Rebuilt A518 very weak forward gears.

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Re: Rebuilt A518 very weak forward gears.

Postby ellis93 » Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:21 pm

txs wrote:I would second the use of stocker parts in the rear clutch, it never shifts while you are in the forward gears. I call it the rear clutch because that's what chryco called it, from year one, (1962). Most of your tranny shop people call it the forward clutch, but I worked at KTP for 33 years, so I will call it a rear clutch till I go to the grave. The suppliers of tranny shop tools have a really neat seal roller for the rear clutch lip seals, its a round sheet of semi stiff plastic, works great.

Yep,the transtar banner kits come with those. I have a 1" stack of those things :lol:

I have a metal installer that I use,basically a feeler gauge with rounded sides (to not dig into the seal). It's a handy little feller.
93 D250 ,5 speed,4.11s,k&n autometer tach pyro trans boost guages,GDS 60mm h1c 14cm,honed 5x10,hplp/reg,1/8 timing,M+H M2 fuel pin, tims cooler tubz
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Re: Rebuilt A518 very weak forward gears.

Postby mperryb » Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:19 pm

The rebuild kit I bought had one of those seal installers in it 4 inch diameter semi ridged plastic disk. Worked well, too bad I threw it away.
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Re: Rebuilt A518 very weak forward gears.

Postby mperryb » Sun Dec 21, 2014 2:04 pm

Well I got the trans rebuilt and installed and so far so good.

I hooked up a transmission filter to help catch all the crap still in the transmission. I didn't disassemble the OD unit or go crazy draining the torque converter.

Topped it off with Napa brand atf+4 and let it idle in neutral for an hour before I took it for a drive. Seemed like a decent idea to let the filter do its job before taking it for a spin.

The trans now positively engages reverse and drive with the same force. Shifts smooth but much softer than Id imagine with the shift kit installed. 1-2 shift seems early 2-3 seems right on and 3-4 is a bit high but I think I like that.

So far it will pull up my driveway no problem. I even put on the park brake to see if it could pull through and it does.

Let it idle another hour in neutral.

Ill take it for a longer drive tomorrow and see if it holds up. It only has about 6 miles on it now.

Thanks again for the help.
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Re: Rebuilt A518 very weak forward gears.

Postby ellis93 » Sun Dec 21, 2014 5:39 pm

Good deal.

I'd still drop the pan after a few miles.....just to make double sure no trash is left floating.

Your shift characteristics will change some in a few miles,once that front band wears in some.
93 D250 ,5 speed,4.11s,k&n autometer tach pyro trans boost guages,GDS 60mm h1c 14cm,honed 5x10,hplp/reg,1/8 timing,M+H M2 fuel pin, tims cooler tubz
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Re: Rebuilt A518 very weak forward gears.

Postby mperryb » Sun Dec 21, 2014 5:49 pm

I had a 727 sitting around so I stole the magnet from the pan and put it in the 518 near the pickup tube. That and the filter doing its job I figured the shifting would change as the fluid cleans up. I didn't think about the band though.

If everything goes well ill drop the pan at around 30 miles and replace that filter.
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Re: Rebuilt A518 very weak forward gears.

Postby shackwrrr » Thu Mar 05, 2015 12:45 pm

For future reference. The forward clutch a.k.a. the rear clutch(because its more rearward of the 2) uses the smooth frictions. The Direct clutch a.k.a. the front clutch (its the farthest forward) uses the waffle texture clutches. Both clutch types are the same diameter and spline count and are mixed up easily. If you put the waffle texture clutches in the forward (rear) clutch you can only fit 3 frictions and the space ends up too big.
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