Whollsee's Auto Trans Rebuild

[whollsee]

It's a bit quiet with the early jeep threads lately chaps so forced to write up my mid-winter tf999 rebuild project. Posted some of this on "CJ today" thread but taking your "advice" jag and starting up a rebuild thread. Split Colin's [bogged] old donk with rainman. Me for the tin and the trans, him for the crank and the con rods to furnish his xj stroker project. Thanks to wooders for assistance in getting everything from driveway to ute tray when he could/should have been mowing the lawn instead!

The master plan is to bolt it up to the engine I'm building and do a "minimal downtime" swap into the 7. Nothing really wrong with the running trans but I'll rebuild that too after the swap [if this one works]. Nothing like having a spare spare...

Trans still mated to donk...that's a set of Genie headers you can see. Bonus!


Up on the bench.. ring gear you can see on the flex plate is a bit worn.


Drained it then bit of crap to remove and some careful degreasing before I opened it up for a look. Even though it is a full rebuild I didn't want to grind foreign matter into parts on disassembly.


The torque converter you can see in the background is a "High stall" unit according to the stickers on it. I'm actually after a "low stall" to suit the mild cam I'm going to use so maybe no good to me. Bummer. Might have a peek under the inspection plate on my current trans and see if i can spot any stickers before I try and source an alternative. I'll also check my ring gear teeth while I'm there. According to service records gear was replaced 2004 so should be AOK.

Apparently rebuild pretty easily achievable without most of the special tools. I did, however, make a plywood version of the tranny holder tool as seen in the Jeep TSM. Really simple yet very effective.

[whollsee]

Gutted...think a bit of soda blasting for the case exterior.


...and the giblets layed out. Had a quick look as I dismantled and everything seems in good condition. I'll check it more thoroughly as I clean up the parts. Then fit the new rings and seals etc. Invested in a couple of boxes of zip-lock bags. I'll be needing them. That pink sticker on the converter is one of the high stall IDs I mentioned last post.


One thing that is a bit of a mystery is the valve body plate with "48" cut out of it. Haven't seen that before. Maybe its had a reman body or shift kit installed previously??? When I split the body I should be able to tell if it's stock or modded.


Update:This is stock!

[whollsee]

First out was the oil pump. This is my version of a slide hammer/puller...long 5/16 bolt, washer and a 2.5lb weight. Worked really well. Two of the pump-to-housing bolt holes are threaded and it came free pretty easily.


Split pump..


Checked gears for scoring and concavity. All good. Circled is the air breather orifice. This sits at the top when the pump is installed. Pretty fair chance of ingesting water on crossings if it reaches that high in the bell-housing though that's probably the least of your problems if it has. Did a bit of research and decided to do a relocation. Essentially you plug the hole with weld or other method then drill and tap a hole for a 1/4" NPT fitting or similar in the top of the trans housing. Then run a breather hose and with filter to a safe height just like your diffs and transfer case.


I went for JB weld because a mate was a bit worried about cracking the cast flange with his MIG welder. JB is more than solid enough and temp rated way beyond trans temps.

Cleaned up/sanded in and around hole and plugged the inside...


When set I drilled some angled holes part way into the JB from the front so the glob I put on this side can put down some roots. The whole breather relocation thing may be overkill but what the hell - while your down there!

[whollsee]

Punched out original bush from rear with an old screwdriver. Don't have a set of drive tools so used a block of solid nylon and tapped it home with a hammer.


Can see new bush under the new front seal. This is where the torque converter inserts over the shafts and into the pump.


Pump reassembled. There's the plugged breather hole. New rubber seal installed around edge. Cleaned up mating surfaces and the edges with very fine wet and dry before assembly. Using lots of part cleaning solvent and drying parts with compressed air for this rebuild.. You can do initial cleaning with cloth but was advised to then hit everything with the solvent and air dry. Makes sense.

[josh9465]

Is a TF999 same or similar to the 32rh??

[whollsee]

Originally Posted by josh9465

Is a TF999 same or similar to the 32rh??

I think they are pretty much the same except that the 32rh has an electronic lock-up torque converter. Someone else may be able to confirm that?!

[josh9465]

where did you get your repair kit for the transmission.

would you mind posting some pics of the new clutch discs etc.

the valve body, was that easy to remove?

youre not in perth by any stroke of luck.

im looking at doing this thats all. i have zero experience in auto transmissions