Finally pulled the 200-4R
As a lot of you know, I put a 408 stroker and a 200-4R overdrive in my Dart about 4 years ago. Late last year and all this year I've had intermittent leaking problems. It appeared to be pushing out the vent, usually on hot days. I called the builder, Art Carr (who, by the way, is an f-ing idiot) and he said it was overheating and pushing fluid out the vent, which is what I thought. I asked him why it would run hot and he said I needed a better cooler. I said, that's great, but it's been good for four years. Why is it running hot? He just said I needed a stacked plate cooler and that would fix it. I bought the cooler and it did not fix it. Art just told me I needed to buy his special cooler, which was three times the price of anything else out there. I bought a temp gauge instead and found it was not a temperature issue. It never ran more than 185 degrees. It happened when I manually shifted or really got on the gas. I decided it was a pressure problem. After dealing with a couple local transmission shops that left me wondering how they stay in business, I called a retired friend of mine who apparently still works out of his fully stocked garage. My brother and I pulled the tranny and I took it to him. He suspects porosity in the pump causing higher pressures, and since the vent is in the pump, it spits it out the vent. I also noted the flex plate to converter mounting holes were rounded out as were the converter mounting holes. The converter bolts had come loose a few years ago and I had tightened them but never thought about damage to the mounts. There is an oblong rub mark on the converter that tells me it wasn't true on the flexplate. That can create pump issues and I'm very lucky it didn't damage the crank. So, I'm getting a new front pump and seal, a new flex plate and a new custom built converter from PTC. Hopefully this fixes my problems. While thr tranny is out it's getting a new oil pan gasket and rear main seal as well as all new tie rods, ball joints, idler arms and pitman arms. Should be a new car when I'm done.
As a lot of you know, I put a 408 stroker and a 200-4R overdrive in my Dart about 4 years ago. Late last year and all this year I've had intermittent leaking problems. It appeared to be pushing out the vent, usually on hot days. I called the builder, Art Carr (who, by the way, is an f-ing idiot) and he said it was overheating and pushing fluid out the vent, which is what I thought. I asked him why it would run hot and he said I needed a better cooler. I said, that's great, but it's been good for four years. Why is it running hot? He just said I needed a stacked plate cooler and that would fix it. I bought the cooler and it did not fix it. Art just told me I needed to buy his special cooler, which was three times the price of anything else out there. I bought a temp gauge instead and found it was not a temperature issue. It never ran more than 185 degrees. It happened when I manually shifted or really got on the gas. I decided it was a pressure problem. After dealing with a couple local transmission shops that left me wondering how they stay in business, I called a retired friend of mine who apparently still works out of his fully stocked garage. My brother and I pulled the tranny and I took it to him. He suspects porosity in the pump causing higher pressures, and since the vent is in the pump, it spits it out the vent. I also noted the flex plate to converter mounting holes were rounded out as were the converter mounting holes. The converter bolts had come loose a few years ago and I had tightened them but never thought about damage to the mounts. There is an oblong rub mark on the converter that tells me it wasn't true on the flexplate. That can create pump issues and I'm very lucky it didn't damage the crank. So, I'm getting a new front pump and seal, a new flex plate and a new custom built converter from PTC. Hopefully this fixes my problems. While thr tranny is out it's getting a new oil pan gasket and rear main seal as well as all new tie rods, ball joints, idler arms and pitman arms. Should be a new car when I'm done.