Hello everyone I’m new here and this is my first post!
I have a 1983 Glx convertible with 30000miles originally a v6 car and now has a carbureted 5.0L. The car is an automatic, I would assume a c5 transmission. I have decades experience as a service technician and have restored my fair share of classics as well. That’s not to say I know it all or anything for that matter I’m just saying I’ve turned a wrench or two.
So the story goes:
The car is from California and somehow made its way to Ohio circa 2011. I am the 4th owner and the 2nd owner had the car from 2011 to 2020 and in that time removed the v6 installed the crate 5.0l v8 and also installed an edelbrock intake, edelbrock carb 600cfm, went with a duraspark 2 ignition system, installed long tube headers and dual exhaust. The 3rd owner purchased the car in 2020 and drove the car for a few months of the summer before parking the car in 2021 the car ran and drove perfectly when parked. The car sat untouched until 2023 when it was started up and tried to move the car wouldn’t go in either reverse or forward. The transmission fluid was checked and it was noted that it was overfilled and the car was left there to rot untouched until a few months ago.
Upon the car coming into my possession I pushed the car into the garage jacked it up and fixed some surface rust underneath and dealt with the small amount of bodywork it needed and painted it black. The car was missing a starter and the passenger side header was removed, the distributor, coil, spark plug wires and hood scoop were also missing (I found them). I set the car to tdc dropped the dizzy in pointing at number one in the cap and dealt with the starter, the header and the rest of the ignition system. I ended up rewiring the ignition system and replacing the duraspark 2 ICM. Put a battery in her and hit the key vrooom fired up immediately I turned the dizzy till it sounded good and checked the rest of fluids and made sure there were no thermal issues.
Which brings me to the PROBLEM:
I was aware the transmission was overfull and I loosened the pan bolts and drained about 2 maybe 2 1/2 qts of nice clean properly colored trans fluid from the pan and tightened the bolts up. So with the car running I slowly began working through the gear shifter one at a time hoping to catch any gear at all but it didn’t so I returned to park and went to check the trans fluid level hot. The fluid was still considerably higher than it should’ve been although still clean in color and consistency. I shut off the car and proceeded to drain another 2 qts out of the car by loosening the pan bolts. Now I check the cold fill its right under the line so I fire the car up and proceed to slowly move through the gears for a moment and I feel it grab reverse but no drive yet. Also it grabs reverse and even backs up a few feet before letting go. So I shift it back and forth and after awhile I get out and check the transmission fluid and it’s still a tiny bit higher than I would’ve liked so I loosen the bolts drain another qt out and start her up and start the shifting process over again. This time I have success and am able to grab first and reverse and can even move the vehicle in either direction (mind you I’m not trying to rev it) and so I shut the car off for awhile and I fire it back up after it cools down and boom goes right into reverse and right into drive then loose its grip on first and check the fluid again and find bubbles no milkshake just bubbles so I shut it off.
I would like to say that I initially thought that the transmission pump lost its prime due to the seals or filter drying out in it. The fluid level is now perfect far as I can tell and the bubbles have gone away. So I pulled the pan off expecting to see some carnage and find a pristine looking trans so far. No funny smells, no metallic material, no black stuff, no gummy trans fluid. I am perplexed my though is to change the filter and seals and retorque the valve body before installing a new pan gasket and filling it back up.
Does anyone know what the heck is going on here because I am so confused?
I have a 1983 Glx convertible with 30000miles originally a v6 car and now has a carbureted 5.0L. The car is an automatic, I would assume a c5 transmission. I have decades experience as a service technician and have restored my fair share of classics as well. That’s not to say I know it all or anything for that matter I’m just saying I’ve turned a wrench or two.
So the story goes:
The car is from California and somehow made its way to Ohio circa 2011. I am the 4th owner and the 2nd owner had the car from 2011 to 2020 and in that time removed the v6 installed the crate 5.0l v8 and also installed an edelbrock intake, edelbrock carb 600cfm, went with a duraspark 2 ignition system, installed long tube headers and dual exhaust. The 3rd owner purchased the car in 2020 and drove the car for a few months of the summer before parking the car in 2021 the car ran and drove perfectly when parked. The car sat untouched until 2023 when it was started up and tried to move the car wouldn’t go in either reverse or forward. The transmission fluid was checked and it was noted that it was overfilled and the car was left there to rot untouched until a few months ago.
Upon the car coming into my possession I pushed the car into the garage jacked it up and fixed some surface rust underneath and dealt with the small amount of bodywork it needed and painted it black. The car was missing a starter and the passenger side header was removed, the distributor, coil, spark plug wires and hood scoop were also missing (I found them). I set the car to tdc dropped the dizzy in pointing at number one in the cap and dealt with the starter, the header and the rest of the ignition system. I ended up rewiring the ignition system and replacing the duraspark 2 ICM. Put a battery in her and hit the key vrooom fired up immediately I turned the dizzy till it sounded good and checked the rest of fluids and made sure there were no thermal issues.
Which brings me to the PROBLEM:
I was aware the transmission was overfull and I loosened the pan bolts and drained about 2 maybe 2 1/2 qts of nice clean properly colored trans fluid from the pan and tightened the bolts up. So with the car running I slowly began working through the gear shifter one at a time hoping to catch any gear at all but it didn’t so I returned to park and went to check the trans fluid level hot. The fluid was still considerably higher than it should’ve been although still clean in color and consistency. I shut off the car and proceeded to drain another 2 qts out of the car by loosening the pan bolts. Now I check the cold fill its right under the line so I fire the car up and proceed to slowly move through the gears for a moment and I feel it grab reverse but no drive yet. Also it grabs reverse and even backs up a few feet before letting go. So I shift it back and forth and after awhile I get out and check the transmission fluid and it’s still a tiny bit higher than I would’ve liked so I loosen the bolts drain another qt out and start her up and start the shifting process over again. This time I have success and am able to grab first and reverse and can even move the vehicle in either direction (mind you I’m not trying to rev it) and so I shut the car off for awhile and I fire it back up after it cools down and boom goes right into reverse and right into drive then loose its grip on first and check the fluid again and find bubbles no milkshake just bubbles so I shut it off.
I would like to say that I initially thought that the transmission pump lost its prime due to the seals or filter drying out in it. The fluid level is now perfect far as I can tell and the bubbles have gone away. So I pulled the pan off expecting to see some carnage and find a pristine looking trans so far. No funny smells, no metallic material, no black stuff, no gummy trans fluid. I am perplexed my though is to change the filter and seals and retorque the valve body before installing a new pan gasket and filling it back up.
Does anyone know what the heck is going on here because I am so confused?
