What did I do to my C5?

[bootleg]

Hello folks; name's Chris...bit of a hobbiest and new to this forum. I've got a problem and any help would be appreciated.

First things first: Proud owner of a 1983 Ranger 4X4 2.8 V6 C5 (ok, not so proud of the C5 as you'll see why)

I recently rebuilt the tranny and got everything hooked back up on Saturday. Did not air check because I lacked the facility but I did have some help from a tranny shop during the rebuild. It road tested great on Saturday night and I was very happy to have my truck back on the road. Sunday was perfect, Monday also, but today I lost my forward clutch in the matter of an hour.

I stalled on the way into work but attributed that to a vacuum leak at the ported switch (and I forgot to plug the PCV back into the valve cover) and was hoping the leak would link to the modulator valve and might also be causing slippage.

The power loss was devastating; felt like it was stuck in third, high revs and the smell of ATF truly discouraging. I parked it and hitched a ride home to prevent further damaging my hard work but I fear the worst.

Here's the info I can supply:
- Tranny was thoroughly cleaned and rebuilt with new plates/seals/rings/gaskets/bearings/and a new intermediate band (forward clutch was torched: friction plates were warped, steels were blue, spring plate cracked in half, and caked thru-out with aluminized oil--but the hub was good, really!)
- replaced torque converter; although not new, came from a reliable source
- modulator valve new and not leaking oil into the engine (line is clean)
- i cannot manual shift into 1st because there is too much play in shift lever, but P thru 2 are fine
- as I said, engine stalled but started straight away and pulled off no problems
- I felt the power loss as I pulled into work and it progressively got worse (took it out to test at luch)
- As of now, i feel no engagement in Drive, but if I put it in 2nd and rev it high it will pull forward, if ever so slightly
- Tomorrow I plan on playing with the shift lever to sacrifice Park, but give me 1st, and see what happens

There is one thing: when I inspected the valve body, it felt as though the valve operated by the kickdown could possibly have been sticking and I more than likely overlooked this when I put the thing back together.

What do you think? Forward clutch for sure? Or could a stuck vlave cause this problem?

I appreciate your time reading through this and any help is, again, greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks,
Chris

Forgot to mention: reverse clutch is absolutely fine...and I was also advised that it could be a stripped input shaft...

 

[Bent Bolt]

Well if reverse is ok, your input shaft is OK.
When you tore down the trans the 1st time, you say the forward clutch was burnt up??? Did you find out what caused it ??? Because if you didn't find it, your rebuild has suffered the same failure.

You mentioned that the shifter is sloppy and you can't get MAN1. I wonder if the shifter is out of adjustment, as in the trans is not fully engaged into D allowing the forward clutch to slip ever so slightly.

Just throwing some ideas out there. Been many,many years since I've touched a C4/C5.

 

[drsvox]

and 7 years later...

i had reinstalled a thrust washer incorrectly; oil holes weren't lined up. ended up rebuilding again. works fine...or at least it did...haven't driven it since 2009. rebuild in progress.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Is it leaking oil?

 

[drsvox]

i actually can't remember and don't know yet...

i seem to remember some leakage before the rebuilds from the input shaft, and oil would seep from the pan gasket, but i'm hoping to have resolved that.

i only just got it bolted back up to the engine and dropped both into the truck (83 Ranger Resurrection in mini trucks under construction).

Once I'm finished with the rest of the engine compartment I'll plug the fill tube back in and add oil. and in all honesty, i'm almost expecting some minor leaking.