What happened to my transmission?

[BJM]

I installed my new Power Plate last night. I took it out for a test drive and I actually thought the car was driving a little sluggishly but I was low on fuel so I filled up. After that it seemed okay. After a couple of WOT blasts I headed home. I started off from a stop light and gave half throttle in 2nd gear.

At about 10 psi, all of a sudden something let go. It felt like the up pipe blew off and made a quite woomph noise. The car jerked at the same time. Now the engine revs really freely and the car started slowing down ( I was only going 40 mph). I got to a dead stop and the car would barely get rolling again. I limped home.

In my garage I put it in Park and the engine revs fine and sounds okay. The transmission is full of fluid. When I put it in gear it seems to do it but only very softly. Once in gear I hear a combination scuffing/spinning noise (ZzZzZzZz with shshshshsh nice sound effects eh!). Drive and reverse sound the same. It will back up and go forward, barely. To go any speed the engine revs like mad.

What have I done to my car and how much will it cost to fix? Sigh!

 

[MAX PSI]

Sounds like the pump went south, or maybe the convertor. Its not the foward drum shaft or the car wouldn,t move. You might want to post your question on the trans section.

 

[blackbuick87]

The only thing the power plate could have to do with the tranny is the TV cable bracket is on the upper plenum. Maybe you threw that out of adjustment when you did the install.

 

[BJM]

I was careful with the TV cable and the transmission felt fine until it gave out.

What should I look for in a transmission place. There is a local place called Lentech which apparently written up in Hot Rod a few years ago, I will call them first.

 

[c&cgn]

Check in the tranny section. There was a post in there not too long ago about a shop called Trans-ware or something like that in Ontario. He seemed to get good reviews from everyone including Bruce Toelle. Check it out.

 

[TurboBurge]

Sounds like you blew your stator in the convertor.

 

[BJM]

If I blew the stator in the converter would would the "New" stall speed be like, or would it never really let the car move. I kept the revs below 3000 while I limped home.

 

[IronEagle119]

had my convertor go one me too, totally ****ed last summer over on me. Not sure exactly what to call the problem, but the convertor was shot and it broke all the teeth off of the shaft that goes into it. Kinda make's a sounds your trying todescribe, but then again your only describing a sounds and it could be 2 totally diferent sounds.

 

[BJM]

I talked to a couple of shops. One of them really seemed to know what they are talking about. He seems to know all about the various unique features of the Turbo Buick transmissions.

He has to guess of course but he thought it was unlikely to be the pump due to the fact that it was such a sudden failure. It is more likely to be that the splines ripped off the input shaft or out of the torque converter turbine shaft.

 

[TurboBurge]

the stator is like a one way clutch responsible for most of the low speed torque multiplication in the T/C. With out it, the car will just rev relying on the other components which are used for higher cruising speeds. You will eventually reach your desired speed but it will take a long time and will not be good for the trans. You are basically looking at a rebuild because pieces of that stator get pumped back into the trans. When you take the trans and T/C out, you can reach your finger in the opening of the T/C and try to turn the splined part with your finger: it should only spin in one direction if it's good.

Where in Ontario are you located?

 

[The Radius Kid]

Where abouts in Ontario are you?If you're near enough,call Harry Manovich at Milton Transmission.He knows what he's doing and his prices are super.

 

[Robert]

Hi BJM, your description sounds exactly like what I did to my tranny a few years ago, had to rev it like hell to limp home. I had spun the splines off the stator shaft! Ended up doing a complete rebuild with shift kit & upgraded convertor. Works great ever since. Good luck. TAZ

 

[BJM]

I am in Ottawa Ontario. Milton is a bit of a trek for me.

 

[BJM]

Got my car back

The torque converter turbine sheared off of the hub. The stator splines had nearly eaten through the splines on the transmission shaft. My main pump casting was nearly cracked through. The clutch packs were starting to go as well.

I guess it deserved the rebuild.