Howdy, hoping someone has any ideas on my second shot at getting this transmission in.

About a month ago I was reversing and it felt like I backed into a garbage can. Reverse then had a chunking sound and the transmission felt like it wanted to stay in 3rd or had entered limp mode. Got home, pulled the pan and found bb-sized chunks of metal.

Went to a local u-pull and got another transmission from a 2001 that looked like it had been in a minor head-on collision with the condenser and radiator pushed into the engine. Laid in a soup of broken windshield, transmission fluid, and dirt for a couple hours getting the AW4 and it's torque converter out.

Cleaned it all up with a toothbrush and a few bottles of degreaser, followed Cruiser54's recommendations for checking the solenoids and speed sensors and all were within resistance limits. After draining as much of the fluid as I could, I used the converter I got from the junkyard as the turbines seemed to be intact and when mounted to the transmission it spun freely (plus I figured my old TC might have metal remnants in it). Replaced the torque converter seal with National 223830. Got the transmission in and it shifted great but after getting up to speed on the highway it was barfing fluid from the inspection plate. Confirmed it wasn't from the breather tubes or dipstick tube by surrounding them with paper towels and driving while losing about another quart of fluid. I then pulled the transmission back out expecting the see the seal in pieces or blown out, but it was still there and intact. The torque converter snout is smooth and a new seal is relatively snug when I slide it on with the converter on my workbench. Could the seal have been bad from the factory? Any way to tell if the torque converter is leaking from a crack (though this seems more fluid loss than a crack)? Some fluid is resting at the base of the pump (on the shelf of the bellhousing) so I'm considering replacing the O-ring but don't want to tear more into it without some pointers on what else could be wrong. The torque converter notched 3 times back onto the transmission and spun freely just before I bolted it back up to the flexplate. Thanks for any ideas or advice!

 

Disclaimer: I am not a professional mechanic and may not be wise to follow this advice without verifying with a professional mechanic.

Since you have it on the bench, could you push pressurized air through the incoming transmission cooling line, with the dip stick tube and outgoing cooler line blocked off to see where either fluid or air pushes out?

This is just a wild guess....be warned..... I wouldn't try this until I got a consensus of approval from professional mechanics

 

The trans cooler empties into the pan, so trying to force air in that way will be backwards of the normal flow.

 

Actually that's not a bad idea. While the transmission is out I might as well eliminate any clogs in the lines or auxiliary cooler as the culprit. But would that mean the input shaft seal would be the next best exit for the fluid? I might even bypass the cooler and lines once I have the transmission reinstalled.

There's a hole just behind where the seal sits that I assume supplies the torque converter with fluid. I don't need to clock/align the seal with that hole in any way do I? I can't find any marks or indentations on the seal that would accommodate it. Any info I can find says to just make sure it's flush with the recession it fits into and is snug on the torque converter snout. I did pick up one of those kiwk sleeves but the torque converter snout seems smooth and snug when I put the seal on it. KWK99147 is that part number.

 

Maybe these can help:

https://itsajeepworld.com/wp-content...-diagnosis.pdf

https://www.scribd.com/doc/97292423/...c-Transmission

 

To follow up, it was most likely the torque converter. There was a decent split in the weld between one of the flexplate mounting nuts and the housing, and I assume that the centrifugal forces allowed that much ATF to coat the inside of the bellhousing. I ended up using the old torque converter rather than the one I salvaged with the AW4 from the boneyard. That being said, I used a different seal the second time around that seemed to be much better quality. I'd recommend anyone replacing the seal use the Beck/Arnley 052-3386 rather than the National 223830. The steel ring seemed to have a better fit when tapped into the recess of the transmission and was nice and snug on the snout of the torque converter. Both torque converters had little wear on the snout so I don't think it was that. Lesson learned: pressure test the torque converter before installation.
Here's an easy way to pressure test a torque converter: The seal I wouldn't recommend: https://a.co/d/aiAuS0t
The superior seal: https://a.co/d/0Gc07CH