My helper who has been working with me part time since he was 16 came over Saturday and asked me to take his car for a ride, it is an old 89 Volvo 4 door he picked up a couple years back and has cleaned it up really nice.
His complaint was it didn’t seem to be shifting properly, so we took it out for a run, it had a problem, first to second was a sluggish shift and the engine would flare up once in a while.
Back in the carport I pulled the dipstick the oil was dark and it stunk something was burning up more than likely the friction.
With the car up on jack stands I explained how to lower the front of the oil pan warning him to stay as far back from the pan as possible because once the gasket pulls loose from the case there will be an oil dump and if it splatters on him he has a problem as his hair is really long and getting burnt transmission oil stink out of it would be no fun.
He did really good 99% of the oil went into the drain pan and what missed was easy to wipe off the floor.
He slid the pan out from under the car and rolled himself out afterward.
On the bench I showed him how to wipe his finger across the inside of the pan then walk out in the sun and rub the grey/black stuff (Friction) between his finger and thumb and then look for gold, he found none which I explained is good as that usually indicates there is no major bushing wear, just friction which is easier to replace, bushings have to be pressed in with the proper tool and sometimes reamed to size.
His pan like many auto trans pans had a ring magnet in it, which is good as the magnet traps steel worn from the clutch plates keeping it from circulating back into the valve body, it was covered in a thick layer of what I call fuzzy, had him take a pinch of that stuff and back into the sun to look for blued steel, there was none which is good indicating the steel should be ok to be reused.
Back under the car I handed him I think it was a 10 mm socket and had him lower the valve body a tad while keeping a good distance as more oil was going to flow out.
Most all the newer vehicles with lockup torque converters do not have a TC drain plug lowering the valve body will drain the TC to half full lowering the overall weight to be worked with.
Looking at the transmission it to me looked like a Borg-Warner, which is a good transmission and is simple enough I could show him how to rebuild it, I had no intention of doing any work, I wanted him to learn how to do the work himself gaining the confidence needed should he need more for himself or a friend some time down the road.
Once the oil stopped flowing I handed him the pan and 4 bolts so he could put the pan back on, remove the drive shaft and the rear cross member, shift linkage, then it would be time to drop the transmission.
With a floor jack and a pad of cardboard to protect the pan I raised it slightly had him set another jack stand to support the rear of the engine and let him figure how to remove of the bell housing bolts while I disconnected the negative lead of the battery.
One it was out of the car I went into the shop to get a pair of gloves so I could grab the tail-shaft, he could grab the bell housing and set the trans on the bench, when I came back with my gloves the transmission was already on the bench, ah nothing like being 19 or so and strong.
Now it didn’t look like a BW anymore and it was made in Germany, that was a bit perplexing but it was out so time to move forward.
At first I thought it was supposed to be a 4 speed but the PRNDLator indicated it was a three speed, good they are even more simple.
It wasn’t as complex as I feared it might be and as expected the friction clutch’s where shot almost worn down to bare metal and once removed from the clutch packs (drums), where warped due to over heating.
On Monday I had him order a rebuild soft kit (banner), seals friction and gaskets $145.
We put it back together Friday night and by Saturday after he was back on the road for just under $200.
We took a chance with the TC as it didn’t show any external signs of clutch overheating,, all it does is is a lockup anyhow.