Ray,
I think you approached this problem in a logical manner; you tried anything and everything before you bit the bullet and removed the
tranny. From what Steve noted about the tranny when he tore it apart says to me it was plumb wore out! Going through the final drive
made sense as well.
At this point in time it's all back together and at zero hours as we say in the aircraft business.
That's that!
Regards,
Rob M.
The Pedantic Mechanic
USAussie - Downunder
AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808
-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces] On Behalf Of Ray Erspamer
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2016 2:34 AM
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Major transmission leak......Need help!
Transmission Fluid Leak Update 11-7-16
Due to the stress this subject was causing me for the last several years, the past 10 days I've done the following:
1. Removed the transmission and final drive from the coach.
2. Delivered the transmission to Steve Turnquist in Minneapolis for a complete inspection and rebuild.
3. As long as the final drive was out I delivered it to John Biwersi in St. Paul for a complete inspection.
On the transmission, Steve found many worn parts, hard seals, bad bearings etc. He rebuilt it with many upgraded heavy duty parts,
plates, clutches, torque converter, etc.
I want to add a note that I know Manny also does incredible work on transmissions, I elected to go this route on my rebuild to save
the shipping costs between California and Wisconsin and Steve was able to give me a 3 days turn around time. Per other GMC'ers on
the net both Steve & Manny do very comparable & excellent work.
On the final drive, John Biwersi is extremely knowledgeable of final drives and has literally every tool and bench fixture needed to
work on them. He did the following:
1. The large outer pinion bearing was questionable with a series of small chips in the race, he replaced both pinion bearings and
races.
2. He replaced both pinion seals.
3. As long as it was out of the coach and on the bench, at my request he also replaced both drive shaft seals.
4. He checked the backlash and made adjustments accordingly disassembling and reassembling major components MANY times until things
were perfect.
Both Steve Turnquist and John Biwersi are incredible meticulous people to work with and they bent over backwards to give me
outstanding quality work with quick turn around times. Transmission rebuild was 3 days, final drive was 2 days. Costs from each
were fair and competitive.
CONCLUSION:
After getting the rebuilt transmission and final drive reinstalled into the coach we went on a 250 mile test run yesterday.
Before the transmission rebuild I'd lose close to 1 quart of transmission fluid every 100 miles, on the test run yesterday there was
NO LOSS of fluid and not a drop of fluid anywhere under the coach. Transmission temperatures were also down significantly after the
rebuild.
My problem has been solved and now I can get back to relaxing and enjoyable GMC traveling.
I want to thank all of you for your great support on this, you've all been awesome.
Have a great day!
Ray
I think you approached this problem in a logical manner; you tried anything and everything before you bit the bullet and removed the
tranny. From what Steve noted about the tranny when he tore it apart says to me it was plumb wore out! Going through the final drive
made sense as well.
At this point in time it's all back together and at zero hours as we say in the aircraft business.
That's that!
Regards,
Rob M.
The Pedantic Mechanic
USAussie - Downunder
AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808
-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces] On Behalf Of Ray Erspamer
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2016 2:34 AM
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Major transmission leak......Need help!
Transmission Fluid Leak Update 11-7-16
Due to the stress this subject was causing me for the last several years, the past 10 days I've done the following:
1. Removed the transmission and final drive from the coach.
2. Delivered the transmission to Steve Turnquist in Minneapolis for a complete inspection and rebuild.
3. As long as the final drive was out I delivered it to John Biwersi in St. Paul for a complete inspection.
On the transmission, Steve found many worn parts, hard seals, bad bearings etc. He rebuilt it with many upgraded heavy duty parts,
plates, clutches, torque converter, etc.
I want to add a note that I know Manny also does incredible work on transmissions, I elected to go this route on my rebuild to save
the shipping costs between California and Wisconsin and Steve was able to give me a 3 days turn around time. Per other GMC'ers on
the net both Steve & Manny do very comparable & excellent work.
On the final drive, John Biwersi is extremely knowledgeable of final drives and has literally every tool and bench fixture needed to
work on them. He did the following:
1. The large outer pinion bearing was questionable with a series of small chips in the race, he replaced both pinion bearings and
races.
2. He replaced both pinion seals.
3. As long as it was out of the coach and on the bench, at my request he also replaced both drive shaft seals.
4. He checked the backlash and made adjustments accordingly disassembling and reassembling major components MANY times until things
were perfect.
Both Steve Turnquist and John Biwersi are incredible meticulous people to work with and they bent over backwards to give me
outstanding quality work with quick turn around times. Transmission rebuild was 3 days, final drive was 2 days. Costs from each
were fair and competitive.
CONCLUSION:
After getting the rebuilt transmission and final drive reinstalled into the coach we went on a 250 mile test run yesterday.
Before the transmission rebuild I'd lose close to 1 quart of transmission fluid every 100 miles, on the test run yesterday there was
NO LOSS of fluid and not a drop of fluid anywhere under the coach. Transmission temperatures were also down significantly after the
rebuild.
My problem has been solved and now I can get back to relaxing and enjoyable GMC traveling.
I want to thank all of you for your great support on this, you've all been awesome.
Have a great day!
Ray
