QuestionQUESTION: Hi Roland,
Well I am rebuilding the A604 in my 96 Town & Country 3.8 LXI right now - you were right of course and and was pretty bad inside. Had to order new planetary gears, torque convertor and solenoid pack on top of the rebuild kit. I have a question about rebuilding the valve body assembly. I am reattaching the transfer plate and I cannot find any torque specs for the torx head screws. If there are no torque specs for reassembly do you have a suggestion on what to torque them to? Obviously I dont want to under torque and have the screws come out and I dont want to over torque and have the screws come out of the housing. What about thread lock? If you have suggestions on what to torque the valve body assembly or the remaining parts of the A604 I would really appreciate your guidance. The only torque specs I can find are for the transfer gears at 200 ft
lbs. This is my first rebuild but I do have the manual and training video which has been helpful so far but did not address the valve body assembly at all. Thanks, Micah
ANSWER: Hi Micah,
The '98 minivan manual gives a value of 105 inch-pounds for the "transfer plate to case" torque on the 41TE transmission.
"Valve body to case" is the same. "Valve body bolts" is 45 inch-pounds. No mention of thread locking is given.
Roland
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QUESTION: Hi Roland,
I am still treading water with my A604 from a 96 Town and Country 3.8 LXI, I just ordered another hard part, the low reverse clutch piston should finish these needed hard parts off. I have two questions, they are, I am planning on going with an external cooler. Do you have a suggestion on the size. I was thinking 22K GVW should take care of cooling needs of the tranny. Hopefully...finally, can you tell me how to check the drag on my transfer gears after they are re-installed. It seems I need to use a in. lb. torque wrench but, cannot find specs. Thanks again for your help. Micah
ANSWER: Hi Micah,
I can't give you advice on the cooler, but perhaps you can size it by comparison to the stock cooler. The ptu torque question: I only see one such spec is in the last section having to do with output flange shim selection. The very last item says to check the turning torque of the pinion before installing the rear cover. The turning torque should be between 2.0 and 2.5 N-m (17 -22 inch-pounds), I hope this is the spec you are looking for.
Roland
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QUESTION: Hi Roland,
When checking the drag or pinion torque on the transfer gears..is the "Inch pound" check done with both gears installed or just one? If just one gear which one? Is one torque spec more important than the other re: 200 foot pounds torque while installing transfer gears or 17-22 inch pounds of turning torque if both do not parallel each other? Should I use thread locker on one or both transfer gears? Sorry to seem so inquisitive about the smallest matter but, this is my first tranny rebuild and I want to get it spot on. I have a video from ATSG but, it skips some areas of the A604. Thanks Micah
AnswerHi Micah
Cancel that earlier torque spec, it doesn't apply to the transmission, but rather the trasfer unit (I confused transfer gear with transfer unit). The manual shows that you install the output gear only using a new bolt and washer and tighten to 200 foot-pounds. The torque to turn the gear should be 3 to 8 inch-pounds. If it is too high install a .04 mm thinner shim and if too low install a .04 mm thicker shim. Did you use a dial indicator to measure the end play and thus the proper shim to start with? Do you have the table that tells you which shim to use to start with which depends upon the end play?
The bolt is held in place by a stirrup and strap attached to the output gear. Does your manual show this?
There are many pages of details, too many to pass along this way. Would you like a copy of all these pages? I can xerox and postal mail them to you. There are about 25 pages beyond the pages about the clutches. The entire rebuild section (taking apart and re-assembling) is about 60 pages. I can copy these for about 6 cents each and so it would cost about $5.00 to do that and for postage to get them to you. This is from the '98 minivan manual that I have.
Let me know, and I will do copy and mail to you? and you can send back the money after you get the pages. Just be sure to tell me a postal mailing address.
Roland
