Just One More Reason To Love Citrus

The rebuild has turned a corner, and now instead of taking things out, I’m putting things back in. One pleasant surprise was that when I took apart the planetary gearset (here’s a video of what it looks like and how it works), it was in great shape. Nothing was broken or really even damaged or worn out at all. The clutches, pump, and torque converter took the hit and spared the actual gears that drive the output shaft. So yay for that.

The gears are back in the case, along with the clutches, bands, and various smaller parts. The clutch bands have to be adjusted just so, and for that I’ve got a torque wrench, so hopefully I can get it exactly right.

You remember that at the start, the transmission looked like it had spent time in the Bog of Eternal Stench. It’s still got some dirty corners on the outside, but it’s come a long way. In fact, most of the work of the rebuild was cleaning, and cleaning, and more cleaning. I’ve been using a solution of this solvent in this bin:

washing off the transmission-to-transfer case adapter housing

...the bin having been generously lent/donated to the project by Lydia, the Right Honourable Executive Controller of Household Storage Containers, Defender of the Faith, Destroyer of Tyranny, Taker of Photos, etc, etc.

The solvent is plant-based rather than petroleum-based, which makes it a little more user-friendly, and makes it a little less likely that I’ll be arrested by the EPA/NSA/Google for dumping the used-up solution on the rocks (elsewhere known as “the lawn”).

Almost everything has been cleaned, including the pan, which has made quite a dramatic transformation from this…

To this:

As soon as the torque converter and pump arrive, it will be time to wrap things up and call it good. I’m glad to have this particular adventure (mostly) behind me. Then we’ll go to the next link in the chain, the transfer case. It’s been sitting quietly underneath the table this whole time, behaving itself and trying to look inconspicuous, but it has at least one significant problem: it won’t switch between 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive.

It’s stuck on 2WD, which is what I’ll be using 99% of the time, since I live in a very flat, low-elevation desert, but it still shouldn’t be stuck, and that may indicate other issues. We shall see.