Transmission Problema

[onespiritbrain]

Brief backstory:

 

I installed my engine with the four bolts loosely in the torque converter and bent the flexplate all to hati. I shimmed the starter because it was dragging the flexplate and I ended up spraying water in the bellhousing to try to remove all the metal shaving it created and may or may not have introduced water into the transmission oil... I have since put a new flexplate on and flushed the transmission oil but I still have the same issue.

 

The issue is that when I accelerate from a complete stop sometimes the torque converter does something strange. The RPM rise to about 2500 but the vehicle barely nudges forward, then it’ll slam forward a couple quick times before straightening out and driving normal until the next complete stop.

 

It doesn’t do it right away after a cold start. It’s only when it’s warmed up and the longer it runs the worse it gets until it starts shifting poorly and even tried to stay in gear slightly when in neutral.

 

I’ve also heard some soft noises from the transmission during all of this and it sounds almost like a helicopter’s blades cutting through the air.

 

Only reason I think it got water in there is the oil had a very milky look to it. Slart was saying he had some trans oil that looked the same so I don’t know if water actually got in there or not..

 

I flushed the oil today and it came out looking like a not so bright version of the strawberry milkshake of death. Lots of bubbles..

 

Here what it looked like when I drained it at the pan the other night. The light highlights whatever is mixed in there.. clutch material? Metal? The magnet didn’t pickup anything I could see.

 

 https://youtu.be/a-oY7_4zyhk

 

Also I found the little o-ring that goes on the shaft that goes into the torque converter broken and I though surely that was the culprit but the exact same issues have persisted.

 

If this transmission is toast then I don’t want to spend another $ on it but what if this is just a bunch of bubbles disrupting the fluid pressures and actuations in there?

 

 

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[TowndawgR50]

Thats strange. Not sure what is going on but I suggest shooting this guy a question. Hes really knowledgeable and usually answers questions right in the comments section. 

 

 

[onespiritbrain]

Today I put a pint of Seafoam Hydra Tune or whatever it was because I read its claims about drying out moisture in hydraulic systems. I continued to flush everything once again and it was to some success, I no longer have the forward movement failure but I do notice a grungy sound when shifting from 2nd to 3rd at high RPM(3500-4000), as well as some slight losses of power while cruising every once in a while.

This has been a lesson for me to slow down and think things thru and if something isn’t going back together easily then you need to stop and double check everything.

I am tempted to buy a $160 torque converter on Rockauto.com but I am hesitant because if the rest of the transmission ends up being damaged as well then I’ve wasted even more money on it. Im already $150 in fluids..

I’m going to drive it to work tomorrow so we’ll see how she does in morning traffic.


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[onespiritbrain]

So far she is driving just fine.

 

I do hear some noise from the torque converter though. It’s a low pitched whirling sound that’s only there at low speeds(might be there at all speeds but I can’t hear anything over these tires) when I’m not pressing the gas. It starts as soon as the vehicle begins to move under the power coming thru the converter with no skinny pedal. As soon as you press the gas it goes away.

 

I’m not super concerned about the noise, I can live with it, but I am concerned about contamination to the rest of the trans if the converter is on its way out.

 

I may head to pullapart and see if a converter is staring me in the face on one of them. Haha

 

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[Slartibartfast]

I think the fluid in the pictures is just aerated, not emuslfied with water, especially compared to pictures of what comes out of SMOD trucks. I've read that overfilling can cause aerated fluid (like how the crankshaft will froth up the oil if you overfill your engine), which I'm sure would make the trans act funny. I remember having some trouble getting the fluid level correct in mine. That could explain the bubbles in this batch, but it doesn't explain why it was acting funny before. After watching the video, I can see why you were worried about the shimmer. I had another look at mine and while it does have a little shimmer to it when I stir it, it's nowhere near that metallic. I'd hazard a guess at aluminum given that it didn't stick to the magnet.

Hopefully the metal in the oil was from normal wear and the TC didn't push into the trans hard enough to damage anything apart from the O-ring. Keep an eye on the fluid.

Edited August 27, 2018 by Slartibartfast

[onespiritbrain]

I’m with you man. It wasn’t water... I think it was the torque converters internal clutch material dissolved into the oil. I read it was made of graphite.

 

I had just put in new oil this past December and I couldn’t tell the new oil from the old because the old oil was still in good health. So this opaque metallic oil was a huge shock to see...

 

The torque converter was still engaging the front pump but the o-ring on the smaller shaft wasn’t sealing. I think it starved one of the clutches and it turned to powder and entered the oil.

 

I now have the 2nd to 3rd flare before a hardish shift. I know a lot of people have it but I didn’t.. this transmission was literally flawless before this stupid mistake.

 

I’m going to keep running that seafoam stuff and changing the oil every other week until I stop seeing improvements.

 

I’ll keep y’all posted. Thank y’all for your help.

 

 

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[onespiritbrain]

Another good uneventful trip this morning. I’m still seeing the 2 to 3 flare with a quick shift at the end of the flare.

I remember reading a very detailed write up on the RE4 from a 240Z(or something similar) thread. The guy went into the reason it flares and everything.

My anecdotal experience is that contamination can cause the flare since I had zero flaring before my mistake.

I want to run more of the seafoam hydra stuff to help remove sediment but I am weary about running it under load in normal driving. I ran it earlier with my rear end jacked up under very low load for about 20min.

It just feels like I am on thin ice and I want to take the best path, hence the Pathfinder.


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[onespiritbrain]

Today I am running another pint of transtune but this time under load and thru the mountains. I am going to see a bible that is supposedly producing oil in Dalton GA which is a solid 2 hours away thru the mountains.

 

The transmission has been operating great. Besides the soft 2/3 shift it has shown zero signs of damage. The noise it was making has even disappeared. I want to get rid of the soft shift though.

 

I have been thinking about digging into the valve body in hopes of finding some of that grey stuff that was suspended in the oil deposited in one of the channels but I figure I’ll give the fix in a bottle a chance first since it already worked so well.

 

Later tonight, or maybe even later this weekend I’ll flush the oil one more time, and might also drop the pan just to have a look at the magnet and see if there is a layer of grey sediment.

 

I wish I had more money because I’d love to stick a big ole filter on the cooling line.

 

I’m also excited because pretty soon I will be installing a 600watt Mercedes C200 electric cooling fan I found at pullapart last time I was there! It’s going to take some figuring out though and when the time comes I’ll be requesting y’all help!

 

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[Slartibartfast]

11 hours ago, onespiritbrain said:

I am going to see a bible that is supposedly producing oil in Dalton GA

Too bad it's not making ATF!

 

Good to hear the trans seems to be recovering. Hopefully you won't have to pull the valve body, though a friend of mine did that on his S10 and was able to replace a broken accumulator spring or something and get it shifting right again. I put a Magnefine on mine when I added a cooler to hopefully pick up whatever was left after the flush.

[onespiritbrain]

Too bad it's not making ATF!

Hahahaha yeah I didn’t end up going, partly because I didn’t like how well my cooling system was removing heat and also because my curiosity is mostly in whether or not it’s a hoax.

I’ve got to get an electric fan system hooked up on this thing. Sitting in traffic or drive thru lines with the AC running in the summer causes the coolant temp to steadily rise indefinitely. It starts going back down the moment I turn off the AC.. I had the exact same problem with my VG33 frontier.

I’ve been driving around a lot with this seafoam in and it’s MAYBE helped a slight bit, maybe.. I think to resolve the issue I’ll have to do like your friend and dig in to the valve body.

Next is a final pan drop and flush. Then I’m gonna let it ride for a while..


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[onespiritbrain]

I think I have successfully destroyed my transmission. I dropped the pan last night and changed the filter but I made sure to leave the filter unseated so I could finish killing it the rest of the way. I’m pretty sure I got it.

 

I’m going to put the old filter back in tonight since the other one is slightly bent from being bolted down while unseated. If that fixes it then I’m thinking about pouring sand in there since the water didn’t work.

 

Really though I’m too stupid to be working on cars I guess..

 

Edit: the problem now is that 3rd gear is barely grabbing at all. 1st and 2nd are normal but as soon as it shifts into 3rd it freewheels almost completely.

 

I found a matching trans with 158k miles for $525... I’m having a really hard time convincing the wife though.

 

Hey... so there was an orange plug on the bottom side of the valve body that was slightly unplugged. I squeezed it and it snapped in.. does that sound familiar to anyone??

 

Here’s some pics of what I found in the pan:

 

 

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[Citron]

Do still have the pan off and access to the shift selonoids? See if you are getting the required power to the shift selonoid. Also, ohm the coil. You should be able to do both items at the harness connection right before it goes into the tranny. 

 

It sounds like a selonoid may be stuck. With all the debris in the picture, it wouldn't surprise me. I would suggest pulling the selonoid body off and checking/cleaning them. The last time I did this was about 15 years ago on a Ford, so I can't offer much direction. Do some thorough research and take your time and it should be fine. What have you got to lose at this point anyway? If cleaning the selonoids gets you another year on the tranny, it would be worth it. 

[Slartibartfast]

+1 for checking the solenoid block, see if there's anything obviously clogging it up, or if that connector had some effect, but yeah, that's a lot of debris.

[onespiritbrain]

I relaxed last night and didn’t touch it. I may or may not dig in to it tonight.

My wife is trying to talk me into giving up on my Nissan... honestly if it was bad luck, I might, but this is because of my own mistakes and I can’t just say screw it.

I watched some YouTube videos and it doesn’t look too difficult. I saw one of the videos talking about testing the lockup solenoid and that orange connector is the one he was working with.

I hope it’s some trash in there guys.. I really do. If I need a new transmission then I’m afraid, for the sake of my marriage, I might be forced to buy a different vehicle.. nevertheless my Nissan will rise again, just at a later date.


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[onespiritbrain]

There’s some junk in there.. yes, but I don’t know what I’m doing or looking and maybe it’s enough crud to stop it from working or maybe it’s not...

The accumulator springs fell out when I brought the valve body down and I need someone’s help who has done this because I don’t know how they went.

To say this is intimidating is an understatement... I am seriously concerned about whether or not I can get this thing back together..

And help or advice is greatly welcomed.




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[onespiritbrain]

I got it back together! Wooh! That was fairly difficult. But it was all for nothing as 3rd and 4th are still slipping very badly. Yeah, I did get it into 4th this time by really jamming thru 1st and 2nd but it was slipping just as bad as 3rd!

Oh well. That’s that and I can be at peace now about pursuing a replacement, and I got to learn some too.

Thank you guys for helping me out and giving me good advice. I hope I can just replace the transmission.. like I said before, my wife isn’t going to go for it and I might have to let my Nissan go for a while. Sad times.


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[Slartibartfast]

Almost looks like you had mud daubers living in that valve body.  Sorry pulling it apart didn't fix it, but yeah, definitely a learning experience--for you and for everyone following this thread!

If you do find another trans for it, make sure to flush the holy hell out of the trans cooler lines before hooking them up and replace the cooler itself (new rad or aftermarket cooler with the stock cooler bypassed) to get rid of all that debris.

[Cuong Nguyen]

We're you able to figure it out? I took a lot of pics of my teardown on photobucket which you can access. You just have to directly go to the link. 

 

Foaming is not good but it looks like that's due to the busted input shaft o ring you found. Your atf looks like there's water contamination.

 

Did you check the solenoids? How are they? Be advise a couple of them are pulse width solenoids and not your typical on off type. 

 

The larger bits of clutch material look like it came from the band. Your issue sounds band related possibly. It also could be an o ring or seal is damaged and it's not sealing properly when pressure builds up. 

 

[onespiritbrain]

The solenoids looked great and operated with 12v. I stuck a small screw driver inside the ones that didn’t have a spring to return the piston. Everything I put my eyes on looked good except there was that trash inside the valve body.

 

I couldn’t remove the gasket for the one side of the valve body so I don’t know how it looked under there. The accumulator orings were all good. Everything looked good...

 

At this point, I’ve damaged that transmission badly somewhere, and I’m worried about fixing what is damaged only to have another part fail soon down the road.

 

I’ve located 3 RE4R01A’s locally:

Givens Junkyard 159k miles $500+$25

Lance Used Parts 158k miles $500+$25

CTV Used Parts 149k miles $650+$75

 

The last one I put in came from Givens and it had 121k miles for I think $700. Or maybe it was $600, I can’t remember. That transmission was literally perfect so I am thinking about going to Givens again. Buuuuut, the engine I got from them had detonation when I first started it and it blew a head gasket right then.. also the heads were badly worn... but that may have been from me recessing the cam seals....

 

Anyway, I can’t wait to get this thing back up and running. I got an electric fan from a Volvo 940 waiting to go in and fall is almost here so the trails are already calling me...

 

 

 

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[onespiritbrain]

Well the trans that Givens said they had disappeared and every other place that was open today didn’t have any RE4s.

 

Givens referred me to a shop that was supposed to have a 59k miles RE4 for $650 but they said it was already gone.

 

I still have Lance and CTV but they’re only open thru the week so I’ll have to wait till Monday!

 

 

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[Citron]

Are you Irish by chance?

[onespiritbrain]

Yes. How do you know that?

 

 

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[Citron]

Well, you have the luck of the Irish. 

[onespiritbrain]

Haha, yes, well I would say that, unfortunately, it wasn't a case of luck but of my own inexperience and impatience. I made some foolish mistakes that will stay with me. You know.. I got mad at God for letting me make these mistakes, because I have seen Him cover my butt on some WAY bigger mistakes and you know what He said to me? He said "if I don't allow your mistakes then you will stay a child forever" to which I replied "yeah but I'll be Your child..." 

 

As my life progresses, my relationship with Him changes greatly.. nothing about Him follows what I want or think He should be like. He really is there, and He really is a person, I am so sure of it..

 

Anyways I will keep yall posted on this stuff. I hope to swing by Lance tomorrow after work for the 158k miles RE4. I hope it is as flawless as my previous JY trans from Givens!

[onespiritbrain]

This thing is quite clean! I hope it was a nice gentle clean 159k highway miles. We shall see :]

 

Just look at those plugs... you can’t even tell mine are plugs, they just look like balls of dirt at the end of a stick from a tree. There’s even plants growing under there and everything.

 

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