its_karl Posted March 25, 2013 Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 So I traded my 2004 Honda TRX450R for a 2004 Eclipse Spyder GTS convertible. Only downside to the trade was that the auto transmission wasn't working. I weighed it out and decided to trade based on the great overall condition of the car, knowing that even if I had to buy a rebuilt transmission, it would be worth it. So I got it home, put it on jackstands and diagnosed it to a mechanical failure of some sort (these are electrically shifted). And based on what these transmissions are known for - I guessed it was a probably also broken wave spring. I removed the F4A51 transmission from the car and tore it apart yesterday. This will be my first transmission rebuild attempt. So here's the pics. the pump shaft is tight and wont turn - this is when I decided go ahead and tear it apart rear section, planetarys, friction clutches, steels seemingly unorganized - I assure you it is... housing fortunately untouched Stator lightly scratched The secondary piston (pictured below - left) took a gouging - hard to see... also hard to replace, more to come onthis piece. As you can see, the thin circular metal (wavespring) is broken, pieces migrated to the pump and broke it. More interesting facts/pictures/cost summary to come (tomorrow hopefully). 11 Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 So, I have everything except: - pump (arrives thursday hopefully) - loctite / assembly lube / sealant - brakeclean So far cost is just above $500 Pics - so if you look closely, you can see where the damaged parts were filed and then sanded with fine grit sandpaper Compare this to before (below) In retrospect, I wish I would have researched how to do timelapse - as I feel a complete teardown & rebuild would have been very entertaining... Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I'm procrastinating - assembly will happen tomorrow, and finished on thursday with arrival of the pump. Too bad this isn't a datsun, then it might get a little more attention... Pics tomorrow, TBC... Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 soooo did mitsubishi not make a 5 speed that will bolt up? i know my grandmas 2000 eclipse has a 5 speed but its a 4 banger not v6 dont know if yours is a 6 or not but most were Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 Traded a Honda for an eclipse and details the trans build on a Datsun forum. Not getting this... :lol: :lol: :lol: 1 Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 Yeah it's going to be for my wife, she's not trained yet for stickshift... Would rather post in non-datsun project than join an eclipse forum, no offense to other eclipse owners... they're just usually pretty juvenile is all. Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 So I noticed the overdrive planetarys gear pins were recessed, and sure enough they are supposed to be staked in. Then noticed that a shim had slipped out and down inside, then found another deeper. Ebayed up another good gear set, messaged seller to see if they could ship asap.... looks to be a some delays, but it's better to find it now than when I'm driving down the road. Quote Link to comment
Llittle_Llama Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 I'll be watching this, good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted March 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Some random pics, until parts arrive... I found it particularly difficult to compress the wave spring and cover plate, made a compression tool to get it accomplished - well used pieces from a c-clamp and washers and some flat stock with some drilled holes... Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted March 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Another thing the previous owner mentioned was that this car just had the transmission rebuilt 40k miles prior. I'm guessing that transmission place opted not to replace the OEM wavespring with the HD wave spring, or it was only made available after this was rebuilt. Some other questionable things I found along the way - both transmission mounts were completely worn out (center even fell out on front one), motor must have flopped a little when driven (was wifes car though)... the guy said he was no mechanic and yet I found evidence that the drivers side halfshaft was recently apart, loose axle nut, loose lug nuts, newly torn cv boot, missing starter bolt, loose inspection plate screws. He made it sound as if he hadn't touched it. Doesn't bother me, I think he just wanted pass it off as a potential easy fix. I traded with the knowledge that even worse case scenario, my out of pocket expense would not exceed the value of the car minus the value of the 450r. And I was blatent about that fact with him as well. They had money though, he bought his wife a 2013 corvette, or she bought it... Point being that he didn't seem to mind the values not being even on the trade. Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted March 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 710 wagon bought for 1000, spent 80 hours rewiring and fixing redoing interior, installed new timing set, new head and drove for a year. traded for 2004 TRX450R after multiple attempts to sell the car failed - (started at 4k - reduced to 2500) - rode the quad twice in 6 months, decided it was worth too much to just have sitting 99% of the time traded quad for 2004 mitsubishi eclipse GTS spyder convertible Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 In retrospect, I wish I would have researched how to do timelapse - as I feel a complete teardown & rebuild would have been very entertaining... It's nun porn to me. Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted April 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 So, I had to wait on parts and life... But got the transmission back together tonight, i'll do the valvebody cover gasket tomorrow morning (it's not a pan even though it looks like one - because it's situated on the side of the trans,not the bottom)...weird but whatever. Then I'll have to borrow either a trans jack or motorcycle jack from a buddy and hopefully have this back in the car by tomorrow evening. and some pics - somewhat cleaned back up all back in one piece... Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted April 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2013 delays - procrastination - priorities changed by others (sigh).... pics/updates this weekend Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted May 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 So finally got around to "my" projects tonight. Work has been, well - work (meaning i'm left with little motivation). I replaced cv axle seals in trans, replaced 2 torn boots on the axles, installed new pan gasket, filled new torque converter/installed, got this heavy damned transmission stabbed and several bolts installed. And now that it's prime time for the drunks to be leaving the bars - I'm getting lots of calls for rides.... Volunteer dispatch for AADD (airman against drunk driving), answering phones and arranging rides, 10 people so far tonight... Anyways, I may finish the transmission install tomorrow. Couple pics for now, enjoy... Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.