Grandpa's 2001 Silver Metalic GTP

[Booba5185]

More trans gurus, lol. You could always PM him.

 

[ILoveAudi]

I can't imagine it's too hard to find a nice car out there. Here in Ohio it's near impossible to find a clean one unless it's been stored away every winter. Super good looking car btw.

 

[BrandonHall10]

You would think it'd be easier to find a nice car here, but from what I've seen they're just as bad, but in different ways. Never any rust, but usually all sun rotted. And for whatever reason, the people in this town just don't seem to care for or respect an "average" car. To most, it's just a tool. That's what made this one so special.

 

[BrandonHall10]

Completed the transmission tear down.

I was pretty impressed with the overall condition of the components:

Not real impressed with this though:

Gratuitous tool shot:

The case will sit empty until I get some guidance/advice on what I need to actually replace, and what is safe to reuse.

 

[BrandonHall10]

So, after a TON of reading, talking to guys on the forum, a transmission tech at a GM dealership, and an older gentleman at the local transmission shop, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to replace, and what I can reuse. Probably start ordering stuff next Friday.

 

[BrandonHall10]

Ordered everything last Friday. Parts should start rolling in Tuesday. Completely tore down the valve body. I wanted to wait till the last minute to keep it fresh in my head.

Bare valve body:

Tried to keep it organized:

Why did I completely disassemble the valve body? Contamination!:

So much grit.:

While I was waiting for parts, I mounted the case directly to the workbench. I'm thinking this will make reassembly easier?

We'll see...

 

[Booba5185]

It does, that's exactly what I did. You might have to screw a 2x4 down to the bench on the outside and bolt the trans to that, I think the pump shaft sticks out a bit past the bell housing. I can't remember for sure though.

 

[BrandonHall10]

Sweet. Assuming that's an issue, I'll do as much as I can bolted down, then go horizontal. That will put some of the reassembly steps out of order from the manual, but I can't see that being an problem. Does it really matter if I put all the bottom stuff in and pan on before the valve body and side cover?

 

[Booba5185]

Not that I can recall, shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

[BrandonHall10]

Parts!!

I got the valve body all cleaned up and put back together using the stuff in the superior kit (K-4t65e). Also drilled the spacer plate per the instructions.

Stuff from TEP should be here on Saturday.

 

[BrandonHall10]

TEP stuff came early.

Got to use my new tools:

This thing is so handy...No fishing line for me.

Here's where I stopped for the day. It's might be possible for me to wrap up tomorrow.

I should have taken more pictures, and I probably will when I do mine. I just wanted to get this one done.

At this pace, we may be pulling the junk trans next weekend.

 

[Booba5185]

Good job! Those tools do look handy, lol. Used lots of lube for everything right?

Edit: i see it in the pic now, lol.

 

[BrandonHall10]

I think so. Everything went together pretty well. I did that air check thing, and everything clunked and moved. No hissing. I feel good about it so far.

 

[Booba5185]

If they all passed the test then yea it should be good, just make sure to not break the lube damn when you put the output shaft in.

 

[BrandonHall10]

Thread the needle. Got it.

FWIW, the pump shaft will go down far enough with the bellhousing mounted flush on the workbench.

My lifesaver tool for the day ended up being a strip of plastic cut from the top of an ice cream bucket. Worked perfectly for tucking the input clutch piston outer lip seal and 4th clutch piston outer lip seal. My fancy professional lip seal tool wasn't long enough for those.

 

[BrandonHall10]

Easiest lube tube retainer install ever!

And.... It's done!

Went together way faster than I expected.

Just need to pick up a torque converter locally. Might start the swap next weekend!

 

[BrandonHall10]

Got one more piece of the puzzle today:

I think all we have left to get is fluid and a new turbine shaft o-ring. I was surprised that didn't come in the overhaul kit.

 

[BrandonHall10]

Alright. Finally got the car in the garage, and got the motor support all worked out:

And to make sure it doesn't slide down:

Then poof! The cradle is out:

Time for a new motor mount:

We knew we were going to be doing an oil pan gasket while the cradle was out:

Hardest part so far was, maybe pulling the DS axle, and even that wasn't too bad. Just taking my time. Good news is, both axles and the trans mount are in good shape. Bad news is, old PS axle spewed grease all over the right side before being replaced. Oh well. That will give grandpa something to do.

All in all, everything came apart real nice. So far...

 

[Booba5185]

Looks good, it's really not that hard of a job considering it's a V6 FWD car. It could be a lot worse.

 

[BrandonHall10]

Trans is out!

I try to keep things organized:

Cradle is clean, ready for reassembly:

Tomorrow's plan is to pull the oil pan and get everything all cleaned up. New oil pan gasket and turbine shaft o-ring should be here Monday/Tuesday.