This afternoon I started working on my car again! I need to rebuild the engine and transmission. I decided to start the trans first.Although the engine needs a rebuild too the trans is starting to slip really bad.So i figure that the engine still runs , but if when I put it in gear and does not go that I am stuck .I got it out in 3 hours.Then I started to disasemble it. Ill post pics as I go.
I used the B&M TransPak...complete overhaul kit for the C4 in my Torino. It was fairly easy.
While I did not end up rebuilding Brownie's C4, I did have the valve body off and got to see the internals. It seems to be a very simple beast! From all of the information I reviewed the three months prior to even touching it, it seems to be easy enough to do in your own garage, minus packing the clutches which you will need a special tool to do in order to compress everything (from what I hear, at least).
Brownie was doing the same thing you are experiencing as well, no engaging while in gear. I did have reverse though!
Here are some links I saved that seemed to be the most helpful in the most vital areas of rebuilding the Ford C4.
http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/c4-transmissions/
http://www.azbronco.com/blog/2010/05/23/c4-tech-article/
http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/c4-transmissions/494761-air-check-endplay-s.html
http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/transmission-articles/466207-setting-c4-endfloat.html
I still plan to rebuild the C4 in Brownie and reinstall it, maybe this summer. Then I will give the current C4 away to someone in need of it, as it was given to me in the same manner.
Here are some pics. First of car on jack stands in preperation of the work. Next removing the driveshaft and crossover pipe.
After unbolting the starter I took out the converter nuts.A tight space , but enough room.Trans on the bench ! I was able to disconect one of the cooler lines , the other I cut.
Time to take the bellhousing off.Then the tail shoft housing.
Removing the kickdown lever and neutral saftey switch.
I have hit a little snag. I cant get the front pump to come out. The Ford manual I have says put a screwdriver bhind the input shell and pry forward and the pump will come out. Well mabe if its new , but not if its been together for 34 years ! lol. Any ideas guys?
Try loosening the intermediate (forward) band. Brownie's stock C4's pump gets stuck a bit, but can be pried out with a screwdriver with a bit of careful placement and patience.
I did disconect the band , did not help.I figure its coroded in . I put some penatrant on it.Ill try some more tomorrow.
Well I could not wait till tomorrow!! I tried it again and got it out. But I broke off a little of the case where the pump , case , and bellhousing meet. I looked at the clutches. The reverse high clutches did not look tat bad, but the forward ones look pretty worn.Nothing was steel to steel, so I think I can reuse the steel plates.So now I have to order a kit, clean it ,then put it back together.
I got my parts in hand, so it time to get back to work! Also there is a blizzard going on out side and most everthing will be closed tomorrow! I know the intermediate band was toast , as well as the forward clutches, and the seals were hard. But tonight I found the major cause of my transmission troubles whe I took apart the forward clutch pack. The outer piston seal shrunk and or broke causing a 3/8" gap! Also the inner seal was rock hard and brittle.It broke into pieces taking it off! Well it is 34 years old !
Pay attention to the ring seal inside the governor housing bore. If the bore has grooves in it, you may be able to hone it out with a brake cylinder hone, but if they are too deep, just replace it with a better one.
thanks for the info Pro. Well I cleaned the clutch drums and pistons, put in new seals and reassembled. The clutch discs are soaking in trany fluid. After 30 min ill put them in.
I put the clutch packs together , ready to go back in the case. I am just waiting for the rear bushing.In the mean time I put a shift kit in the valve body. It was not all that hard I just took the valves out ,laid them out , cleaned the bores and valves and reassembled them. I found no sludge or dirt of any kind . It was very clean , just a little varnish on a few of the valves.
Its back together. And no extra parts! I wont know if every thing works till I rebuild the engine and put it all back together.