TKO 600 Grinding.

[strictlypersonl]

I would check two things:

Is the face of the bellhousing parallel to the block face? You'll have to move the flywheel-mounted dial indicator so that it measures the distance from the flywheel to the mounting face. (Watch out for crankshaft end play!)

As Chas said, is the transmission input shaft too long?

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

Is the face of the bellhousing parallel to the block face? As Chas said, is the transmission input shaft too long?

I don't have the spec handly but it seems that my parallel differential was what I thought would be negligible, like maybe .008.- 012??

In my case, the input shaft was too long upon first assembly so we removed the shaft, had it prefessionally machined the right length and reinstalled. So its not that.

Sad to hear however that the QT is no better. I guess I'll spend that $700 on something else. Like tequila.

[jhv48]

I guess it's time to take it in for some exploratory surgery again.

The installer told me he dialed in the bell housing, but he probably didn't check it for being perfectly flat against the block or transmission.

He is obviously missing something. Now to convince him to do the job right.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by jhv48

I guess it's time to take it in for some exploratory surgery again.

He is obviously missing something. Now to convince him to do the job right.

Make sure the nose of the input shaft is inspected for wear or abuse. Measuring the distance from the mounting flange into the pilot hole and comparing to the distance from the trans face to the shaft nose will confirm if that's the problem.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by jhv48

I guess it's time to take it in for some exploratory surgery again.

The installer told me he dialed in the bell housing, but he probably didn't check it for being perfectly flat against the block or transmission.

He is obviously missing something. Now to convince him to do the job right.

jhv48,

Assuming the input shaft does not bottom out against the crank, I suspect your problem is what several of the guys have already identified - block/bellhousing alignment.

Using the offset dowels to align the bellhousing bore with the crank is difficult at best. It is far better to drill out the dowel pin holes a sixteenth or so, then lightly snug the bellhousing to the block, align it to the crank center and slide two, reamed to size, thick steel washers over the alignment dowels. Weld them to your bell housing and you are done - forever on this block.

The parallelism issue is easily solved as I think Blykins pointed out at a machine shop. A light cut (just adequate to clean up the transmission mounting surface) will permanently correct any parallelism issues.

A misalignment of 1˚ (which is admittedly a giant misalignment) with your crank center line will produce an offset of 0.0175" per inch of bellhousing depth. So a seven inch deep can with one degree of misalignment will have an offset at the pilot bearing of 7 x 0.0175" or 0.1225"! Correct can alignment is a big thing. Take the time to do it right.

Ed

[jhv48]

I'm inclined to agree with the above. Something out of whack with the bell housing.

However, can someone explain the following:

1. Why does the trans shift smoothly after a brief cool down but hard when warmed up?
2. Why does reverse NOT grind when carefully engaged?
3. Why does it go easily into first gear if the car is just barely rolling forward?

These symptoms seem to be related to several failures, not just the pilot bushing.

In my mind, if the pilot bushing is dragging on the input shaft, reverse should always grind, and the forward gears should always be difficult to engage. And, rolling forward should have no effect on shifting quality.

What am I missing here?

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by jhv48

What am I missing here?

Everything. You've asked for help and four guys on here agreed that the solution of the problem is in checking the bellhousing index and checking the input shaft length against the crank.

Stop speculating and just pull it down and you'll find the problem.

[jhv48]

Hope you're right. Don't want to do this a fourth time.

Trying to make sure there isn't a second problem that should be addressed while the trans is out.

[parhen4]

maybe you have done this, but if you haven't check your crank thrust bearing and see how much play you have.And see if it is in spec.

[jhv48]

I give up. Now, the trans shifts just fine in all forward gears, but can either grind like heck or be smooth as pie when engaging reverse. Same crap shoot whether hot or cold.

So, I'm going to live with it. I just disconnected the neutral switch and strart the car in reverse in order to avoid any grinding.