The Dodge Challenger Message Board

My worst fears realized. Just pulled the pan and it looks like the 1st/reverse band is broken.

Anyone out there know if a band can be replaced or the whole unit must be rebuilt?

Bad idea to rebuild a previously rebuilt unit?

TIA!!

No harm in just fixing the band. My worry would be why it is getting such a hard life in the first place.

Do you think a "local" transmission shop would do just the band?

I have my '73 manual and the transmission section is mucho intimidating!

Doug

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/jan2001/mech.cfm

states:

These are very good transmissions, but two things stand out that set them apart from other units. First, if they aren't driven for a few days, most of them have torque converter drainback. And second, after being rebuilt it is not uncommon to experience a broken reverse band within the first couple of thousand miles.

I will tell you what I do. I start my car and warm the engine first. Mainly because I don't have a choke but also because engine wear is high when an engine is cold. I keep the rpms up to 2K for a couple of mins until it will idle ok by itself.

I then let it sit until the temp gauge starts to move. I would never try to put it in gear with the rpms above normal idle speed.

Then when I get ready to drive off I first pull the shifter right back from park to first gear quick enough so that reverse does not engage.

Then I shift up one gear at a time, letting it idle for a few seconds in each gear, up through neutral, and last of all into reverse. Then I pull it back and forwards between reverse and each forward gear.

It seems a strange routine to go through every time I know but it only takes a short time and I have never had any problems with the trans this way.

I don't know what the others think about this?

It seems to me that if this drain-back causes undue high pressure in reverse gear then shifting to the forward gears first could be the answer.

I think you can fit the band yourself as long as you can get one end in the anchor and the other end you just back off the adjuster until you can snap the band into place. Then you tighten the adjuster to 72 in-lbs and then back it off 3 turns.

maybe to much line pressure adjustment.

tranny update:

first time to ever to powerstall(I might have done it one previous time but I dont think so) this weekend. it was the car show.

I wanted to see if my open rear end would posi up(it did). I held it for 3 sec. max. the next time I tried to do it that night it just lugged down.

My friend said i wasn't in first gear. I tried it two more times and all it did was lugg down each time. we stopped, took off under power and it performed very poor. I had very good throttle response but it wouldn't go.

we pulled over and checked my fluid. it was full but was BLACK not red. also it had shavings and smelled burned. It was cruise night for the car show this weekend so i putted around very slow the rest of the time.

today I pulled the pan off. it was as black as old oil. and there was enough metal shavings in the pan to start painting with(a whole lot!) I pulled my filter and it was filled with shavings also.

QUESTION:WHATS NEXT??

one more thing: I have no 3rd gear what so ever!

sounds like the clutch pack came apart, time fora rebuild.

By LITEMUP (Von) on Monday, June 17, 2002 - 12:44 am:


I think we have discussed something like this before but anyway:

Is is hard to rebuild a blown tranny? I am attempting to do it next weekend.

Which style of shift kit: RV/Toeing or Street/Strip? I had a TransGo RV/Toeing Shift kit in it before and it just sucked!! So I decided to go with B&M Street/Strip but my friends said it would shift to hard (do damage to my rear end). I said the RV/toing wasn't good enough but he said It wasn't B&M. he said try that first before going to Street strip. I don't want to but I also dont want it to tear something up or be to hard.