Re: Re[2]: 727 rebuilds for life!

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The aliens commander decided jmbrodsky@domain.elided would make a
perfect specimen for dissection, and he yelled...

>     However, will the torque convertor and ringear really throw air into 
>     under water?  How?  It's notlike there are any vanes to make a radial 
>     flow pump in there.  Sound like the breather is the way to go, and the 
>     sealed dipstick pipe.

Well for starters Joel, the ring gear itself it like a giant paddle.  Yes
the paddles are tiny (gear teeth), but there are a hell of a lot of them
and they are spinning pretty fast.  Then you have the mounting points of
the torque convertor to the flex plate to act as paddles to catch water.
Lastly, you have the cut out sections of the flex plate to act as thin
paddles.

Look at it this way... you drive into water that is over the transmission
vent.  Initially you have this air bubble in the bell housing.  But since
the vent is only about 3" above the transmission input shaft, that make it
maybe 4" above the initial water line (assuming the air trapped under the
bell housing keeps the water level about at the bottom of the input shaft.


Then you have the truck bouncing along sloshing this water level about.
That's got to be good for at least 2" or more of rise in water level right
there.  Then to top it off you have this monster blender (the TC and flex
plate) churning the water / air at 1000+ rpm to a nice filthy foamy froth.

Personally I don't think the vent stands a chance of staying dry if the
water level gets anywhere near the bottom of the flex plate.  All it's
going to take is a short blast of dirty water churned around inside the
bell housing before the vent is going get it.

You're right, the best approach is to somehow relocate the vent up high on
the vehicle.  If the transmission is being taken apart anyway, I like the
idea of plugging the original vent and drilling / tapping a new one on top
of the transmission body.  Otherwise, I'd try and go with epoxy and some
sort of small elbow inside the bell housing with a tube running up and out
through a hole drilled in the bell housing.  A small plastic vacuum line
type elbow should give good clearance behind the TC.

Take care,

John L.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
jlandry AT halcyon DOT com      | 
Conservative Libertarian        |  "The road to  tyranny, we must never
Life Member of the NRA          |   forget, begins with the destruction
WA Arms Collectors              |   of the truth."
Commercial Helicopter - Inst.   |                     William J. Clinton
http://www.halcyon.com/jlandry/ |    10-15-95, speech at the Univ. of CT