Rear Main

[alvocado]

I dropped the trans as low as it would go and was able to just get it into the fill hole. It definitely would have been easier to have it in place as the transmission is raised up.

All I have remaining is the intake manifold and refill the transmission but I'm beat after wrestling the exhaust and stopping for the night.

I ran into something concerning when attaching the torque converter to the flywheel. First, the torque converter looked old and I had the unit rebuilt in January. I thought they put in a new converter and was surprised at how mine looked. Possibly related, one of the bolts was so tight going in I could barely get the bolt head flush with the flywheel. There was no way to get it even close to the torque spec but it's definitely not coming loose. I tried chasing the hole and no luck; the chaser wouldn't go in. I wonder if the shop cross threaded a bolt on reassembly and galled the threads.

 

[rdezs]

Oh man.... If one of those torque converter bolts is not tight, that could spell disaster. And it sounds like you're thinking they just reused your old torque converter.

You're not going to want to hear this.... I would order a replacement torque converter, that'll give you a couple days to just slide the transmission back enough to swap it. You're probably correct, they cross threaded..... And those threads are in your torque converter.

Try to keep positive. Remind yourself that usually it's the OEM torque converters that take out the transmission, so not only will you have peace of mind with the bolts properly secured, but you'll have a better aftermarket torque converter as well.

So don't put that intake on yet.....

 

[alvocado]

Assuming the transmission is pulled, what’s involved with swapping the converter? This has been a physical bear doing this on Jack stands so the idea of pulling the trans again is horrifying.

 

[rdezs]

All you need to do is slide it back maybe 10 inches?
Take a look at your transfer case and see if there's room for it to do that without removing it. That would probably involve pushing the tail off to the side a little bit, which will also give you more room to remove the torque converter. But it probably would be a lot easier simply removing the transfer case.

Y pipe is coming off

And you'll probably have to disconnect the harness.

The good news is it will go a lot faster now that you've already done it once.

 

[rdezs]

As for swapping the converter that's easy. You just pull your old one out. Careful, they are heavy. I usually put one or two quarts of ATF into the new one. Normally I replace the front seal, but it sounds like yours should be new already. Slide it into position, rotate it slowly while pushing and you'll feel it engage the pump. Once the transmission out it's literally a 2 minute ordeal. After you make the transmission to the engine, you should have to pull the torque converter to the flex plate a small amount. And use a torque wrench and get all three bolts to specifications.

 

[rdezs]

While you're pushing it into the transmission and rotating, you'll know it has engaged the pump when suddenly it goes in further.

 

[alvocado]

Thanks, that doesn't sound too bad. I just pulled the repair receipt for the rebuild and it notes "New Delco JMBX torque converter." Mine is rusty which is very suspect for a new part that's been installed 5 mos. and not exposed to moisture.

I'm going to phone the shop tomorrow. I'm not optimistic they'll do anything but it's worth a try before diving back in.

 

[rdezs]

Yeah, 5 months it ought to look really clean

 

[89Suburban]

Thanks, that doesn't sound too bad. I just pulled the repair receipt for the rebuild and it notes "New Delco JMBX torque converter." Mine is rusty which is very suspect for a new part that's been installed 5 mos. and not exposed to moisture.

I'm going to phone the shop tomorrow. I'm not optimistic they'll do anything but it's worth a try before diving back in.

Your a fkng warrior man, keep at it. I know it sucks. Rooting for you.

 

[solli5pack]

Assuming the transmission is pulled, what’s involved with swapping the converter? This has been a physical bear doing this on Jack stands so the idea of pulling the trans again is horrifying.

It will test you man....especially when things go sideways

 

[PG01]

It will test you man....especially when things go sideways

Literally… in his case…

 

[West 1]

The rear main seal at the factory is Teflon, a teflon seal will not groove the crankshaft at all so no need to set the seal any deeper than stock location.
It is important to let the new rear main seal self center on the crankshaft while installed in the cover plate so the seal can live a full life. IF you tighten the plate down with the seal off center it will cause fast wear. It is easy, just let it center itself and carefully tighten all the plate to block bolts evenly to keep it centered.

 

[alvocado]

The rear main seal at the factory is Teflon, a teflon seal will not groove the crankshaft at all so no need to set the seal any deeper than stock location.
It is important to let the new rear main seal self center on the crankshaft while installed in the cover plate so the seal can live a full life. IF you tighten the plate down with the seal off center it will cause fast wear. It is easy, just let it center itself and carefully tighten all the plate to block bolts evenly to keep it centered.

I used the GM cover plate which included the seal and new bolts. I had the Dorman seal tool but it didn't seem necessary based on what you mention. The seal self centered with the plate and once the bolts are all started and evenly tightened down, it remained centered. That was the only straight forward part of this repair

 

[West 1]

I have a centering tool made from aluminum. It would only be used if installing a new seal without removing the rear plate. I bet 98% of rear main seal leaks is the plate gasket leaking and not the actual rear main seal.

 

[solli5pack]

I re-used the old plate and utilized the centering tool.

 

[rdezs]

The centering tool is most useful if the oil pan is installed.

If the oil pan is not installed, then yes, seal already installed in the cover in the cover will self-center the cover.

 

[alvocado]

Update: I realized I did not start the flywheel bolts at the indexing location (oval hole) so I removed all three bolts and started at the indexing hole. That was the problematic hole last time around and the bolt went in with ease. I installed and torqued the first two fasteners with no issue.

The 3rd fastener is still giving me issues although not as bad as previously. It screws in with about about 1/8" of threads left and gets very tight.

I'm going to remove the fasteners again and rotate the converter to confirm if there's one torque converter hole at issue.

 

[solli5pack]

Update: I realized I did not start the flywheel bolts at the indexing location (oval hole) so I removed all three bolts and started at the indexing hole. That was the problematic hole last time around and the bolt went in with ease. I installed and torqued the first two fasteners with no issue.

The 3rd fastener is still giving me issues although not as bad as previously. It screws in with about about 1/8" of threads left and gets very tight.

I'm going to remove the fasteners again and rotate the converter to confirm if there's one torque converter hole at issue.

Maybe there's something stuck in the hole? You said you tried a thread chaser and it didn't help? Im guessing you've tried different bolts in different holes...Maybe re-thread it with a tap?

 

[j91z28d1]

Update: I realized I did not start the flywheel bolts at the indexing location (oval hole) so I removed all three bolts and started at the indexing hole. That was the problematic hole last time around and the bolt went in with ease. I installed and torqued the first two fasteners with no issue.

The 3rd fastener is still giving me issues although not as bad as previously. It screws in with about about 1/8" of threads left and gets very tight.

I'm going to remove the fasteners again and rotate the converter to confirm if there's one torque converter hole at issue.

just curious, normally it's good to install all the bolts before you start tq the the firsts ones down. there's a bit of slop in the threads to holes that can come in handy by the last holes.

 

[rdezs]

It's a little bit of a pain.... But I put the three bolts in finger tight, then go around again with maybe 10 ft pounds of torque. Go through three stages of rotating the engine and tightening the bolts up to the final torque.

The machined tolerances are quite close. If you torque down to and then started the third, you may in fact experience what you're describing. It's a huge time saver if you have someone to rotate the engine over while you are under it.