89formula#1

Hey guys I have been fighting with a disengagment problem since i put my new tremec tko from fortes crap connection it... Now i thought somting was wrogn with what I did inside the bell houseing so i pulled the trans and everything checked out, I had somone push in the clutch without the trans there and the clutch disc is free in between the pressure plate and flywheel so i know its somthing with the trans, so i run a straight edge across the adapter thats bolted to my bell housing and its really out of wack, the straight edge wobbles all over the place and I think its putthing the trans in cocked and when i push in the clutch the disc is being forced to the same angle as the input shft causing it to stick up a bit... Anyone else have any probs with there trans from fortes cause from what i read it seems his product was great...

Cool90Bird

sounds like you got a weird one. I've got a weird one also, I bought a TKO from Fortes 2yrs ago, ever since day one I've had a bad vibration, I've tried everything, can't seem to find it

89formula#1

I finally got my trans to work after having it in and out about 7 times... I had to sand and drill the pilot bearing to make it work in the end cause it was binding on the input shaft and not letting it free spin... But I got it togethor now and it shifts great but it does whine and its pretty loud in 5th, Hows yours with the whine??

Cool90Bird

I know what it's like to remove and install, done that several times myself, weird thing with your bearing, sounds like you got a bad or wrong one?

There is a whine, which from what I understand is normal, that's why they make radios

89formula#1

Yea I figured its normal. More bad news though, my new rear main seal is leakin so its coming out again lol... Hey Hamburg huh, Have you been to the big Cabela's store. I was wondering around in there for like 4 hours... Its amazing even if you not into the outdoors...

Cool90Bird

WOW, that sucks!!!!

Yeah, I've been to Cablea's, I live about 2min. away I could walk there. I'm not really into any of thier stuff, but it's a pretty cool place.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

Old thread but I found out by pure accident today why this happens with these trans's when using the adapter plate. There are two problems. First, the camfer on the register that fits into the bellhousing is too large, causing the adapter plate not to sit flush. Second, the adapter plate doesnt have enough clearance around the bolts on the front of the trans, again, causing it not to sit flush. Basically, if you attempted to bolt the whole thing together without clearancing everything, the bolts would try to punch the center of the adapter plate out and likely both the adapter and bellhousing would be destroyed. Just bolting the plate to the bellhousing would probably be enough to cause damage.

Sure would be nice if they actually would bolt these damn things together and make sure they actually fit before going into production.

89formula#1

Yea I am real disapointed in my purchase, its stil not right, The pilot bearing isn;t in alignment with the bellhousing when u put the adapter on so it grind downshifting into 4th and i don;t have the tools and haven;t had the time to take care of it so the car just has been sitting all year, i'd say fortes is probably the would quality product out there.. I did file the adapter and the bellhousing because i noticed the clearence problem but i don;t under stand what you mean by the bolt pushing it out??

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

You can get a cheap-*** dial gauge from sears for like $30. May or may not immediatly be in stock but its avialable. I got one from snap-on with a large face because Im so near-sighted that I can only read things when theyre pressed up against my eyeballs, or have huge text.

As long as you fixed the clearance isssues before ever bolting the trans up it wont be a problem. Without grinding, though, the center of the adapter plate will be pushed out by the four bolts around the input shaft when you bolt it down. I used a magic marker to mark everything and check for contact. I basically ground off all the offending material on the BH and adapter plate untill there wasnt any more interference.

89formula#1

are u talking about the four bolts that bolt the adapter to the belhousing, or the four bolts that bolt the adapter to the trans,?? All i did was file the belhousing and adapter plate on the opening in the trans then it sat flush, i never checked anything with the trans going into the adapter... what am i missing?

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

The four bolts around the front bearing retainer are what Im referring to. This is what the adapter plate fits over on the trans. As long as you never, at any point, bolted an adapter with the bellhousing on the trans without taking some metal off around those bolts, its not an issue. It amazes me that this hasnt come up more often. Its not something small, its a major ****-up. These look like they where CNC'd, too, so it shoudnt be a huge deal to cut four clearances into the plate while machining.

All of these aftermarket parts are crap. So far Ive had nothing but trouble with the aftermarket stuff. Why cant they just make the stuff right the first time, or at least get it a little closer...

89formula#1

I actually have 2 adapter plates and both were bolted up.. What did I mess up here??

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

Bolting them up w/o clearancing would probably perminently distort the plate, and cause misalignment issues as the trans wouldnt be parallel to the BH mounting face.

89formula#1

Now when I was going through hell with mine the trans sat in the adapter flush, the adapter just didn't sit in the bellhousing flush. And now that I think about it, I had my t-5 in with a few roller pilot bearings and never had a problem with the bearings going bad and the trans would slide right in, Its gotta be that adapter thats messing me up. You got any pictures??

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

I can take a few pics tommorow...

Edit: I dont know if this problem affected all the trans' that came with the adaptor plate, or whether it was some sort of error in machining, or a revision on tremec's side that went unoticed. If it is your problem, it would be easy to tell as there would be a large gap between the adapter plate and the transmission when you place them together. Come to think of it, maybe a call or email to fortes would be in order to see what the deal is.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

I talked to the rep that I got my trans from. They havnt encountered this issue before, so maybe its just a unique situation, or something thats just recently come up. Ill post some pics in a bit. Its an easy fixer.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

Heres some pics. On the BH I had to increase the camfer so the adapter would clear. The camera I was using is kinda crappy so the pics arnt real clear.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

...

89formula#1

I had to do what u did in the 2nd pic but the first one I didn't do that. Maybe I will check that out...