Engine Swap - Engine Running, but transmission not engaging

krs · Jan 3, 2012

All,

One more question on my engine swap saga....

I have the Taurus engine in and running. After running for some time, I see no leaks and no engine light (meaning no codes)!!! :yahoo:

BUT....

When I try to put it into gear - nothing happens!

What (I think) I know :icon_confused:

:

1. Transmission has fluid.
2. Wiring harness plugs are all plugged in.
3. Lever to shift gears was attached. I did take it off, jacked up the back end, and shifted it manually - nothing still happenned.
4. The 4 bolts are installed connecting the flywheel to the torque converter.
5. Tranmission lines are attached both at the transmission and at the radiator.
6. The drive-shaft is attached.
7. I did pull the transmission with the old engine (engine locked-up tight), but I did not dissable it in any way, and did not remove the torque converter.
8. When in park, the truck will not roll (tranmission is engaged).
9. When in anything other than park, the truck will roll.
10. When in reverse, the reverse lights do come on.

Help! What am I missing?

JP02XLT · Jan 3, 2012

Make sure the trans is full of fluid, any question on fluid level here and for now it is better to be overfull than too low. if it is full, here is where it gets bad. IF you did not fully seat the torque converter into the front pump on the trans, and have ran the engine, the pump most likely has been damaged, that converter has to slide and lock or drop into 2 sets of tabs. When you first put the converter on it slides onto the shaft, into the seal, you spin it slowly and it slides into the trans a little further, continue spinning it and it falls in again and this time it slides back all the way into the trans. When you bolt the motor & trans together you should have to pull the converter towards the engine to meet the flex plate maybe 3/8" to 1/2". I Hope this is not the case for you, although it really sounds like the problems you describe.

JP02XLT

krs · Jan 4, 2012

Thanks for the likely painful insight!

I talked to a transmission place today, who suggested taking off one of the transmission lines, start the truck, and see if it dumps a bunch of fluid (3+ pints) in 30 seconds. If not, this is my problem...

JP02XLT · Jan 4, 2012

Let me know what you find out, The trans shop will more than likely want to do an entire rebuild, rather than just replacing the front pump & converter.

Hope it works out better than expected for you.

JP02XLT

krs · Jan 8, 2012

As a follow-up to my latest engine swap challenge, I went into the garage with the intention per the posts above to pull a transmission line off to see if fluid is pumping, and then pulling the transmission to have the torque converter repaired, but first checked the fluid level and noticed it was low (previous checks showed it as high). I put half a quart in it and it was now slightly high. I then started the truck and put it in gear and the transmission slowly engaged! I checked the dip-stick again and it was again low, so I put more fluid in. After repeating this process, driving it around a bit, etc. - it is now behaving normally.

My conclusion:
Given I had to pull the transmission with the engine, I lost some amount of transmission fluid, but I do not know how much. When I got the "new" engine in the truck with the transmission, I added tranmission fluid until it showed it was full (3 1/2 quarts). Is it possible that there was still not enough fluid to build up any sort of hydraulic pressure, so the fluid just sat in one portion of the transmission, and therefore showed it as full??

Thoughts?

pcollins · Jan 8, 2012

You probably lost quite a bit more. Most transmissions hold 10-15 quarts between the pan, TC and valve body.

JP02XLT · Jan 8, 2012

Great, that was my initial thought that you were still low on fluid, Yes the pump has to turn and have fluid in order to build pressure, and your right it is very hard to tell how much you loose when it drains onto the floor. Anyway keep an eye on the fluid for several weeks, check it with the truck hot and idling, don't overfill, this causes the fluid to foam and Glad this worked out where you did not have to pull the trans. Sometime in the near future you may want to pull the trans pan and change the filter, new fluid will do some cleaning inside the trans and the dirt will wind up in the filter.

JP02XLT

Engine Swap - Engine Running, but transmission not engaging

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