Wrapped up the install of the new trans in my RR on Saturday. Of course, everything takes 3 times longer than I planned. What was supposed to be a day and a half project, turned into a 3 day project. For the most part everything went very smoothly (with the exception of fitting the torque converter). Doing the work in my driveway, I was using my new Liftjacks (see thread about them in the tools section). Honestly, I don't know how anyone without access to a real lift could do this job without them. They made life soooo much easier. Having a real transmission jack would have made the job easier too, but I got by with my floor jack and a homemade dolly that I could roll the trans around on and was just big enough that I could position the jack under the dolly and life the whole thing up and into place. Two snafu's that I ran into...first, the f'ing needle bearings in the driveshaft universal. When jostling the driveshaft around to get it into place, one of the "covers" slipped off and dislodged all the needle bearings it contains. That is an hour of my life I will never get back as I tried to get all those little f'ers back into place. Second snafu...after getting everything back into place, double checked every bolt, adjusted all the linkages and filled with fluid, it was time to start. With Rear end on jackstands, fired up and ran through the gears. Perfection! Until....I turn off the motor and there is a big puddle of fluid. Dammit!!!! No signs of leaks anywhere though. Not a trace of fluid from the pan, dipstick, bellhousing, anywhere. I wake my napping wife and have her come out to assist (usually she is happy to lend a hand, but waking her from a nap is only to be done in cases of dire emergency and this, apparently, did not qualify). She starts the car as I am checking for leaks....not a drop. I ask her to put it in drive...there is a small plug missing from a port just in front of the speedo cable that fluid is now pouring out of. No problem, take the plug out of my old tranny and install. Problem solved.
New trans is smooth as butter, shifts great. Even with my limited skills, this was not too daunting of a task. If I needed to do again, easily a weekend job!
In fact, I cannot even get it to seat back in the trans it came out of. It is a Hughes 2800 rpm unit. What gives? Is the converter bad? Time for a new one?
