Yeah, yeah, I know it's been a long time since I posted anything. I've been swamped with stuff to do this past several weeks, both for work and personally. My last few blogs had centered around getting my Crown Victoria ready to go on Anti-Tour, our annual road trip. Much to my dismay, a suspicious and fatal sounding transmission noise turned up at the 11th hour. I wasn't able to take my car on the trip, and instead had to visit the Budget Rent-a-Car counter for last-minute transportation. Bummer.
I suspected a bad torque converter based on the location and characteristics of the noise and, last week, got to see my foe up close on the work bench at Remac Transmissions in San Dimas.
Remac owner, Leo Glassbrenner offered to rebuild my car's 4R70W transmission knowing that we'd run an article on the job in the magazine, and I dropped it off at his shop a little over a week ago. He called me after the trans had been disassembled to tell me he had all the broken and worn out parts spread out on the bench ready for me to photograph them. It turns out the entire trans was worn out and in need of a complete overhaul.
Buried among the pile of broken parts was my torque converter which had been cut open to be inspected. Look closely at the photos of the broken turbine fin and the damage it did to the stator. Aside from the bad converter, the oil pump housing was badly worn, as was the forward clutch, reverse band and overdrive band. The second gear clutches also showed signs of slippage and overheating. This transmission was definitely not long for this world and may very well have stranded us somewhere between here and Phoenix.
Remac Transmissions
464 S. Cataract Avenue
Suite D
San Dimas, California 91773
909 376-5773