Just Fishing's 09 Tahoe Build thread

[Just Fishing]

I meant for the front and rear covers on the engine.

Ah, and nope.
looking at the tool instructions, it falls under the same thing.
all about alignment with the back of the block.

I feel like I can get it perfect using my fingers...
I use the seal itself to center the cover, then fingers to confirm I have alignment.

For the front cover, I install the balancer far enough to engage with the seal.

 

[Just Fishing]

Last night, I used some engine degreaser and a toothbrush to clean up the empty case and removed the rear seal.


Once I have the seal kit on hand, I'll remove the parking prowl from the back of the case to reseal it.
(The rusty thing poking up from the back)

I have also had the combustion chambers soaking in ATF for a while now.
Last night I got the valves pretty clean using some fine scotch bright, then applied more atf.

I'm trying to not change the pretty cnc'd surface of the chamber at all.

 

[pwtr02ss]

Ah, and nope.
looking at the tool instructions, it falls under the same thing.
all about alignment with the back of the block.

I feel like I can get it perfect using my fingers...
I use the seal itself to center the cover, then fingers to confirm I have alignment.

For the front cover, I install the balancer far enough to engage with the seal.

The tools make it so much easier. You have to keep in mind the left/right movement. I wish you were closer, I have some id let you borrow. They are the "align-it" tools from sac city corvette. I bought the aluminum ones but the plastic ones work fine.

If you had no leaks before, I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[Just Fishing]

Last night I got my seal kit, pistons, and clutches.

Then I thought I might as well try disassembling the parking prowl thing and then toss in some new seals.
but there is this roll pin that I assumed would just slide out with some gentle pulling in order to remove the end.
Answer is nope!

I'll give it another try today to see if I can remove it without damaging anything.

and I decided to remove some casting trash from the case.
Mostly I hate sharp edges, oh so much I hate sharp edges.

And amazon never delivered my bushing tool last night like it said it would.
so now it says Monday...
It keeps happening... I'm getting annoyed with them.
I never know when they will be on time, or if they will just flat out fk me.

anyways,
Then my drum from summit, they sent it out of Texas via fedex.
Fedex is almost always unreliable.
My billet piston arrived nicely on time from the Nevada warehouse, so that's ready to rock.

I took my old drum and disassembled it to see what's in involved with the install of the new piston.
confirmed it's easy peasy.

When I did my 700r4 (aka early 4l60), I have a different style of spring compressor that locks into the drum.
That style didn't work too well with this.

While I do have an actual shop press, I don't have anything that would work well to compress the pistons with that.
So, I decided to try this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D39B3XS

Out of the box it's a wonky thing.
looks like it's designed to sit inside of some stand or some nonsense.
What I did was to take some wood scrap that was used to assemble the GM crankshaft crate, and made my self a little stand that seems to work just fine.
I installed the wood blocks on top to protect the drums, and then used a piece of wood in the front to stable it, and to give me some place to extend the "holding" area.

What I ended up with,



Used that on the old drum that I'm replacing to test it, and it works great.
Down side is the little ribs in the middle don't seem to clearance the 4-5-6 hub shaft.
So, I'll probably take the little pushers and move them to the real press when the rest of the parts arrive.


Other option is I take my little assembly apart, then break out my air saw and make a little clearance for the 4-5-6 hub shaft to pass through it...
that thing zips through mild 1/4in steel like a hot knife through butter.

It will probably take me less time to do that vs setting up my real press.

 

[Just Fishing]

Another issue I ran into,
my ATSG manual says to always replace the Output carrier roller bearing when rebuilding.
That part number: 24224853

ACDelco 24224853

Free Shipping - ACDelco 24224853 with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Automatic Transmission Bearings and Races at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

Reference to that pn was a little difficult to find, but i was able to locate it via a google search once i had the actual name of the planetary housing set.

I did some searching, and I didn't find it in stock anywhere.
seems to be on national backorder.
good news is mine is in actually really good condition, so it should be fine.
I'll just flush it out really well.

I also found it odd that it wasn't listed in the TranStar catalog.
I'll probably call them up next week just to confirm they don't have it.
It would be nice if I could just borrow the wife's car and head on into town.

 

[Just Fishing]

And last night i decided to start soaking my clutches while I wait for everything.
Got the bright idea to try using ziploc bags and atf to soak.
thinking it might save me some atf, or at a minimum keep it from being contaminated while it sits around.


I was planning to apply a vacuum to the bags, but it seems the bags are seeping a bit.
so, I'll probably move this to another container.

 

[Just Fishing]

New part arrived!

Starting disassembly of the 1-2-3-4 drum so I can toss the billet piston in there.



Clutches out, now to get the piston out of there...



Compressing the spring, little c clip is in the middle.

 

[Just Fishing]

Bonded piston has been removed,


Now to the old transmission pump for some air to pop the piston out.


New Fancy Sonnax billet piston.

 

[Just Fishing]

OEM vs Billet



Did some cleaning, looks like a CD Rom



All back together.

 

[Just Fishing]

Clutches oiled up and reinstalled.


Back to the old pump for some air checking!



In between this, I did some air checking and looking for any leaks.
everything went pretty well.

but one hiccup.

the new drum was totally dry.
and air checking the lower piston that i didn't disassemble, showed some slowness.
and it started hanging/binding up on me.

The part i installed was slick and fast..

So i did a total tear down of the drum after seeing if some transmission fluid would help it.

I ended up doing some light cleanup and replaced the OEM seals with the ones from my seal kit.
Once i had it all back together, the air checks went much better.

the image above is of the final air check where I'm happy with it.

I took hours detailing this out, and even did some deburring to ensure everything was perfect...
One drum done, and back to its box to keep it clean.