Morning Gentlemen/Gentleladies,

I recently pulled my transmission in my 2000 C5 Vert to get it rebuilt with what I thought was going to be a replace of the 3-4 Clutchpack, I was slipping in 3 and 4 really bad and 2 was starting to slip as well. SO I pulled the transmission, Torque Tube, and Differential and disassembled everything to take it to the re-builder. after 24 Hours when I got the call from the transmission shop I was expecting to have a weekend full of replacing the driveline and top down fun after a job well done. But instead I got a tech telling me that my transmission had been waterlogged for some time and the majority of the parts were very rusted. So naturally I went back to thinking about damage control and looked into now replacing the torque converter as well since it shares the watery grave that my transmission was now in. So now im narrowing down how water would have gotten into the transmission, I know if your cooling system is old a hole can get created between the radiator coolant side and transmission fluid. Is there a way to test this? Can I do a pressure test on the coolant lines while the transmission is dropped and see if that forces coolant/transmission fluid/air out of the transmission cooler lines on the bottom of the vehicle? if they drip or run transmission fluid that would be a solid indicator of a leak between the two correct?

Thanks in advance!

 

Only way for water to get in the trans is from the radiator or the car was a flood car at one time. Check the differential too, if it was a flood car it's probably full of water too. I'd still replace the radiator and flush the lines real good.

 

trans pressures run from 80psi to over 200 psi internal, the cooler must have some tiny cracks, is your coolant milky?

 

How long have you owned the car? Iv seen the insides rust up do to people putting trans fix additives in.

 

I got the car in 2013 and I have put 22,000 miles on it. This transmission was rebuilt in 2012 and it has roughly 38,000 miles on it. I have never put any additives in it or chemicals. I'm going to flush the lines today along with the coolant and most likely the oil since she's currently airborne. But I spoke with the previous owner (his username is TooTall) (he also happens to be my dad) and there is a chance the place he took it to out in CA sabotaged it with water. So there's the possibility of that, so I'll be going through all this today and I'll post up my findings.

Thanks guys & gals

 

Do you lose coolant? If you don't, then it's not coming from the coolant system.

The line pressure doesn't reach the cooler though. Only maybe 50-70psi reaches it. But, it's still more pressure in the trans cooler lines then the coolant pressure.

 

flood car.

 

When you drained the trans oil, did any water come out with the oil???

 

I've had many GM auto trannys apart and have never seen rust in any of them. Even ones that have sat for years.

 

They are almost waterproof too.

 

Ide go to the shop and lay eye ***** on the trans and see whats up! It should still be rebuildable.

Bill

 

It has been rebuilt and it's back in my posession, I also got a new torque converter. Now I'm going to use my air compressor on the return line for the transmission cooler to force all the atf that's in the radiator out just in case it is impregnated with water. This should also let me know if there are any leaks in the radiator if it pressurized the coolant system. I will leave the coolant cap on and blast it with some air and see if it bleeds off. I genuinely believe the place it was taken to to have the transmission put in was sub par and spiked the atf with water. Currently priming the new torque converter and will begin reassembly tomorrow.

 

Sorry to hear you had to go through all that
Glad you were able to get it sorted. It should be a strong trans now.

 

R
I bought a flooded 04silverado with 68,000miles was and old guys flooded at his camp no one tried to start it due to crack in engine oil pan I pulled the transmission dipstick it was bright red no white spots of any kind is is it possible it would be good to use without a rebuild and a decent flush

 

Good idea on compressed air, but if you have a regulator, and can adjust the air pressure, I'd crank it down to around 80psi. Good luck......

 

I am presuming after almost 4 years it is back in and running.