I got a tranny from somebody locally rebuilt by gm and a torque converter too. im putting it in this weekend and i dont know how much fluid to put in before i put the stuff in. theyre drained, but only by leaking out, not by actually being fully flushed and dried. how muc should i put in the converter, and then how much in the tranny once its in the car. also, any tips on how i should run the car for the first time once the tranny is in (its got 15k on it, so i dont know if it matters). thanks a lot.

 

You should drain the converter before you put it in and the trans should be empty since you had the pan off of it. So, that said it's empty. Put in 7 qts then start it up. Immediately add 2 more b/c the converter will suck up a couple. Then check it and top it off.

I assume you figured out how to get the valve body back on?

 

thanks.

I had it back on, just wanted to make sure that one bolt was on right cause it looked weird how it was.

 

the t/c should not I repeat not be empty when you start up the car.

Can I say that the torque convertor should not be empty when putting it in the car. One quart should be added. some of it will spill out while you are intalling it.

Do not install the convertor empty

 

I also added some fluid to the TC before install - not enough to make the install a mess, but some (like a quart or so). Then installed, and added 6 quarts to tranny - started it, moved through the gears, back to Park, checked, added more, and repeated several times until i got a good stick reading. THEN, I drove it 2 blocks, stopped, went through the gears again, put in Park, checked again, added again, and repeated. In the end, after a few hours of this process, I think I put in slightly over 8 quarts - but not sure - I lost count LOL.

It did seem to never end, and I was amazed at the amount of fluid a dry system took. Keep in mind your filling the tranny, the converter, and the tranny cooling part of the radiator. I think I added another 1/2 quart a few weeks later, after I had 100 miles on the car and rechecked it. I'm still working on mine as well, so it has very few miles on it as all I'm doing is short testing runs every few weeks as I install/change another component.

And in the end, it was all a waste anyways - my tranny turns out to be bad and I'll have to do it all over again in a few weeks LOL

 

It'll take near 11 quarts by the time it's full.

Like they said, put a quart or quart and a half in the TC; put about 6 in the pan; start it up, and add a couple more as it sits there idling, to top it off; leave it just slightly over full, like 1/4" to 1/2" on the stick; then top it off after a test drive through ALL gears, including manual and automatic downshifts.

The cooler setup you use will cause some variation in the exact amount you'll need. You will of course be flushing that out, the lines and the cooler; so it will have to be refilled too.

 

wow, thanks for bringing this post back up. i wouldve put the new one in today, but we couldnt arrange it because of all of the snow. thanks again for letting me know.