46RH making noise in Park and Neutral

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DodgeLad

DodgeLad

Skipped the Light Fandango
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Hello all

The noise is coming from the bellhousing area. Sound is rotational and hard to describe. Growling, rumbling. The fluid level is spot on, no other noises, and the transmission works as advertised. The noise subsides in any forward gear and reverse. Last time I dropped the pan, the fluid was red and clear with no big chunks. I dread the thought of pulling the transmission.
 
Not sure of the noise you are experiencing, but I've had more than one (including my current Ram) make a dry-whining noise in neutral especially. Never had it hurt anything in all the years.
 
Couldn't get the fancy deep aluminum pan off. I used transmission gasket sealant. Took a porta-power to move the pan to break the seal. Now I've got a big scraping chore. Never again. Now I recall servicing the trans not long ago. I saved the fluid for re-use.

The 'sparklies' are all less then 1mm and their aren't many. Some black dustlike stuff I always see. The only thing I noticed are the small black pieces on the filter. The small black chunks in the pan are likely from when the pan gasket broke loose.

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Got the pan cleaned and the gasket surfaces bright and shiny. Even chased the threads in the transmission holes. Then I realized some things...

I love the smell of brake cleaner. :)
To adjust the band, it takes a 5/16" 8-point socket and a dial in/lb torque wrench of which I have neither. I do have a click type torque wrench and a complete selection of metric and standard 6 and 12-point sockets. Couple questions...

Is there any way to use what I got to adjust the band?
When torquing down the long filter bolts, I tighten them pretty good until the filter is 'smashed' tight where the bolts are. Is this right?
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Use the clicker. Your just snuggling the band down to take out the slop. Then counting the turns you back off and then locking the jam nut.

Over tightenng the filter bolts is what you do when you want to buy a new valve body.
 
Does it sound like a fish tank aerator when it first starts? Like soft bits rattling ?
That aerated fluid, buzz sound?

Pressure turned up make that sound, near the sound of a converter falling apart .
 
9mm 6-point socket can be forced on the rear band adjusting nut without mangling anything. In the morning, my goal is to get the band adjusted and the pan back on. And get the filter bolts torqued to spec, but that spec appears impossible to find. Nothing in the FSM or google.

I'll listen more carefully next time.
thx
 
The torque spec for the filter screws on a 727 trans is 35 inch pounds.

I use a 5/16'' combination wrench [4'' center to center] and a fish scale. Hold the fish scale at a 90* angle to the wrench and pull to 18 pounds. [4'' x 18 pounds == 72 in-lbs] Then back off the bolt to the spec for YOUR trans.[usually about two turns]. Hold adjusting screw and tighten lock nut to 30 ft lbs. for front band and 25 ft lbs for rear band.

My trans also makes a light 'buzzing' sound. Same sound for 2 decades now.
 
Damn man. Stop making it complicated. Get a 5/16 open end wrench and tighten it just about as tight as you can get it with one hand and that little wrench. The ONLY reason is had a torque spec is to make DAMN SURE to get all of the slack out of the band before you adjust it. As long as it's tight with that little tiny wrench, it will be FINE. There's no magic involved that says it HAS to be 8 LB FT. It simply just needs all the slack out, that's all. Once you tighten it down good, then make your adjustment.

Also, what no one touched on is, low fluid level can make one make noise, too.

Lastly, never, ever, ever, EVER EVER use any kind of sealant on a transmission pan gasket Ever. Did I put enough evers in there? lol
 
I’ve been adjusting bands on torqueflites with a regular pair pliers on end to snug the band down with one hand then use same to back off on the adjuster the desired amount. Then tighten lock nut. Make sure you back off on the lock nut enough before starting your adjustment.
 
Got everything back together. The 9mm socket doesn't work...lol. Adjusted front and rear bands, new filter. Found the shift rod seal is leaking badly, but let it be for now. Started up and heard nothing. Went for about 5 miles, came back and heard the noise. It definitely isn't the normal whine/moan. And it comes and goes. More like marbles in a an intermittently spinning can. Then the sound stopped. I waited 5 minutes and it wouldn't come back, so here I am. The transmission worked great otherwise. I guess all I can do is run it until something changes.

One thing about the 35 in/lbs on the filter bolts. It's pretty tight. I went 30. Unless you're Lou Ferrigno, that is about as tight as you can go with a handheld nutdriver. I still felt the compressing of the metal rings that the bolts go through. So maybe I've been ok with this all along. I hope so, I got two 46RH and one A727. You can see the concave area of the filter where it has crushed.
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