Supercharged Marauder transmission rebuild

[88grandmarq]

I have been working on jwibbity's beautiful supercharged silver Marauder for the last couple of weeks.

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Marauder01.jpg

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Marauder02.jpg

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Super_charged.jpg

He brought the car to me saying the tranmission was shifting "funny", read here; http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=91968. On the test drive the 2-3 shift would flare slightly, then slide into 3rd gear and overall the shifts were not crisp and consistent.
I am told the transmission was rebuilt previously by another transmission shop, 2-3 yrs ago.

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Magnet.jpg

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Pan01.jpg

During tear down, I found no major damage. There was evidence the valve body had a TransGo kit install at one time but appeared it had been removed by the previous shop that rebuilt the transmission recently. The valve body already had the improved Sonnax pressure regulator valve and it had a superior "Tuff" plate, separator plate installed. I also found the o-rings for the
shift solenoid were worn and one was cut.

The Forward clutches were slightly worn and discolored and appeared to have been machined improperly when then were manufactured. The grooving was cut all the way down to the metal, this is not normal.

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Forward_clutch_worn_grooves.jp g

I did a full rebuild with new clutches, seals and gaskets. One of my normal upgrades on these transmissions is to remove the wave spring from the forward clutch and increase the clutch pack to 6 clutches. I also upgraded the intermediate shaft to a stronger one made out of 300m and upgraded the mechanical diode one way clutch to a newer, factory part that has more locking teeth.

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/300m_shaft.jpg

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Mechanical_roller.jpg

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Roller_clutch_partnumber.jpg

[88grandmarq]

I also did a forced lube to the extension housing bushing. It was a good thing this was done, because worn u-joints were starting to damage the bushing. It was pitted and showing moderate wear

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Tailshaft_bushing.jpg

The driveshaft was sent to out for new HeavyDuty u-joints and a high speed balance.

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Drive_shaft.jpg

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/U_joint.jpg

We used a 11" converter from Blue Oval chips; http://www.blueovalchips.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=273
It's an upgrade converter from CircleD

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Circle_D.jpg

Got the transmission back in the car, refilled with fluid and went for a drive. 1-2 shift was OK but not great, 2-3 shift was horrible and 3-4 shift would flare and slip.

I pull the pan and valve body and found the gasket between the case and valve body had slipped off the lower alignment dowel and torn.
I replace the gasket and for giggles installed a new OD servo piston.
another test drive and it was better, but not great. There was also a Violent downshift when slowing to a stop, as if another car was hitting you from behind.

At this point I was out time and the owner was on his way to pick up the car. We both had prior engagements that prevented me from working on the car any further at that time,so he took the with the understanding I would work on it again.

Fast forward to the 3rd week of April, I drove up and towed the car back to my shop. Pulled the transmission back out, completely went through it and found nothing wrong.

I suspected a bad front pump was to blame for the soft shifts, so I replaced the pump with a good used one and new pump gears.

I put the forward clutch back to 5 clutches and installed the HeavyDuty wave spring from a 5.4L truck; XL3Z-7E085-A
I replaced the OD band with another new high carbon band, and I replaced the Intermediate and Direct clutches and steels with new
Raysbestos parts.

while it was apart again, I installed a Metco drive shaft safety loop and installed a secondary transmission cooler.

http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Safety_loop.jpg

Put everything back together and went for a drive. Shifts were still soft and OD slipped, but the harsh down shift was gone. Since I was confident there was nothing wrong with the transmission internally, I decided to install a different valve body.

BAM!... That fixed it ! Firm, positive shifts, it even barked the 1-2 shift a couple of times at half throttle.

[jwibbity]

you showed my horrible looking exhaust!!!

BOOOOO!!!!! :lol:

thanks for all the help with everything though!!!!!:banana2:

[88grandmarq]

exhaust is next on the list of things for replacement/upgrade... right?

[Zack]

So he spent all that money for nothing.

That sucks.

[88grandmarq]

So he spent all that money for nothing.

That sucks.

:confused:

:shake:

[babbage]

Great post, nice job and write up.

[Zack]

:confused:

:shake:

He took it to you because he 'thought' it needed to be rebuilt.

It had valve body problems, nothing more.

Whats confusing?

[88grandmarq]

He took it to you because he 'thought' it needed to be rebuilt.

It had valve body problems, nothing more.

Whats confusing?

I am confused why are being an A$$hat and trolling in post I made about fixing another forum members car.

He brought the car to me because he wanted the transmission rebuilt. While the valve body was original problem that was causing the shifting problems and were unknown at the time, The transmission did need to be rebuilt. The forward clutches were worn, the OD band had normal wear and the direct clutch pack clearance wasn't set correctly.

please go troll some where else.

[Zack]

Ok I apologize.
Carry on.

[jwibbity]

everybody is talking about my car and im just here eating :popcorn:

[jwibbity]

exhaust is next on the list of things for replacement/upgrade... right?

yup i will be taking up to Maryland one of these days to get full 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust and changing to the at2525XL mufflers,

cant seem to keep the car quiet anymore :burnout:

[88grandmarq]

yup i will be taking up to Maryland one of these days to get full 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust and changing to the at2525XL mufflers,

cant seem to keep the car quiet anymore :burnout:

haha... you won't sneak up anyone with your current exhaust set up.

:burn:

[tbone]

Nothing compares to the trans nightmare I went through. Nothing.

[Comin' in Hot]

Nothing compares to the trans nightmare I went through. Nothing.

oh I'm sure my DBP is close due to everyone's favorite vendor

[Mebot]

oh I'm sure my DBP is close due to everyone's favorite vendor

This is truth

[Comin' in Hot]

This is truth

and I'm just talking about the issues caused by the trans

[tbone]

Don't know the story. Do tell.

[88grandmarq]

I dissected the old valve body today and found the Pressure regulator valve bore was severely worn and the PR valve was distorted. The valve would not go all the way to the bottom of the bore with out hanging.

the valve body casting and PR valve went in the scrap bin.