Need A833 advice

-
No bashing but no patience esp when proper protocols are not followed not is proper assembly techniques followed but please reach thru the keyboard and help...

In the mean time while you all area fawning over the OP's problem the basics have not been checked. A misaligned bellhousing will cause the exact problem described...so OP check it and call Passon if it is indeed a one of their transmissions.
 
I pulled the transmission last weekend, pulled the mainshaft, removed the rear bearing, and checked everything. All looked OK, but it was easy to reproduce the 'locking' behavior by hand. I experimented with several used brass synchro rings, and found the one that grabbed properly, but didn't lock up. The gear, replacement synchro, and bearing are back on the mainshaft and the problem behavior appears to be gone. (We'll know more after driving it a bit!) I also double-checked and re-greased the synchro assemblies and all was/is well.
 
Last edited:
@Jim64
Before you put the trans back in the car, watch this video.

You said it's a new gear set from Passon. Sounds like he didn't finish the cone properly.

 
Last edited:
@Jim64
Before you put the trans back in the car, watch this video.

You said it's a new gear set from Passon. Sounds like he didn't finish the cone properly.


Thanks Kosmic! That video describes exactly what I was seeing - the synchro ring sort of screwed itself onto the first gear cone. Fortunately, I did basically what he prescribes, but rather than using the lube he used, I used the transmission assembly lube that Brewer's sells.
 
IMO, you might be selling the auto a lil short.
A small cam, big gears, a hi-stall, and a semi-auto shift-kit
can make an automatic into a lotta fun. Add a loc-up and/or an overdrive and you essentially have a 5.5 speed, with an automatic one-two, that you can control with the gas pedal.
With the A518 for instance, (the ratios are; 2.45-1.45-1.00-.69)
By the math the roadgears with 3.91s are;
9.58-5.67-3.91-2.70 That's 4 gears already; compared to
9.44-6.82-4.93-3.55 with the A833/3.55s (ratios of 2.66-1.91-1.39-1.00)
>But in practice, at WOT, the converter behaves like a fully automatic 2-speed, with the ability to multiply the torque coming into it, continuously variable, from about 1.8 at Zero mph, to 1.1 at the big end.
So then, your roadgears, at WOT might actually look something like;
17.24 at zero mph, diminishing to 11.98 at the up-shift; then
7.37 in second, 5.08 in direct, 4.30 in overdrive, and finally 2.70 in lock up;
So; 17.24-11.98-6.80-4.30-2.97-2.70 and the splits are; ..69-.57-.63-.69-.91
I call it a 5.5speed, on account of the short lock-up. Compare this;
(17.24-11.98)-6.80-4.30-2.97-2.70, the A518/3.91s ........ to
...............9.44-6.82-4.93-3.55 ......... the A833/3.55s.
>I chose REAR gear ratios representative of what I think most streeters would run with these combos AND matched second gears to be fair, because with either combo, as a streeter, Second gear is gonna be the workhorse gear.
>With a small cam, and shifting at 5200, you could be up-shifting at the following speeds;
31,54,85 , with the A518; and
44,61,84 , with the A833..
So, as you can see, With either trans, as a streeter, at WOT, you will only pull one shift from Zero to 55/60 mph .................. but the TC will "shift " itself another time. That is why autos are usually quicker. And that is also why the A833 usually came from the factory with 3.55s compared to the autos with 3.23s..
>But with semi-auto shifting, you have the option of just putting it into Drive, and letting the governor take over; and you can tune the governor to shift at whatever speed you want it to including adjusting the overdrive to come in earlier.

Just to be clear; I also am a die-hard A833 fan; but for different reasons than you.
But;
a couple of decades ago, I did have a lotta fun with a 318LA for several winters, sometimes with an A904/2800, and sometimes with a manual trans, and every winter with a different rear gear.
 
@Jim64
Before you put the trans back in the car, watch this video.

You said it's a new gear set from Passon. Sounds like he didn't finish the cone properly.



@AJ/FormS

Didn't you suggest in other threads to PUT a screw on the cones for better shfting performance? I remember that you said you bias 2-4 for upshift and 1st for downshift. So, put a screw on the cones or not?
 
I think I said that I put a bias on my cones. And I always will.
But I was talking about used gears. I was unaware that NEW gears were being produced for such an ancient design.
But to be clear; When I put them on the lathe, I take the glaze off FIRST, and the tiny step that often forms on/near the base, over time.
After the cone is fully smoothed, that is when the last pass is the biasing swipe.
Back when I was learning this stuff, I was not afraid to take the trans down, sometimes several times in a week or sometimes twice in a day. On a drive-on hoist the drop time was less than 20 minutes.
Another thing I do ON MINE, is cut some channels in the cones to be drainage ditches for the squeezed-out EP-oil. Three per cone, Second and Third only: cuz as a streeter, I never need to get into Fourth that fast and I don't want First-gear to bite that hard, and cutting those ditches with a hand-grinder is not fun.
Another thing I do ON MINE, is to convert Second and Third to "slick-shift" status by cutting out every second clutch tooth, again on Second and Third only, and also cut out every second spline , to just past the engagement line, of the sliders. But I leave the brass in there .
And another thing I do on mine is install a 50/50 oil recipe, of 75/90 EP Dyno-oil, and Dextron II.
I did some of these things in an attempt to run 100% synthetic oil. But that refused to work for me.
So I took it apart and cleaned all thatchit out, and came back with pure Dextron II. That worked extremely well, but I remembered doing that in the 70s, and wear on the cluster-pin was quite rapid. I wore out both ends of that first pin, and both sides, in just a couple of years.
So in this trans I installed 50% EP to protect the pin. On the street with the other mods, I could not detect any difference.

And the Final thing I do, is replace the factory spaghetti shift rods, with some cold-rolled seamless tubing, that accepts standard threading in the ends. Then I make my own rods.

Oh wait, one more; When I put the levers on the studs, I put RED loc-tite in the cavities, and a drop on the threads before tightening the factory special nuts. Then I place the cover on the bench, fork-side up, in the hope that the loc-tite will not wick up into where the internal levers live. If that happens, yur in trouble. Then I come back periodically during the drying time to test-shift it.

To make assembly quicker and smoother,
1) I pre-install the tail into the main case, on the bench, tail up. Then I rotate the tail until I see the hole for the cluster-pin. Then I attempt to install the pin. If it doesn't drop in, I grind off any metal that might be interfering.
2) I also pre-install the side cover, and make sure the shift lever goes into reverse without binding.

The results of all this work is that when I lay rubber, you cannot find my shift points .
There; I have told you all my secrets.
Which, if any, you perform, is entirely up to you. Just don't let peer-pressure tell you something can't/won't work, until after you have proven it to your own satisfaction; sortof like what is the shape of the Earth....... My brass screws on hard, but not so hard as that it has to be pried off. Besides 400hp would have no trouble kicking it off, even if it did.
BTW-1
the slick-shift mod is kindof the key modification. It allows lightning-fast shifting at 7200rpm (the highest I have tried,lol). AND as far as I can tell, the brass is just along for the ride when shifting at WOT. But it's nice to have the brass in there for the rest of the time.
BTW-2
The video provided give a good picture of what is happening, but the one thing he did which bugs me; he talked about getting two gears at once, dry shifting on the bench, but skipped right over it be saying " which you should never do".
Now I agree with that, no problem. But I think he could have said more about it.
Since the presenter didn't, I will.
When you dry-shift your biased A833 into say Second; the brass will lock onto the cone. It's stuck on. If you then do the same in First; one of two things will happen;
1) the shift will occur, and now, the mainshaft will NOT rotate, until the Second-gear brass lets go. And sometimes this will take a lot of effort. or
2) the shift will not occur, because during the attempt, the First-gear brass has latched onto the cone, but the clutch and slider teeth are mis-aligned far enough as to be butted up against eachother, and no amount of force on the shifter will accomplish the shift; in fact all that force just makes it worse.
This can even happen after the oil is in it; and it can even happen randomly during useage. The usual cure is to go find a different gear, and break the cone to brass grip.Prevention is to downshift into first just before the car rolls to a stop.
If you bias polish like I do, you stand to have this occur more often than what might be considered normal. It's no big deal to me cuz I expect it; and it tells me that what I did is still working, and when it stops happening, I know it's time to take it apart again........ but
be of good cheer; it might be a few years before that happens.......
BTW-3
I will never stop biasing my cones.
BTW-4
I have never tried to sandpaper polish, by hand, those cones. I would not have expected it to work. Earlier I told the OP not to try it. It looks like I mightabin wrong. But, in my defense, I did not know it was a brand spanking new gear, for a 60 year-old design. So if anyone out there has factory new gears, I guess it works.
To the OP; my apology.
 
Last edited:
-
Back
Top