32RH Transmission Issues

[hear]

I also had no success trying to reach OPT, but they sent me everything I needed so I guess it was all good. But answering the phone would be nice.

All the rings I have are Teflon.

 

[sonnyram]

I also had no success trying to reach OPT, but they sent me everything I needed so I guess it was all good. But answering the phone would be nice.

All the rings I have are Teflon.
View attachment 469886

View attachment 469887

No Teflon for me. It’s all metal

 

[sonnyram]

I also had no success trying to reach OPT, but they sent me everything I needed so I guess it was all good. But answering the phone would be nice.

All the rings I have are Teflon.
View attachment 469886

View attachment 469887

Any tips on putting the dipstick tube back? It’s was pretty tricky getting it off. The space is pretty tight so I’m thinking it’ll be a pain putting it back on. Did you replace the filler tube seal?

 

[hear]

Any tips on putting the dipstick tube back? It’s was pretty tricky getting it off. The space is pretty tight so I’m thinking it’ll be a pain putting it back on. Did you replace the filler tube seal?

My dipstick tube is a mystery wrapped inside an enigma. It bolts onto the bell housing so it's pretty easy to locate it when you're putting everything back together. But when I bolt mine back to the bell housing there is no way it will seal at the trans, it's too shallow. But I can see the spot on the bell housing where it used to be, so I have no idea.

Instead, I goop the thing up with The Right Stuff and have a helper jam it home from above. It doesn't take too much effort to get it back in. The only problem there is that if you don't have it seat in exactly the right place, the dipstick will read artificially high or low. I'm pretty confident mine is too deep so it reads artificially high. So I added a little more and monitor for any performance ticks. But if you follow the directions on the RTV it won't leak. I've had to do mine 3 times for various reasons, but it never leaks when I do it this way.

I need to replace the torque converter/pump seal in another TJ here in the next few weeks. I'm wondering if I can lower it down enough to get at that seal w/o removing the dipstick tube. But you can be CERTAIN I'm going to take much better notes about how it's oriented before I take anything apart. Including seeing how far the dipstick protrudes into the case by looking at it from the underside with the pan off, and also making a permanent mark on the tube to show the depth.

 

[sonnyram]

My dipstick tube is a mystery wrapped inside an enigma. It bolts onto the bell housing so it's pretty easy to locate it when you're putting everything back together. But when I bolt mine back to the bell housing there is no way it will seal at the trans, it's too shallow. But I can see the spot on the bell housing where it used to be, so I have no idea.

Instead, I goop the thing up with The Right Stuff and have a helper jam it home from above. It doesn't take too much effort to get it back in. The only problem there is that if you don't have it seat in exactly the right place, the dipstick will read artificially high or low. I'm pretty confident mine is too deep so it reads artificially high. So I added a little more and monitor for any performance ticks. But if you follow the directions on the RTV it won't leak. I've had to do mine 3 times for various reasons, but it never leaks when I do it this way.

I need to replace the torque converter/pump seal in another TJ here in the next few weeks. I'm wondering if I can lower it down enough to get at that seal w/o removing the dipstick tube. But you can be CERTAIN I'm going to take much better notes about how it's oriented before I take anything apart. Including seeing how far the dipstick protrudes into the case by looking at it from the underside with the pan off, and also making a permanent mark on the tube to show the depth.

Hey bro. What’s the torque on the transmission housing to engine block bolts? There are 2 sizes. Bigger ones go to the sides (guide/dowels) and the smaller ones to the top.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Hey bro. What’s the torque on the transmission housing to engine block bolts? There are 2 sizes. Bigger ones go to the sides (guide/dowels) and the smaller ones to the top.

Here you go... personally I did not use a torque wrench for the mounting bolts when I installed my 32RH. I just used a reasonably firm one-grunt's worth of tightness.

 

[sonnyram]

So I finally completed rebuilding my 32RH or A904 transmission. My TJ is back to life, runs and shifts smoothly during my 10 mile test drive. Big thanks to the youtube videos of @hear which gave me a lot of confidence to tackle the job. He was very responsive to all my questions.

Issues found after the teardown and parts replaced:

1. The front and rear clutch discs were burned. The rebuild kit from Oregon Performance Transmissions (OPT) includes new discs.
2. Dustshield plate (covers the bellhousing) was bent on top causing the torque converter bolts rub against it, making all that grating noise. I couldn't find a new one so I got one from Ebay for $28 in excellent condition. Had to remove the flexplate to get the old dustshield out. I wanted to replace the flexplate too but the one I got from RockAuto made by Pioneer won't fit (holes for the torque converter bolts don't lign up). So I decided to put the old flexplate back which seems to be still in great condition. Bought new torque converter bolts from Global Transmission Parts.
3. Front and rear bands are worn out. Not that bad but enough to make me replace them, lol. The OPT kit only includes the front band. I got the rear band from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078LTQRN4/?tag=wranglerorg-20
4. One of the plastic spring guide for the shuttle valve was broken. Unfortunately no transmission shops or stores sell this part. Luckily, I found a used valve body on Ebay for $95, took the part I needed.
5. The rebuild kit did not come with teflon ring seals for the accumulator piston. I did not want to reuse the old ones because it wasn't sealing anymore, pretty lose. So I bought the Sonnax accumulator piston from Ebay (Sonnax 22841-04K) and it works great.
6. The pump bushing looked like still in good shape but since the rebuild kit came with a new bushing, I decided to just replace the old one.
7. The rebuild kit doesn't come with output shaft seal so I had to get one from Autozone.
8. I also replaced the torque converter remanufactured by TC Remanufacturing. RockAuto and Autozone sells it. I got it from Autozone since I have a 20% discount coupon (https://www.autozone.com/drivetrain...-transmission-torque-converter-783/987829_0_0
9. The solenoid looked like still in good condition too but I just replaced it with a new Mopar brand I got from RockAuto.
10. The rebuild kit comes with all the other ring seals, gaskets and orings needed for the rebuild.
11. I also replaced the dipstick tube seal with Mopar brand from Ebay.
12. Used a lot of brake cleaner and air compressor to clean all the parts and housing.
13. Used a whole can of Kooler Kleen to flush both transmission cooler lines. One can is more than enough.

Thank you for everyone's input. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

 

[hear]

Do you have a part number or link on that dipstick tube seal? Mine has never sealed up right since I first took it out. I hunted around for a long time before I found the o-ring, but it still wouldn't seal right. I'll try anything.

 

[sonnyram]

Do you have a part number or link on that dipstick tube seal? Mine has never sealed up right since I first took it out. I hunted around for a long time before I found the o-ring, but it still wouldn't seal right. I'll try anything.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2854377681...pid=5337789113&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

 

[hear]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2854377681...pid=5337789113&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

at one point I had one of those but there was no way it was going to fit. I believe Blaine said that's the type he used as well. Mine came out with just an o-ring. The FSM shows an o-ring as well if I'm not mistaken.

 

[sonnyram]

at one point I had one of those but there was no way it was going to fit. I believe Blaine said that's the type he used as well. Mine came out with just an o-ring. The FSM shows an o-ring as well if I'm not mistaken.

I remember you telling me your dipstick tube is bolted. Mine just slides into the hole with the seal on it. So far no leaks

at one point I had one of those but there was no way it was going to fit. I believe Blaine said that's the type he used as well. Mine came out with just an o-ring. The FSM shows an o-ring as well if I'm not mistaken.

 

[hear]

I remember you telling me your dipstick tube is bolted. Mine just slides into the hole with the seal on it. So far no leaks

It's bolted up at the bell housing with a small welded on bracket, about halfway up the thing. It's just an o-ring "fit" at the transmission. It boggles my mind that it didn't leak before but now it requires RTV and clearly won't sit deep enough if I also have the bracket bolted. And I can clearly see where the bracket used to be and I know I unbolted it. It's madness.

 

[sonnyram]

It's bolted up at the bell housing with a small welded on bracket, about halfway up the thing. It's just an o-ring "fit" at the transmission. It boggles my mind that it didn't leak before but now it requires RTV and clearly won't sit deep enough if I also have the bracket bolted. And I can clearly see where the bracket used to be and I know I unbolted it. It's madness.

Oh I know what bracket you are talking about. Mine broke long time ago. So it’s pretty much just the bottom part where the tube goes into that’s holding the tube ha ha. You might want to try the one that I used.

 

[Moglocker]

Oh I know what bracket you are talking about. Mine broke long time ago. So it’s pretty much just the bottom part where the tube goes into that’s holding the tube ha ha. You might want to try the one that I used.

Yep a simple o ring will never seal that tube.

 

[hear]

Yep a simple o ring will never seal that tube.

It did the job fine until I removed it the first time.

 

[Moglocker]

It did the job fine until I removed it the first time.

I’ve always seen that long type,except 350-400 turbo they use an o ring.how hard was it to relocate the vent in the trans?

 

[hear]

I’ve always seen that long type,except 350-400 turbo they use an o ring.how hard was it to relocate the vent in the trans?

not hard, would be much easier if you did it during a rebuild though. The trick is making sure you catch all the shavings from drilling & tapping. I used a tip I found somewhere to grease a sheet of card stock and slide it between the drum & top of the case. The grease should hold all the shavings, then you slide it back out. but you still have to take out the pump & do a band adjustment.

On the other hand, I've always thought it was no small coincidence that my rebuild Was because the lockdown band failed dramatically, which was directly above where my vent was drilled. I don't know why those would be related, but proximity is typically a good indicator.

 

[Moglocker]

not hard, would be much easier if you did it during a rebuild though. The trick is making sure you catch all the shavings from drilling & tapping. I used a tip I found somewhere to grease a sheet of card stock and slide it between the drum & top of the case. The grease should hold all the shavings, then you slide it back out. but you still have to take out the pump & do a band adjustment.

On the other hand, I've always thought it was no small coincidence that my rebuild Was because the lockdown band failed dramatically, which was directly above where my vent was drilled. I don't know why those would be related, but proximity is typically a good indicator.

I wonder who knows the correct location,I heard horror stories about it pumping atf out of the new vent?

 

[hear]

I wonder who knows the correct location,I heard horror stories about it pumping atf out of the new vent?

I have a theory on that, because mine did it and now it doesn’t. I believe you need your vent hose to be sloping upward the entire way. Otherwise it as it tries to vent it will push some fluid into the hose and then it will find the low point in your hose. The when it tries to vent again, it will build up pressure behind that low spot until it overcomes gravity and pushes the residual fluid out the tube. What doesn’t make it out settles back to the low point and you forever have the problem.

I took the low spot out of my vent hose and I haven’t had the problem since. BUT I’ve also added a cooler so that could be a factor. However, if the cooler was the solution I’d expect non-modded transmissions to puke fluid out the vent behind the torque converter, but you don’t ever hear about that.

So yeah, that’s my theory.

 

[hear]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2854377681...pid=5337789113&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

Can you grab a picture of where the dipstick enters the transmission case? I want to understand how this part is supposed to fit.