Checked the Ford house and the part is no longer available. Then checked NAPA and (gulp) AutoZone- no listing for it. Can anyone suggest a vendor? I have a second tranny out of a I6 that could serve as a parts donor.

Second question is installation. I've never been inside a tranny but this doesn't look like that big of a deal. Anyone done it?

Guess I was wondering where I could get one and whether it was something I could take a crack at installing.

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 M code 351C 4V/FMX/3.25 open
'72 Mustang Sprint Coupe 351C 4V/FMX/4.30 Trac Lok
'94 F-150 XL 5.8L/E4OD/3.55 Limited Slip
'97 Probe GTS 2.5L DOHC
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My goal is to stop being such a pessimist... but that probably won't happen...

Give Full Line Transmissions a call at 355-1083, they are on N Ardenwood. For some reason they are not in the Yellow pages, but you can find them in the Baton Rouge business section. When I needed parts for my FMX they were the only shop that had them.

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*andy* ([email protected])

also known as...***Boss Hoss***

Not sure what busted, but the guy who rebuilt the tranny echoed what was said here on the list: that I shouldn't have had to use long bolts to draw the tranny in, that something was not aligned, and that I'd most likely broken the pump when I cranked the engine the first time. He also said that if he sees metal dust in the oil, he will want to go through it again and clean everything.

Will do an autopsy when I get the thing down and report back on the specifics.

There are three separate splines that must properly line up in order for the converter to be fully installed. You can see two of the splines before you install the converter, the input shaft and the stator support. These are concentric shafts, with the input shaft being the smaller diameter (and removable in the case of a C4). The stator support is fixed, it does not turn, and is actually part of the front pump. The third spline that must line up is the pump drive. On a C4, the pump is driven by the two flat areas at the end of the torque converter pump drive collar. These flat areas must engage the matching flat areas on the front pump's driven gear, which is hidden behind the seal in the front pump. This is the one that causes the problem most of the time. You can install the converter and it will feel like it is all the way into the pump when, in fact, the pump drive flats have not properly engaged the driven gear. If you try to mate the transmission to the engine with the converter improperly seated in the pump, you will cause all sorts of damage, including tearing up the pump housing and driven gear, and, even worse, crushing the converter due to squeezing it between the pump and the flexplate.

When you install the converter into the transmission you need to spin the converter while pushing it into the pump. You will feel it make a final "drop" when the converter pump drive mates with the driven gear. The distance from the transmission bellhousing/engine mating face to the base of the drive lugs on the converter should be at least as far as the distance from the back of the engine to the transmission side of the flexplate. It will actually be greater since the converter "pulls out" of the pump a small distance, usually 1/8th to 1/4" when the converter is bolted down to the flexplate.

You should NEVER have to force an engine and transmission together. They should slide together smoothly and easily, and the torque converter should slide in and out of the transmission a small amount, easily, by hand, with the bellhousing bolted to the transmission.

Great post, thanks. Wish I'd read it a couple of months ago