Tires not turning after tranny swap

LongrangeLauber · March 10, 2012

I recently did a motor and tranny swap in a 2002 silverado. The motor is a 5.3 and the tranny is a 4l60e. I got everything back together and now when you put it in gear, it does not turn the tires and no tranny fluid comes out of the cooler line while running. What could cause this?

Also, I had to put a new neutral safety switch on, and now it wont go completely into park after putting it in drive. Do i need to reposition the switch or is there a cable adjustment i can make?

Thanks for all the help

gmtech4 · March 10, 2012

no oil running ,?? i have to ask a question or 2

how difficult was it to connect the tranny to the engine ?

and does the tranny dipstick have an oil level on it ?

i ask because up north a customer bought a SRTA from our parts counter and went to put it in ,they connected the t case to the tranny first and pointed the tail in the air to get over the crossmember and the torque converter fell off ,they put it back on and barked the tranny to the engine with an impact and not aligning the pump to the torque converter resulted in a completely distroyed oil pump and it ended up on my hoist cuz "it wont turn a tire " and $2k later they got the truck running again ,,,

sometimes doing things yourself doesnt pay i guess

and yes the shifter cable is not adjusted properly or sumfin ,IDK ,im not there to see

LongrangeLauber · March 10, 2012

no oil running ,?? i have to ask a question or 2

how difficult was it to connect the tranny to the engine ?

and does the tranny dipstick have an oil level on it ?

i ask because up north a customer bought a SRTA from our parts counter and went to put it in ,they connected the t case to the tranny first and pointed the tail in the air to get over the crossmember and the torque converter fell off ,they put it back on and barked the tranny to the engine with an impact and not aligning the pump to the torque converter resulted in a completely distroyed oil pump and it ended up on my hoist cuz "it wont turn a tire " and $2k later they got the truck running again ,,,

sometimes doing things yourself doesnt pay i guess

and yes the shifter cable is not adjusted properly or sumfin ,IDK ,im not there to see

It was quite easy to connect the tranny to the engine, because we put it in as a whole unit.

yes, the dipstick does have a level on it, and the fluid is fine, not low or anything

I take off the transfer case before I remove the tranny, and put it on after the transmission is already bolted up to the engine, I feel it is easier and safer this way.

Also, how do you properly align the torque converter inside the bellhousing onto the tranny input shaft? I was looking for the 3 flat spots on the input shaft, b/c the torque converter has three flat spots in a triangle shape from one another, but the input shaft does not. Please explain, that would be very helpful.

Did I tear up the torque converter or the tranny by running it? I only ran it for about a minute at the longest, which I don't think would harm anything, but then again I don't know.

Thanks for the help

lbkthree · March 10, 2012

It sounds like there wasn't enough fluid in the torque converter at startup.

LeoS41280 · March 10, 2012

" not aligning the pump to the torque converter " That is what I was thinking also.

nickvrebel · March 10, 2012

Is it a new torque converter? If so did you prefill it with fluid before install?

8.1HD/ALLISON · March 10, 2012

If you didn't have the torque converter dropped all the way into the pump when installing you broke the pump.

nickvrebel · March 10, 2012

Another thing as eluded to earlier if the converter wasn't fully seated in the transmission then you crushed the pump when mating the motor and transmission.

LongrangeLauber · March 10, 2012

All yall are right. I destroyed the pump, good thing I have the old tranny still laying around. Pulling both pumps now. Wish me luck...

I also have the old torque converter. Is it safe to use a tq with 160.000 miles on it?

Thanks for the help gentlemen

gmtech4 · March 10, 2012

god im good ,lol

usually when a TC is not in far enough the tranny doesnt bolt up good ,

glad ya found it !!!

LongrangeLauber · March 10, 2012

both the TC and bellhousing bolted right on up easily, but it just wasnt seated. This is my first time doing it so I was bound to make a mistake. Oh well, learn from your mistakes as the old saying goes. Thanks for all the help yall!!!

txab · March 11, 2012

god im good ,lol

usually when a TC is not in far enough the tranny doesnt bolt up good ,

glad ya found it !!!

gmtech4 · March 12, 2012

lmao !!!!!

thx Darral !!!!!

nickvrebel · March 12, 2012

both the TC and bellhousing bolted right on up easily, but it just wasnt seated. This is my first time doing it so I was bound to make a mistake. Oh well, learn from your mistakes as the old saying goes. Thanks for all the help yall!!!

don't ask me how I knew what the problem was.....

Doug_Scott · March 13, 2012

When you put the convertor in, the neck on the convertor will line up with the pump. The pump matches up to the outside of the neck. The transmission has two shafts that must line up with two different spots inside the convertor. I used to drop the transmission into a metal garbage can (slightly crush the can to hold the trans up by the bellhousing), then slowly drop the convertor into the bellhousing, while paying attention to how many times the convertor stops and you have to turn it slightly. There are 3 distinct connections when mounting the convertor. Once convertor is in, take a short wrench, and bolt it to one of the lower bolt holes so that the wrench ends up against the convertor, stopping it from moving or falling out.