The Blue Turd(le)

[Stewzer55]

455 in a boxy wagon, awesome. Best of luck figuring out what's going on in that transmission. subscribed. GMLongroof may have some great info over there, great group of guys over there.

[silver_bullet]

Good thing you got the warranty... maybe he could give you a break because of the durability testing you are doing for him??

[68scott385]

I'd be weighing the pros and cons of taking a ball bat to a shop owners skull at this point

We've been doing business for 7 or 8 years. I AM frustrated but it's not with his ability to build transmissions. The trans in my truck was built in shop in 2007, iirc, and has had no, zero, nada, problem. Yes it was a stock rebuild and this is a performance unit. Internal parts breakage was the last culprit. I have a working theory that I will toss at him on Monday.


So, for the theory; Both times it went "BAM" was at full throttle top of third going into fourth. This is a bone stock Olds 455 from supposedly 1974, I haven't verified the year. It's not making enough torque at 4000rpm to snap parts without help. It made it home fine under what I'll call mild to normal driving conditions. No, that's not completely true either. Foot to the floor, upper rpm shifts are more likely normal for me than lower rpm soft shifts. I think the 3-4 shift valve in the valve body are engaging, or allowing pressurized fluid to 3rd & 4th gear at the same time in high rpm conditions. Like the release of 3rd and the engagement of 4th are overlapping. Again, it's just a theory and I haven't had time to research it to verify that it makes any sense.

[JOES66FURY]

I'd be weighing the pros and cons of taking a ball bat to a shop owners skull at this point

[68scott385]

Que the Frieburger clip...
BAM!!!




Nice day, figured I drive it before the white shit starts coming around. This transmission does NOT like high rpm (for an Olds motor) and 3-4 shifts. This time it wasn't on a sparsely driven road, oh no, this was on a heavily traveled two-lane where the speed limit is 55mph and plenty of us use that as a suggestion. I've crossed it at 90+ late at night. Luckily it wasn't rearended but there are a couple new black marks from the attempts. The car is back at the trans shop. Glad for the warranty, not so glad I have to use it.

[68scott385]

[Shelty]

its supposed to be 70 tomorrow, ill be out in the garage as long as I can, if I can get the floor finished tomorrow, then wednesday I can start ordering interior stuff

[68scott385]

Twenty minutes ago I got a "Code Red Alert" phone call from the county authorities. The is a large tire fire about 1/2 mile away from my house. We are advised to shelter in place etc. I wondered why there was a helicopter circling, now I know why. Luckily the wind is blowing the smoke away from my house. Yes, I use my own judgment when it comes to following suggestions from authority.

Since I'm being obedient...today is the only day this week that will be over 50* and dry. I've put off looking at the wiper problem as long as I can. The factory service manual doesn't have a section for B-body wipers, just G-body wipers. Following the flow chart as best I can since the harness plugs at the wiper motor are different for the two body types. Long story short, there is a two-wire female connector that plugs into the wiper motor. Somewhere along the way it got reversed, blowing the fuse as soon as the key is turned. Plugged the connector in to the wiper motor opposite of the way it was and the wipers & washers work.

I don't remember having the wiper motor disconnected. I do remember the wipers working at some point the car was drivable for a day or two in the three years we've been together. Oh happy day, regardless of hazmat situation close to home. Now to drive it before snow & salt appear.

[68scott385]

Here's the pics of the broken part. They pretty well speak for themselves.

[68scott385]

I had hoped this would be a glorious addition to this dark cloud with an imagined silver lining. Okay, so I may be over stating my disgust, but only a little bit.

The good part is that I got the car back earlier this week. I haven't had time to drive it any more than the trip home through one of my favorite curvy back roads. It does have some suspension upgrades and I like to use those as often as possible.

The transmission problem, this time, was the splines twisted off the forward clutch hub. I have pictures & will post them when I get them uploaded & resized. We agreed that the previous owned probably did the damage for a couple of reasons; I'm not making much power, the motor is stock, and I haven't taken it out spinning tires. (The previous owner had the transmission in his race car and upon blowing up his motor, decided to quit or build a new car). Not that I don't spin tires occasionally but this pig still has an open rear end. That was at the coaxing of the trans builder due to the idea that my wife would drive this car and may not be able to handle the posi unit. I got news for all the doubters, and now that I've jinxed myself...my wife has been driving my '97 C1500 with posi & 3.73 gears for several months and hasn't wrecked it yet. Now to find a deity and converse with it. Anyhow, now the car drives good, shifts are positive, quick, and firm. I'm finally happy with the transmission and torque converter selection. Some of the efforts put into this tub are starting to get enjoyed.

The bad part is that I wanted to use the car tonight but when I went to use the windshield wipers / washer, nothing. Harness is connected to the wiper motor so I checked the fuses. Sure enough, the wiper fuse was blown. Stick another fuse in and it instantly blows. Hmm. I disconnected the last thing I wired in just for shits & giggles then installed another fuse. Again, instantaneous blow. That's when I realize the has just become a sunny day car. At least its drivable at this point. So I grab the factory wiring diagram and bring it in the house to look at later.

[Runner1972]

I got the car back today. All fixed up. They found a split seal in it somewhere, I forget now. New torque converter, trans shifts real good, nice firm shifts.

So I'm driving it home through the curviest road I can. I get to a 1000ft straight stretch and running in 4th gear I floor it. The trans drop into 3rd, it's pulling good, running at nearly 4000rpm which is tight for a bbo, and just as it should have shifted, THUNK, and nothing, no 4th gear so I manually drop it into 3rd, no 3rd gear, so I let it coast as far as I can to a flat, straight area, pull of the road some and call AAA. I left it in the road so AAA would consider it a priority. I've been a member for 18 years, I shouldn't have to wait "until they get to it".

Back at the trans shop they determine that I've ripped the splines out of the new converter.


When did AAA move their call center to India or BFE? Goofy phone answering SOBs & their Google Maps.....I know everything changes and that the only constant is change but why does everything ALWAYS have to change for the worse?

Jesus, my dad did the same thing in the 72' back in the day.

[Shelty]

And you have now found my major downfall in life. I expect everyone to have the rationing ability that I have. I judge what a man can do by what I can do by myself. I am not average size and apparently have greater than normal ability, (or as PW put it, "redneck engineering", not something I came about because I could but because I had to) and it has bitten me more than once. I never have considered my self of greater than normal intelligence but the closer I get to 50 the more I wonder about what I see the majority doing. I am by no means a hero in my own mind, quite the opposite in fact, I just make do with what I have or what I can scrounge, like most of us here at BS seem to do. Maybe it's that I'm a car guy and they aren't "normal".

thats your first mistake right there. people these days, their life doesnt extend past their iphones and their lattes. my one brother is one of those people, the "cant think for them-self" kind of person. I remember in high school my parents got me and my brother AAA in case our cars broke down. I never used it, I always knew how many smacks on the starter it took to get my POS 86 buick to turn over. my brother on the other hand, used AAA to change a tire for him because he didnt know where the spare tire was. hint, it was in the trunk in the factory location. same brother also cooked the engine in his 1996 Grand Am because he ignored the Temp gauge and the flashing CEL light on the dash because he was running late to go somewhere.

now my other brother, he is more like me, you hand him a wrench and he can do something with it. He's had his motorcycle apart like 15 times and never has a problem getting it to work right again.

[STINEY]

The great unable masses make us look exceptional in comparison................we are 40ish and are seeing this more and more everyday.

[68scott385]

It may well not be the problem of AAA, but down the pipeline to whom the towing companies are hiring these days. Typical of today's business models, AAA is probably paying less and less on calls to towing companies, which means the towing companies have to lower their costs, which means they lower their standards and pay to their employees, these numbnuts couldn't find their asses with both hands and a map, which means AAA needs much more info in order for said numbnuts to find you.

Case in point. I call AAA at my doc's office because car won't start. I tell them I am in the parking garage and not, repeat not, to send rollback because the roof clearance is barely above the minivans. The towing company sends them twice. I yell at AAA, they tell towing company, dumbass dispatcher at towing company has hearing problems, head up ass, or is stoned. Or, all three. By the time they get the right tow truck there, I have figured out it's just a clogged fuel filter and bypassed it and got my car started.

And you have now found my major downfall in life. I expect everyone to have the rationing ability that I have. I judge what a man can do by what I can do by myself. I am not average size and apparently have greater than normal ability, (or as PW put it, "redneck engineering", not something I came about because I could but because I had to) and it has bitten me more than once. I never have considered my self of greater than normal intelligence but the closer I get to 50 the more I wonder about what I see the majority doing. I am by no means a hero in my own mind, quite the opposite in fact, I just make do with what I have or what I can scrounge, like most of us here at BS seem to do. Maybe it's that I'm a car guy and they aren't "normal".

[Scott Liggett]

It may well not be the problem of AAA, but down the pipeline to whom the towing companies are hiring these days. Typical of today's business models, AAA is probably paying less and less on calls to towing companies, which means the towing companies have to lower their costs, which means they lower their standards and pay to their employees, these numbnuts couldn't find their asses with both hands and a map, which means AAA needs much more info in order for said numbnuts to find you.

Case in point. I call AAA at my doc's office because car won't start. I tell them I am in the parking garage and not, repeat not, to send rollback because the roof clearance is barely above the minivans. The towing company sends them twice. I yell at AAA, they tell towing company, dumbass dispatcher at towing company has hearing problems, head up ass, or is stoned. Or, all three. By the time they get the right tow truck there, I have figured out it's just a clogged fuel filter and bypassed it and got my car started.