kzobel

I've got a 1989 Chevy Stepside (4x4) that I recently purchased and I'm having some problems with the transmission.

As it sits right now, I cannot get it to engage in any gear. I talked to the previous owner and he said that he had to "occasionally let it run for about 20 minutes while moving from Park to Reverse" to get it to start engaging.

I dropped the pan and changed out the filter but I did not notice any metal shavings anywhere. It did look like there had possibly been a small amount of water in there at one time (Some white(ish) cloudy coloring) but everything else looked like it was in good shape. All signs right now seem to point at a pump....I hope that is not the issue but if it is......it is. Is there anything else that would explain the steps he had to take to get it working?

I should mention that the previous owner did swap the motor out, but the issue with the tranny was there before the swap apparently. It's got fluid in it....sadly though it does not seem to change levels (~1/2" above "Full Hot").

I would very much welcome any other ideas before I change the pump. Thanks in advance!

RacerX

You need a rebuild. YOu have no idea of being able to discern if the pump is bad versus there is no friction material on the clutches or the valve body has a leak or the seals in the servos are torn. If you are going to do one thing you might as well do it all.

kzobel

Thanks for the reply. I see what you are saying and I guess it's been lingering over my head the whole time :/

I might just go ahead and pull one out of a salvage yard here and see how far it gets me. I'm not trying to make this truck a powerhouse, it just needs to get me from A to B. Even if I do go with a rebuild, it seems like it is sometimes cheaper to get a Re-man. Or am I wrong?

RacerX

They are the usually the same price often with the same time frame on the warranty. But AT least you know one thing: junk yards dont have warranties. But see what you can find.