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I finished putting in a "hot rod" 302 in my 74 short bed this week end and it is running super with a nice lope at idle. It runs much better after I found out that the firing order was not the same as my old stock motor after 3 evenings of frustration trying to get all cylinders to fire properly. I balanced the drive shaft and serviced the transmission while I was at it. When I went to install the C-4 filter it was substaintially different than the one in it. The guy at the auto parts store matched mine up (its rectangular with 1 small bolt to secure it) he said the trans. is a C-5. I asked him what fluid it called for and he said the computer called for Mercon so I exchanged the F-type. The tranny now slips going from 2nd to high unless I really baby it. I have run F-type since I got the truck back on the road about 1 1/2 years ago. I put in new fluid back then but did not change the filter or drain the torque converter.
I have never heard of a C-5. Did I screw up changing fluids and what is my best choice at this time? Should I have the bands adjusted(I don't know squat about an auto trans) or change back to F-type and hope I didn't do too much damage? As always I appreciate your efforts.
No, the tranny is a standard 3 speed auto. I thought it was a C-4 by outward appearances. By the way it is shifting better. I drained the torque converter when I serviced it and then only put a quart back in thinking it would fill fully with use. Could it be failing to lock up correctly and now improving as it gets more fluid pushed in it by use?
The C-5 is the same as a C-4 with the exception of having a "lock-up" converter. Used from 1982-1984 in Ford Rangers and 1982-1986 in 1/2 ton F-series trucks. This is about all the info I had on them. Might check your vacuum line to your modulator too. Phil
>No, the tranny is a standard 3 speed auto. I thought it was
>a C-4 by outward appearances. By the way it is shifting
>better. I drained the torque converter when I serviced it
>and then only put a quart back in thinking it would fill
>fully with use. Could it be failing to lock up correctly and
>now improving as it gets more fluid pushed in it by use?
Thats a possibilty keep an eye on your fluid level
The torque converter is a fluid link. In other words there is nothing mechanical between the engine and the transmission. To have properly filled it you needed to lay it flat and fill it till the fuild was just at the bottom of the snout. Torque converters can hold upto 1/2 the fulid capacity of an automatic transmission! In your case the C5 transmission with torque converter holds 11 QUARTS! That's 22 PINTS of fluid!
If you don't have near that much fluid in the tranny then I would tear it down and fill the torque convert and reinstall.
As long as the pump is working ,(and it must be if the tranny goes in gear) it will fill the converter and every other cavity, once the engine is running and the selector is run through the shift quadrant.
That's why you check the level with the engine running. So the converter and all the oil passages are full.
What can happen if you do not fill the torque converter before you install it is that air can become trapped in the system. Air is a gas and will compress as you drive and circulate the fluid inside the transmission. This can cause slipping between gears, burning of clutch packs and stator failure.
I have seen dipsticks blow out of tubes and fillers tube blown out of their holes by trapped air in the tranny. I’ve seen transmissions that were burnt black on the inside because the air got trapped in the radiator tank and only allowed a small flow of transmission fluid to pass.
One easy way to tell if, after you have reinstalled a torque converter, you have trapped air is to check your fluid level often (every day for the first two weeks). If you seem to be adding fluid and your not losing any then I would bet you have trapped air. Another way to test it is to have a transmission shop run a pressure check on your transmission. They will pump it up and read the gauge, and just like with brakes, if the gauge falls then you have air somewhere.
Ops almost forgot. Not every automatic is checked with the engine running and not all are checked with the engine running in the same gear/range and when you read the stick you have to be sure to check the fluild according to the temperature range as listed on the dip stick.
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