[hotrod66_57]

i have a 66 Powerglide, out of a 6 cyl. Nova, that i recently rebuilt myself. i bought the manual and followed the instructions to the best of my ability. when we put it in my car, lifted the rear off the ground, added fluid, and gave the engine some throttle the wheels wouldn't even move. in fact i can push the car, like it's in neutral, in every position except for park. if it matters i do not have a vaccume line running from the carb to the modulator. i'm sort of at a loss. the manual says that it could be low fluid and i was thinking that maybe the fluid hasn's gotten all the way through the trany yet but i really don't know. if anyone knows waht the problem could be please let me know. the car has been sitting now since the beginning of September and i am eager to get it back on the road. your help would be greatly appreciated.

hotrod66_57

 

[stu]

How much fluid did you put in?
The modulator won't have any affect on this.
Did you install the convertor properly?

 

[hotrod66_57]

i put 4 quarts of fluid in on top of what was in the converter and i'm almost positive that the converter is in properly. if i didn't install it right how would i know, when i put it on it poped 3 times i think and i looked to be in pretty close. i was working on it tonite and noticed that if i give the engine quick revs that the wheels will rotate about a half turn at a time but i couldn't get them to keep turning and they'll only move when i give it a sharp rev. i don't know if it's just a matter of running the trany for awhile or if there is something that i have to do now.

 

[stu]

Drop the pan and see if there is any contamination.
If you went into the valve body you could have mixed some springs.
Did you check the separator plate gaskets against the old ones?

 

[Crosley]

does the dip stick read full ?

Since you cannot fill thew converter completely before the install , an additional 4 quarts will not fill the tranny to the ful mark

 

[[email protected]]

Assuming you have enough fluid in the tranny (check the dip stick!) then you may have not lined up the dogs on the torque converter properly. This is easy to do and if so, it wipes out the front pump in a rotation or two. It is pretty easy to bolt up the torque converter with this misalignment - everything bolts up OK but things are not right. Once that happens, there is no pressure in the hydraulic circuits and nothing moves. Don't ask me how I know all this great info!!

 

[hotrod66_57]

the stick does say full but it might not be right. willys36, how would i determin if the converter is in correctaly?

 

[[email protected]]

Only way to do it is take the tranny out then remove and disassemble the front pump. There will be a lot of metal shavings associated with that failure so you may be able to detect it by dropping the pan and look for aluminum shavings.

Oh, and you know to check the dip stick fluid level with the engine idling.

 

[stu]

The pump is cast iron so there won't be aluminum shavings.

 

[will[email protected]]

Alright make that cast iron shavings. Regardless, a wedged in torque converter will quickly 'machine' out the innards of a pump.

 

[hotrod66_57]

i didn't know that about the engine idling but boy does that make sense. if the fluid was just low would it explain the minor rotation on quick revs? also, i don't know if this is normal but with the whole car off the ground on jack stands it moves the tires a little on those revs in everything except for park, even neutral, and in reverse they move in the same direction as in the others. thanks for the help so far.
hotrod66_57

 

[[email protected]]

That sounds like your problem - not enough fluid in the tranny. You need to check the level when it is running to make sure the torque converter and all the clutch drums and lines are full of fluid and that there is still a working level over the intake filter. This can be several quarts if the converter drains back into the pan.

 

[hotrod66_57]

hey guys,

hey guys,
thanks for all your help but i finally broke down and took the trany to the shop to have them figure it out. it turns out that the front pump was inface not pumping because a pin in the input shaft was missing, a piece that was not there before the rebuild so go figure. the other part of the problem was some of the old gasket was left on the face of the pump. i got it back last week, got it in the car over the weekend, and was thrilled to see the wheels spin with very little effort on the engine's part. thanks again for all your help and i just figured that i would let you know how it turned out in case you were curious.

 

[stu]

A pin in the input shaft that drives the pump?
And you trusted these guys?