GM 5L40-E teardown

[wallyx5]

Great Post, Thank you.

[RRPhil]

Originally Posted by ArtMan

How in the world did you get that damn large ring out? i have the large pliers but one side of the ring seems wedged and no matter what i do one side slides out but the other is just not budging!!!!! any advice?

I used a huge pair of locking pliers, similar to the official GM tool (J-45126) shown below which has 30” long handles. With the pliers locked shut you’re then able to concentrate on manoeuvring the circlip out of its groove



Phil

[Ghost-Flame]

RRPhil,

Thank You, Just Thank You. This has been bookmarked.

I've been thinking about buying a trans from a junk yard and doing the same. this is giving me the motivation to actually do it. Thank You

[ArtMan]

I had a pair of 16in which work its a little harder but they work but my problem was that one side of the ring did not want to move out of the groove. it was wedged pretty good. I had tap on it and after an hour of messing about it finally moved out.

[ArtMan]

RRPhil

Man this has been a huge learning track. Thank you for doing this Phil. I had another quick question. In your tranny after the torque converter failed you had a lot of sludge and i have that but not as bad its minor. however i still would like to take everything apart and clean that stuff out. My question is what can i use to wash the parts with? Again it maybe a stupid question but ive never worked on a tranny before so im taking my time and asking a lot of questions.

TIA
Arthur

[RRPhil]

I have no idea what brands of automotive parts cleaning solution are available in Armenia but any standard solution should be fine – it doesn’t require anything special. Just make sure not to put the clutch plates in it and I would also avoid flushing it through the needle roller bearings in the epicyclic geartrain assembly.

The most critical thing is to have your torque converter re-manufactured otherwise there is a strong risk of you cross-contaminating your nice clean transmission fluid with the debris that previously got trapped in the torque converter. As failure of the TC lock-up clutch is extremely common in the 5L40-E this will also be replaced as part of the converter’s re-manufacturing process.

Phil

[ArtMan]

Hi Phil,

I am actually located in Georgia, USA. I was from Armenia originally. I have not noticed any sludge material in side the actualy housing were the clutches are located but maily in the bottom of the pan and on the side as i had rolled the tranny on to its side for a sec.

What do you think about using a clean quart of dex6 to kinda wash the plates as when i try to clean but wiping it just smears and i can see stuff is still there. I was thinking of taking a small plastic container and filling a quart of dex6 and just kinda rinse each clutch plate trying to clean it as best as possible.

I had already sent my bad torque converter to be rebuilt and ive have already recieved it back. the only thing left for me is to order the overhaul kit from cobratransmission.com and some transmission lube compound for the check balls and filter and oil and i can start the process of replacing all the those parts with new ones.

is it realy a pain in the ass to put the pistons in without the eazy-cone thing on cobratransmission.com site?

[swissfrank]

excellent post! well documented!

[ArtMan]

hi Phil,

Sorry about the endless questions but I got one more...I finally had the chance to take out the clutch packs. at first sight they seem fine but looking at your pictures the one were you are measuring it i can see definit gaps between the "pads" around the ring and i started to look at mine. I only took out the centre support assembly and the clutches in there. the top look ok but in the middle clucthe i cant even feel the differences on the surface i mean i dont feel the gaps and on one there was no gap which leads me to believe i need to put new clutch packs in there. my question was do you know the tickness of the pads?


nevermind on the clutch thickness since i found 3 of them had been worn down ti metal.

in a seperate note i found once tooth on the back end of the The intermediate & overdrive clutch assembly with a crack that held a c clip large one and its underpressure, basically take youur pictre of the The intermediate & overdrive clutch assembly and look under it those are the teeth i am talking about.

it seems that u can just position the clip opening at that spot so the broken area wouldnt have been supporting anything anyways if not are you willing ti sell me the one you have?

[ArtMan]

Hi Phil

Well, I am stumped. I tore it down then replaced all the pads etc al o rings and what not. Tore apart the valve body too cleaned and changed the gasket and reassembled then reinstalled it in the car. Hooked up the cooler lines and did not notice that cooler oil line o rings had sloped and where cut. Basically they got sucked in to the cooler then back into the pump. Hoarse when filling with oil everything was fine then after putting in about 8 quarts when I put in reverse I hear shutter noise then if try to place it in park I hear loud shutter like as if it was a manual tranny when you fail to compress the count correctly or signage into the gear correctly that metal shutter grinding sound i hear the when putting it in park. I've reopens the funny but found fine rubber dust looks like the pump grinder down the half of the o ring. So and suggestikns