Proper Thickness of Frictions

[RogerRamRod]

I had my transmission rebuilt a couple years ago. Project got put on hold before even starting it up. I recently got it to the point of driving, and drove the car to and from the alignment shop. Everything seemed to work OK, but when I got home, I noticed a fluid leak the next day. I drained the pan to put a new style gasket on it, and the fluid was full of friction material, as was the bottom of the pan, and the filter was caked with it.
I’m not sure if the friction material came from the clutch in the lock up converter, or all the disks in the transmission or overdrive. Since I can’t see in the converter, is there a measurement I can use on all the disks, or should I just go ahead and order a complete rebuild kit?
I’ve been watching a bunch of online videos, some recommended by some of you here, but obviously people aren’t rebuilding “new” transmissions, so of course they are replacing everything.

 

[413]

Was the converter fresh?
was the cooler and lines flushed?
dId this friction material come from the old trans.

Seems unlikely a trip to the alignment shop would produce so much material in the pan. How were you driving the car? Wide open the whole way or just normal driving?

why don’t you take it apart and see what the problem is and then order parts?

 

[RogerRamRod]

It is apart, that is a close up of a couple of discs. Fresh, but not expensive converter (forget who I finally got it from) new lines & cooler. I don’t see anything blatantly wrong. That’s why I’m asking about whether those discs are fine, or if I should spend the money on replacing them. Material came from somewhere. Maybe lock up was trying to engage and it came from there, I don’t know.
42RH trans, manual valve body. Seemed to shift fine, no noticeable slipping, though it was the first drive, everything was new noises and such, nothing to compare to as a reference.

 

[RogerRamRod]

Since I’ve never taken apart an automatic before, I have no idea if those discs look like new or 1/2 worn out.
There was what I would consider a lot of material in the fluid. So if those look good, where might it have come from?
If they look 1/2 used up, then it would make sense to replace them, though I would still need to figure out why.
Watching the videos, I do see checks for proper engagement etc., though I don’t see anything about checking a converter.
I do plan on a better converter though.

 

[lkopaska]

Those frictions don't look bad in the pic.,
What color was the friction material, was it black and kind of gravel feet to it?
Need pic of pan or material.

Sounds like convertor lock up material

 

[Lefty71]

Pick up the common rebuild guides that are available.....best to take some measurements before and during teardown. And of course the proper thicknesses you are asking about are also explained.

 

[413]

How many miles did you drive it? Was the cooler and lines flushed when the swap was done?

you only have photos of the clutches from the rear clutch drum which is engaged in all forward gears. Did you measure the clearance on the drum before taking it apart? If not them put it back together and measure the total clearance.

In the other drum the clutches have different lines in them. Let’s see those.

 

[RogerRamRod]

Black material, looked gritty, drained it all into jugs. Need to check to see whether it went to recycle with my old oil