There ya go man!! Get that workshop dirty!!

Absolutely. I'll be resealing both the trans and t-case.

Thanks for the words of encouragement all! It really does help to keep my motivation on the boil...

Your memory may be better than mine, but I find it much easier and more time-saving if the fasteners and small bits from each assembly are put in separate plastic pint-size sandwich/freezer zip-lock bags with their I.D. written on the bags.

Frank

x2 <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> Saved my butt more than once...

Eric W.

Frank, I had the same ouchy twinge you did when I saw the converter still on the flexplate. Larry, disco the converter before you pull the motor, and leave it in the tranny just long enough to get the motor out of the way, then pull it out of the tranny oil pump so the weight doesn't distort the tranny front seal. Pain in the butt to get at, but a LOT safer, unless you are dead sure you can pull the engine straight forward without any deviation at all.

I hear ya on that. But, seals are cheap and it was gonna get replaced anyway. And I'd already spent a couple hours underneath that bastard. And I forgot to wash it after our last trail ride. And it was raining north Georgia dirt the whole time. And that sucked.

I did come straight out before giving any upward thrust... Now it's on the stand awaiting me pulling its bottom out. That may happen tomorrow night. Lisa got me a new-to-me workbench that needed a little modding. So, it got an 8 inch lift... now it sits at 45", which is the perfect height for me to work at it for long periods of time without back fatigue.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> He'll learn. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Larry, before I forget to mention it, order 6 new torque converter bolts from the dealer. Those bolts stretch about .010" on each tightening and re-use can distort the converter innards.

Frank

This ain't my first rodeo fellas. It's acceptable to do it either way, so long as you're not silly about it (ie you don't want to angle the motor up so that the converter neck is in a bind.) That seal should get replaced every time the converter is taken out of it, IMHO.

Frank, I already had those bolts coming. My old ones looked fine, but they're cheap insurance.

Got everything off to the machine shop. Upon disassembly, I noticed a little of what looked like some etching or water damage in #6 cylinder bore. After washing the head at the machine shop, I could see a small spot where there was a slight head gasket failure. Pics to follow...

Here are the pics of the cylinders in no particular order.











And 2 photos of the #6 cylinder I mentioned earlier.





I thought that it looked pretty nasty. The machinist said it's fairly normal, that most vehicles with at least 100k on the clock have some sort of water entry into the cylinders. Especially in climates where temperatures and humidity levels can have wide daily ranges. I dunno... thoughts?