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727 sat outside, rebuild?

KCbelvedere

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I have a 727 that was stored outside for about 6 years vertically on the side of my house. I had a bag wrapped around the tail shaft for a majority of it but it sat for some months without it. I was able to crack the pan today and water infiltrated the case. There was maybe 1/4 of a cup of water. Not really much at all but not much transmission fluid after sitting for so long either. I have attached pictures of the valve body. There is a light grew that is almost like mold or mildew as well in small areas. Should this be broken down and gone through or can this run with new fluid and a new filter?

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Worst case you waste some trans fluid. Fill it up and see what happens. Why was it propped up next to a house? Was it supposed to be in good running order when parted?
 
The engine spun the mains on it and the car got sidelined for alot longer than planned. The transmission was working fine when both were removed and just stored.
 
Two bad things can happen with water - steel valves in the valve body might rust and freeze up, and clutch/band material could get soggy and wipe off. But you might get lucky. Myself, I'd crack open the valve body just to reassure myself that it's okay.
 
Looks dirty in picture. Removing VB is no big deal. If you split valve there are 7 check balls I think don't loose them. @dvw he's has good advise on what to do. A few more pictures might help. Putting VB back in you might need to turn output shaft to get parking rod to go in. dvw help me with that, had forgot that.
 
I got a Turbo 400 in similar shape years ago. I pulled the pan and what fluid/crud was left had jelled. Gobs of jelled fluid stringers hung down from valve body. I took a paint brush and cleaned all best I could, new filter and gaskets. Still driving that tranny today, 30 years later...go for it...
 
You must remove the kick down and shift lever from the top first. loosen the 7/16" head bolts and gently pry the levers off. If the shaft is rusty clean it off with some scotch brite. Now the valve body comes off with the 10 7/16" head bolts. there may be a spring behind the accumulator piston (accumulator is between the front and rear servos). set it aside. I can already see rust on the kick down linkage. If nothing else appears rusty the trans itself maybe OK. If the clutches or band got wet they should be replaced. The glue that holds them together is water soluble. The grey goo appears to be aluminum corrosion. It may just wire brush off on the outside. If water got inside and the valves are rusty the valve body definitely needs to come apart. Remove the valve body 1st. Then air check it. Front servo 2nd gear band, rear servo low/reverse band, Front clutch apply 3rd/reverse clutch, rear clutch (applied in all forward gears only). should get solid thud with very little air hissing. Servos should move and clamp each band. Then we'll see.
Doug
727 air check.jpg
 
Wouldn't you rather go through it now, than have to yank it out of the car when and if it fails later?
 
If early trans you might want to grab a vb with part throttle kickdown anyway
 
Definately rather go through it now then pull it again. I will be pulling the valve body tomorrow. Part throttle kickdown? I was also going to ask if I should upgrade anything while I have this apart.
 
Oh... I thought you meant Boeing, and when you initially stated it was on the side of your house, I had horrible thoughts............
 
depends on usage but for most 3 planateries are plenty
you can see how many clutches it has but again stock works
I did put more n my truck but I had a donor HP trans
 
not easy with me eyes Kim
I brought it on the 36" monitor instead of the chromebook and BINGO
 
In 30 years of trans building I've seen the needle bearings fail in a planetary 2 times. Never seen a gear failure. I run 3 pin in my racecar. Most applications the 4 plate high clutch will work easily to 700hp.
Doug
 
Update! So I was able to pull the valve body after work before I lost the light in my garage. The valve body looks pretty clean. The internals in the transmission on the other hand look a little more worse for wear. Thoughts? Still proceed with the air test? After a quick wipe down some of the rust wiped off and some seemed like it may need a little bit of elbow grease to get off. It does look like the back of the pump is covered in surface rust though. You can see what I mean in the second picture.

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What DVW said. Maybe do air test just see if anything doesn't work. You could give special attention.
 
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