904 Transmission Stopped Going Into Gear

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TrailBeast said:
I seem to remember that some of the aluminum front planetary assemblies had a Torrington bearing where the sun gear butts against the inside of the planet gears assembly.
If this is the case you don't use a metal thrust washer between the planetary set and sun gear shell, as it will make your clearances too tight.
From what I can see in the first pic it doesn't have a Torrington bearing inside it.

I also remember there being multiple places the tangs of the washers would fit, but in some orientations they wouldn't sit flat like they should.
They had to be turned to find the right place where they sat flat.
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Thanks for the info. I do not think I have the Torrington bearing because the trans did have a metal thrust washer behind the sun gear shell when I took it all apart.
 
You can blast air under the inner edge of it or pry up on the inner edge with a tiny screwdriver, or a boxcutter blade under the outer edge. It looks like it's going to have a different thickness measured on the inner edge than the outer edge.
 
Duster Captain said:
Ok, thanks.

And what about ensuring the pump bolt holes are aligned?
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The adjustable clamp needs to cover the entire edges. Maybe insert a wider strap of sheet metal under it. Then look thru the holes and make sure the two sections are clocked so that the pump bolts will go into the case easily.
 
Did you check the governor valves to make sure they move freely? It's probably okay; TFs don't have a lot of valve problems. You should get a TransGo shift kit because the instructions will help you assemble the valve body correctly plus they have a new manual valve that allows the pump to charge the converter in park. It will still leave maybe half a quart up the stick, but that's still ten times better than having to go to neutral for the charge. They're $26 on ebay free shipping. If somebody put the wrong thrust washer in there, I wonder what they did to the valve body.
 
I will take another look at the pump alignment.

The valve body and governor were filthy when I removed them.

I completely disassembled the valve body and governor, cleaned everything, and reassembled with transmission specific lubricant per the rebuild guide I am using. All valves and check balls moved freely in my finished assemblies.

I like the idea of mods (transgo kit, part throttle kickdown kit, etc..) but because this is my first trans rebuild, my goal is to rebuild this 904 to bone stock for my 225 slant six. Even though those mods are easy, I feel like I need to pull off a stock rebuild successfully before I learn new tricks.

Also, I agree that there is no telling what a previous owner did judging from the incorrect thrust washers, so that's another reason I want to get this trans back to factory specs for starters.
 
One of the hardest parts of my job is figuring out what the last guy did wrong. Your band was destroyed and your thrust washers are weird. I would be finding out what caused those two things before I put it back. The valve body may have been reassembled incorrectly by the last guy and you might reassemble it the same way. I saw your pic of the valve body but I only saw large particles outside of the filter area. Most times vb disassembly isn't even necessary; the black sludgy stuff settled inside usually won't hurt it. I mostly only find bad valves in transes that have water in them. I wasn't suggesting the shift kit as an upgrade; but as one more step in avoiding troubleshooting after the fact.
 
I hear you. No way of knowing what happened before you.

I would guess someone used the wrong thrust washers, did not have enough endplay, and then they tried over tightening the front band when the trans started to act up. But that's all just a guess.

I've already got the valve body back together and everything on it matched up to the pictures in the rebuild manual so I'm not worried about it at this point.
 
Duster Captain said:
I hear you. No way of knowing what happened before you.

I would guess someone used the wrong thrust washers, did not have enough endplay, and then they tried over tightening the front band when the trans started to act up. But that's all just a guess.

I've already got the valve body back together and everything on it matched up to the pictures in the rebuild manual so I'm not worried about it at this point.
Click to expand...

Those guesses would not be mine. Like I said before; those thrust washers could not have survived with being smashed together like that. No way. #2: That band is unusually fried. That wasn't caused by the end play problem. I'm answering your questions to help you plus anybody else who may be encountering the same thing. But like I said in the beginning; I would have found a different transmission to start with. I think your transmission will probably work; but not as well as you'd like and definitely not for as long as you'd like.
 
Things are definitely strange in this trans, but its the one I got.

My main goal is to use it as a learning experience and get the car back on the road while I plan my v8 swap. I think it will be fine for that purpose.

Another can of worms I need to open is what kind of fluid is recommended for a Torqueflite 904?

I have done a lot of online research and most forums tend to settle on one of the following:

-Dex III
-Type F
-ATF 4+

Most forums also contain a lot of heated debate about which of these is best.

Anyone have any thoughts?
 
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