Questions (for Trannyman, likely)...
In inspecting the valvebody from this 1998 Regal GS 4T65E-HD, I found three "mystery clips" like this one:
These clips are not referenced in the manual. They are smaller than any of the valve or solenoid end / retaining clips.
One was found in this location on the torque signal regulator valve (blue arrow):
One in this location (blue arrow) on the TCC control valve:
And the third I think was in this location (black arrow) on the TCC regulator apply valve:
I've seen some snippets on the net about a TSB regarding "extra clips in the valve body" on 4T65E's, but noone can seem to pull it up for me:
TSB #32 -- INFORMATION REGARDING EXTRA CLIPS IN THE 4T65E TRANSMISSION. *SLC (NHTSA ID #623615, FEBRUARY 01 2001)
Date: 02/01/2001
Component Name: 980000 OTHER
NHTSA #: 32
SUMMARY: INFORMATION REGARDING EXTRA CLIPS IN THE 4T65E TRANSMISSION. *SLC
My intuition tells me that these "extra clips" were used to temporarily hold in valves during manual assembly (to keep the springs compressed while the end caps / retainers were installed further down the assembly line). As far as I can tell, their locations do not affect the operation of the given valves.
Perhaps they were supposed to be hand-removed at the factory after the VB was assembled, but were not. Or were not removed because they don't affect operation.
Are you familiar with this TSB? Have you seen these "extra clips" before? They don't need to be reinstalled, do they?