[NoVa-Corvairs] Corvaircenter.com Thread

Fri Oct 24 15:08:30 EDT 2008

Darrin, Bryan, thanks for your input on my daughter who is out of town 
in her 'Vair and experiencing problems. Per your advice, Darrin, I 
posted to the forum, and got the following responses. I will coach her 
to keep it topped off and hope she makes it home. Then, I'll be heading 
for a PG replacement it seems. My post and the responses are below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

My daughter's first car ('68 'vert w/'65 engine & Powerglide), her high 
school daily driver, has been in mothballs for a couple of years while 
she has been out of the country. She just arrived back here and I wanted 
to surprise her so I worked it over. She was going to an event about 200 
miles away so I wanted her to drive it.

In getting the car roadworthy, I dropped the old PG pan and replaced it 
with a finned cast aluminum one, and refilled it. Only a slight leak was 
left at the cable. The PG's ATF was black, dark gray, and silvery gray, 
not red. After working on it I drove it locally for about 4 hours of 
drive time and all seemed well, only that small drip near the PG shift 
cable.

Today after driving on the interstate about 2.5 hours, a guy flashed his 
lights and waved my daughter over because he saw white smoke coming from 
the rear. He was admiring the car and didn't want her to damage it. He 
called me and told me that there was a puddle of fluid on the engine 
shroud, and it was apparently dripping down and falling on the exhaust 
manifold. He thought it was oil. I recalled how black, not red at all, 
the PG's ATF was when I changed it, and asked him to pull the PG 
dipstick and smell the two fluids to compare. He then changed his mind 
and said he now thinks it was black, or dark gray, ATF, not oil. He 
swabbed it all out with paper towels and said he'd send her on her way, 
telling her to drive more slowly (50 -- 55 only) so as not to generate 
as much heat. Seemed like a knowledgeable guy. Question #1 -- did the 
ATF exit the dipstick tube and overflow? Has anybody ever experienced 
this? Did I overfill it?

A few hours later, I got a call from my daughter. She said she had left 
the first event she was attending tonight and her car would not go into 
reverse. Years ago, this was a constant annoying symptom, and the car 
always required ATF refills. Like daily. You could tell when it was low 
because it wouldn't go into gear, or going around a corner it would slip 
out of gear.

It would go into Drive, so I told her to go where she's going close by, 
wait until tomorrow and I would have her check the level, and top it off 
if necessary.

Question #2 -- what causes this PG's ATF to go from red to black or dark 
silvery gray almost immediately? If I flush it a few times will this 
correct itself? What could cause it to go from too full (if that's what 
the culprit was) to nearly empty so that it wouldn't shift?

Question #3 -- is it possible that from sitting some of the passageways 
or tubes inside the PG are clogged, and therefore it is building up too 
much pressure and flowing ATF out the dipstick tube? If anyone doubts it 
is doing this, does the whole story given you any ideas I haven't 
thought about? Of course, I am at a disadvantage because I have not yet 
seen or touched the car, but am anxiously trying to advise my daughter 
from a distance so she can finish her weekend trip and get back home 
again. The drive home will be between 200 and 250 miles.

Many thanks to all you experts out there from a concerned dad.
*

Re: Powerglide problems (maybe)*
Posted by: *Layton Curtis 
<http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/profile.php?1,293>* (209.250.50.---)
Date: October 23, 2008 07:56PM

The puddle of trans fluid on the engine shroud could be coming from the 
shift cable. The wind turbulance can draw it up to the engine shrouds 
(been there and done that) I fixed mine with a piece of hose and worm 
clamps. The modulater diaphram could have a hole in it causing the white 
smoke. The black fluid is possible because when you drained the fluid 
you only got a third of it out, and the system holds 6 quarts according 
to the shop manual. If it's shifting well tell her to buy plenty of 
fluid and limp home, checking frequently. If it's been shift/operating 
well these are only minor problems.

*Re: Powerglide problems (maybe)*
Posted by: *Robert G 
<http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/profile.php?1,206>* (68.88.170.---)
Date: October 23, 2008 08:35PM

Have her try adding a bottle of Lucas transmission fix and see if that 
will work. I have used in several cars, vans and Corvairs and it did great.

Robert G
SW Kans (in the corner!)

*Re: Powerglide problems (maybe)*
Posted by: *Darrin <http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/profile.php?1,298>* 
(151.200.190.---)
Date: October 24, 2008 04:12AM

Layton, that really does seem plausible...that the fluid is coming up 
from the known leak at the cable to the shrouding.

If you have her check the fluid this morning and it is low, just have 
her add the fluid and drive on home. If she can lay down and look up at 
the front bottom of the motor, there should be fluid all over there as 
well.

Anyone here ever have ATF come up the tube?

Darrin H.
Bethesda, MD
*

Re: Powerglide problems (maybe)*
Posted by: *AREA 51 <http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/profile.php?1,619>* 
(68.62.229.---)
Date: October 24, 2008 04:29AM

from reading your first post and your description of your trans fluid 
your clutch packs and or bands are junk

replacing the fluid will only make it worse because the new fluid is 
thinner and will not seal as well as the thicker older fluid

when i was working for SAAB some people would come in and have 
transmission services done on cars that havent had them done for some time

even if the fluid was dark red we would do the service and the car 
wouldnt even move off the lift!!!

put the old fluid in and off they went

unfortunately in your case it sounds too late for any magic potion to fix

silver and gold is NOT good to see in the bottom of the pan or fluid

*
Re: Powerglide problems (maybe)*
Posted by: *Jedd H <http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/profile.php?1,528>* 
(204.58.32.---)
Date: October 24, 2008 10:08AM

I would second Area 51's call on this...the color is a good indicator of 
internal clutch packs disintegrating. I would suggest also giving the 
dipstick tube a "sniff"...if it has a "burnt" smell to it...good chance 
the packs are cooked. Hopefully she can make it home because when mine 
finally let go...the PG felt like it was in a washing machine and foamy, 
bubbling ATF was coming up through the dipstick tube (and it wouldn't 
move at all).

Looks like you may be ordering a rebuilt from Clark's or CU in your 
future. Good prices and they are warrantied...just need to get a shop to 
put her in for you if you don't feel like tackling it yourself.

Good luck!!

Jedd H.

-- 

Ralph