904 won't turn?

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Toluene56

Toluene56

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So I have bolted up my transmission back up to my 360 with the new flexplate and torque converter. It did seem a littler harder to bolt up the transmission to the block, but it still went on relatively easy. Now I cannot turn the motor over by hand. I have installed a shift kit as well. I have also tried changing the selector on the transmission to neutral and park and all that jazz just to see if it would turn..


Now... could it be because the transmission is still dry?


Just kind of odd.. Didnt have this problem with the 727 I had on my powerwagon.. but I never tried to turn the engine over by hand before it went back in.


any thoughts would be great :-D
 
Could you turn the 904 over by hand before it was installed?

Trans will turn over dry.....unless it is binding..
 
I would bet the convertor wasn't seated all the way into the front pump. Also I bet you just broke the two tangs off the front pump gear!
 
i didnt put a bunch of pressure on it.. there's no plugs in the motor.. so it should have spun easily... i'll pull it off in the morning and check everything.. everything seated all the way... I guess i'll see ..
 
I bet the guys are right that the converter isn't in all the way. When it's all the way in it should be recessed about 1/2" from the bellhousing. Check that pump over real good too cause like SG said it's real easy to break if the converter wasn't in all the way and you pulled it up tight against the engine.
 
Trans is smashing your converter to your flexplate. 99.8% sure the converter is not seated in the trans. When unbolted the converter should spin freely when the bell housing is completely bolted to the motor. If you have The trans bolted up and no bolts in torque converter and cannot spin it by hand this is your problem. Unfortunately your front pump is most likely trash....

There is 2nd possibility, if the snub nose on the converter is not seated perfectly in your crankshaft (missaligned) this will also cause a binding, which may not of taken out your pump but you need to carefully back off the trans, remove your t/c and inspect for visual damage

and to make ya feel better, we've damn near all done this at least once. Sorry man :(
 
if it's broken how will I see it? Do i need to take the pan back off of it to check? or will I be able to check from the shaft that goes into the torque converter?
the converter is bolted to the flexplate btw.

well if it is trash it's always good to dump a couple hundred bucks down the drain.. tough **** i guess lol
 
Toluene56 said:
if it's broken how will I see it? Do i need to take the pan back off of it to check? or will I be able to check from the shaft that goes into the torque converter?
the converter is bolted to the flexplate btw.

well if it is trash it's always good to dump a couple hundred bucks down the drain.. tough **** i guess lol
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Unfortunately you really need to pull the pump to inspect it. Sometimes you can see damage from the outside but most of the time it shoves the pump gears through the back of the pump (the stator). Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
 
I just re-read the first post and have a question. How are you trying to turn it by hand? Are you just grabbing the harmonic balancer by hand or do you have a breaker bar or something your trying to turn it with?
 
Toluene56 said:
the converter is bolted to the flexplate btw.
Click to expand...

when you bolted the converter to the flexplate, did the converter spin freely to line up the holes? Or did ya have to kinda force it? Also, to get to all the converter bolts you would of had to spin the motor, was there any problem doing this?
 
i probably messed up by bolting the torque converter to the flexplate before putting the transmission on the engine.... I was using my hand then a socket.. then stopped when the socket wasn't working for fear of destroying something.

the engine is fine.. it spins freely just stopped spinning after i line everything up and bolted it together... which i thought was odd cause my 727 would still spin even dry.... everything went on smoothly up till about 1/2 in from the back of the engine... so i'm fairly certain that I have broken something.. but no worries.. i'll double check in the morning.

The small splined shaft would spin freely before the install but the big one wouldn't.. Didn't know if they were both supposed to spin or not...


even if I did break it.. 904's are cheap here.. i'll find one and inspect it...


usually I leave the transmission in the car when i swap engines... lol... learning experience..
 
Yeah man you can't do it that way. There's 3 things that need to be aligned (the input shaft, the stator, and the pump gears) so the only way to do it is put the torque converter in the trans. and seat it in all the way and then install it onto the engine. That outer shaft on the trans. doesn't spin. Just the inner. And the pump gears inside the pump.
 
well thanks for the info guys... i'll double check in the morning... but i'm fairly certain it's shot...

when I get a different 904 the valvebody should be ok so I can just swap it into the new 904? since it does have the street/strip shift kit.
 
J4R3D said:
Safety neutral switch?? three pronged plug on the trany
Click to expand...


set up isn't even in the car yet... nuet switch will only stop the ignition switch from allowing the engine to start while in drive gears.
 
sorry i didnt read all the way through, hm.. Idk if mine had this prob. I just had it rebuilt for 1200
 
Toluene56 said:
i probably messed up by bolting the torque converter to the flexplate before putting the transmission on the engine....
Click to expand...


OH NO! Sorry to hear man, yeah you cannot stab an AUTO tranny like a CLUTCH. 2 very different animals. This is 100% the problem.

The converter must be inserted into the trans and alligned with the front pump.

With trans out of car, Carefully put the converter over the input shaft and push towards tranny, then slowly spin converter while at the same time pushing in. Once aligned correctly you will hear/see a very appearent THUNK when the converter sinks into place. (this may take a few complete rotations to finally sink down in the trans)

Then you can raise the transmission into place, align the alignment dowels into the bellhousing and then start putting in bellhousing bolts.

Once all bell housing bolts are in and tight the converter should spin freely with your fingers. This is when now you can align the torque converter/flex plate bolts.

The Torque converter will be able to move 1/4-1/2 inch forward towards the flexplate freely for aligning torque converter bolt holes.

You will prob only be able to get to 1 maybe 2 at a time. So align the converter up with the flexplate bolt hole(s), then install and finger tighten the first torque converter bolt. Rotate the engine 1/4 or so by the front crankshaft bolt to expose the next flexplate bolt hole and then again align and finger tighten the next torque converter bolt. Repete this till all converter bolts are in and finger tight. Then once more by rotating the engine 1/4 turn at a time tighten up all the torque conveter bolts.

IMPORTANT! Use locktight on the converter bolts, and the correct sized wrench or socket (im going to guess 9/16ths or 5/8ths) because if the Converter bolts back out they will take out your starter and possibly get hung and cause major damage!

Hope this helps, if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Btw if you do sustain any damage to that trans, its mostly just going to be a front pump which can be easially replace by any local tranny shop, however look out for damage on the front input shaft for scratches or bending.
 
So I had installed the torque converter first.. which is a no no.. but here are some pics after i took the torque converter out... which I didn't really notice in the fading daylight...

to me it looks like that mounting area is a bit too far and doesn't look all that safe to me.
Photo-0098.jpg


and then this... Rust... I mean really... It's brand freakin new... looks like I have to double check EVERYTHING I buy from now on with a magnifying glass and a bright light.
Photo-0102.jpg


I also had to rethread a mount because it was stripped out of the box...

btw the rethreaded bolt I knew of before the installation of the converter.. but never noticed the off center mounts until I got it apart. Or the poor craftsmanship of the center...
 
Wow that converter is supposed to be new!! Looks like a junkyard converter to me. If it looks that way on the outside the inside is probably just as bad. I'd definitely be taking that back and getting a new one that is actually new or getting my money back. And to answer the question about the valve body, it should be fine as long as the shift kit was installed correctly. The converter problem shouldn't have any bearing on the valve body.
 
streetdak said:
OH NO! Sorry to hear man, yeah you cannot stab an AUTO tranny like a CLUTCH. 2 very different animals. This is 100% the problem.

The converter must be inserted into the trans and alligned with the front pump.

With trans out of car, Carefully put the converter over the input shaft and push towards tranny, then slowly spin converter while at the same time pushing in. Once aligned correctly you will hear/see a very appearent THUNK when the converter sinks into place. (this may take a few complete rotations to finally sink down in the trans)

Then you can raise the transmission into place, align the alignment dowels into the bellhousing and then start putting in bellhousing bolts.

Once all bell housing bolts are in and tight the converter should spin freely with your fingers. This is when now you can align the torque converter/flex plate bolts.

The Torque converter will be able to move 1/4-1/2 inch forward towards the flexplate freely for aligning torque converter bolt holes.

You will prob only be able to get to 1 maybe 2 at a time. So align the converter up with the flexplate bolt hole(s), then install and finger tighten the first torque converter bolt. Rotate the engine 1/4 or so by the front crankshaft bolt to expose the next flexplate bolt hole and then again align and finger tighten the next torque converter bolt. Repete this till all converter bolts are in and finger tight. Then once more by rotating the engine 1/4 turn at a time tighten up all the torque conveter bolts.

IMPORTANT! Use locktight on the converter bolts, and the correct sized wrench or socket (im going to guess 9/16ths or 5/8ths) because if the Converter bolts back out they will take out your starter and possibly get hung and cause major damage!

Hope this helps, if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Btw if you do sustain any damage to that trans, its mostly just going to be a front pump which can be easially replace by any local tranny shop, however look out for damage on the front input shaft for scratches or bending.
Click to expand...

WOW, There is nothing I can add to this information. Good Job. Oh yea theres is one think I can add, be careful when you pop the top on your beer so you don't get cut.
 
LOL... yeah.. I e-mailed the company I got the converter from.. Now i'm waiting on a reply.... I do have a line on a couple good working 904's for about 150 bucks or so.. prolly talk 'em down some. Maybe they'll just give me my money back and I'll go buy a converter from a good reputable company.
 
Wow...I was in Reno for 4 months...just got home last friday...

And i have all the tools to rebuilt a 904..............could of...
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
WOW, There is nothing I can add to this information. Good Job. Oh yea theres is one think I can add, be careful when you pop the top on your beer so you don't get cut.
Click to expand...

hahaha thanks man, ive done some many R & R trans jobs when I was turning wrenches for a living it becomes clock work. I could R & R a late model f-body trans in and out in less that 45 mins combined. Of course this was with a lift and air tools haha
 
/rant on

Well, I called to get an RGA number on the converter since it was poorly put together.. obviously by the pictures lol..

nothing but RUDE people that think they're all right and the customer is always wrong. They gave me an RGA number last week and said fedex or UPS will come to pick up the part for me so they can fix it.. Well.. it's been almost a week and here's the shocker.. .nothing....

So I called to make sure that the RGA number was good and see if they actually sent the tag out.. and conveniently the person with the information wasn't at work today..

So here is a word of advice.. Stay away from ACC converters and stay away from KMJ performance. They have poor business practices and don't know the first thing about customer service.

Oh and their product is junk.. I want my damn money back, so I can buy from a reputable company... bastards.



/rant off....:angry5:
 
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