Putting back 262 v6 with the tranny issues.

konstantinNeo · January 20, 2020

Hi all.

Have a year 2000 v6 262 vortec paired with a 4L80E transmission.

The engine was removed for repairs and now I am in the process of putting the engine block back in and fastening the transmission. The flexplate is installed with the side maked "towards engine" facing the engine. Using the same flexplate and the same transmission with the same torque converter. When the flexplate contacts the torque converter there is a space between the engine block and the transmission housing equal to 0.4".

After closing the gap by screwing the transmission housing bolts in, I realised I cannot spin the TC in order to align the screw holes with the flexplate.

At this point I unscrewed the bolts to asess the situation.

Is it normal that kind of preload on the transmission?

Could it be that on disassembly the torque converter have slid out of position somehow and now I am forcing it in?

Please advice.

Thanks.

davester · January 20, 2020

First, well done. You noticed something was wrong and stopped to ask a question. This has likely saved you a bunch of time, money and effort.

If you had just forced the TC to rotate, bolted it up and then fired up the engine, it is fairly likely either the torque convertor and/or the oil pump in the engine would have broken.

It sounds like the torque converter has come out the transmission a little bit and isn't properly engaged with the oil pump anymore. You need to separate the transmission from the engine, then rotate the torque converter a bit until it goes in a bit further.

Once this is done, and you've bolted the transmission to the engine again, the torque converter should be a little bit away from the flexplate (or can be moved towards the transmission so it has that gap), and you can relatively easily rotate the torque converter so it aligns properly with the flexplate. Then you can move it towards the flexplate and insert the bolts.