, and it engaged in gear for a little bit, but then stopped and now it does nothing. I has fluid on both sides of the tranny cooler. Im going to take it to the transmission shop.
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