BALLZZZZ!!!!!!.....Bearing that is

[Dobalovr]

So it's a slow day at work so thought I'd fix the selector shaft seal on the '70 that keeps leaving swimming pools of ATF all over the place..started off easy enough...

dropped the pan down and was pleasantly surprised at no debris to speak of in the filter or the pan...

And everything looks ok so went to replace the seal with the specialty tool we all know and after messing around with that for 20 min just dropped the valve body instead and went through that way....but wait what's wrong with the detente lever (rooster comb) and spring ....crap the ball bearing has gone missing!!!! Searching searching .....searching some more no luck! So here it sits all apart needing a ball bearing replacement at 4:30pm good luck right? What's that you say? The Mopar depot has 3 in stock? Well bless my soul God does love C bodies! What's that? It's the depot in Toronto? It's gonna be Monday before it gets here? Guess he doesn't love them that much.....to be continued===>

 

[commando1]

Damn good thing you know the right people...

 

[Wollfen]

I want one of those car lifts. Man those things dont take up any room at all do they?

 

[Dobalovr]

I want one of those car lifts. Man those things dont take up any room at all do they?

Pretty typical shop lift but believe me we triple checked before putting her up in the air. I've seen those arms collapse and suddenly you're pinned under 4000lbs of Ma Mopar's finest!

 

[cantflip]

Yep... the last dealer I was at used the little 7k lbs rotory's like yours... the damn children could not stop sidewalling tires on those things. I was yelled at once for going too fast... told the foreskin to KMA and until he either pays me for the drive in or I Fup he should just focus on the problems. 7-8 swings to get the car in the right place for some of them.

BTW... your ball that dropped will show up as soon as the new one arrives. My guess is it made it into the oil drain and will wind up in the pump you use to evacuate the oil. Murphy sucks...

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

YO Doba. You might try calling AAMCO or one of the other transmission places in your neighborhood. Might even be worth ah stop by? Who knowz, they could have such ah thing in their partz stash, or in one of their wrenchez personal partz stashz??? Ah ball iz ah ball iz ah ball....bearing, rite? Jer

 

[Dobalovr]

YO Doba. You might try calling AAMCO or one of the other transmission places in your neighborhood. Might even be worth ah stop by? Who knowz, they could have such ah thing in their partz stash, or in one of their wrenchez personal partz stashz??? Ah ball iz ah ball iz ah ball....bearing, rite? Jer

Yup we tried 4 transmission shops yesterday no luck but this morning sent my guy into Calgary to Transmission Supply to pick up an assortment. We mic'ed the spring housing to somewhere around 5/16ths so we will see what works. Still was amazed that we had some originals on a shelf at the Toronto depot. ====>> to be continued....

 

[Dobalovr]

My guess is it made it into the oil drain

We spent 30 minutes fishing in the drain tub with a magnet....no joy

 

[saylor]

if you lost the ball, there is a small spring also,, just sayin.. in case you dont have that either.

its fun to stab back in there. use a flathead screwdriver. and put the whole mess into a cardboard box before you try for when the ball shoots out 3 times while you mess with it.

try not to die -

- saylor

 

[Dobalovr]

if you lost the ball, there is a small spring also,, just sayin.. in case you dont have that either.

its fun to stab back in there. use a flathead screwdriver. and put the whole mess into a cardboard box before you try for when the ball shoots out 3 times while you mess with it.

try not to die -

- saylor

As you said watch it shoot out 3-4 times first lol. Tried 5/16th ball too small 3/8ths to big now trying to find 11/32nds I could just wait till Monday for the parts delivery but I have no faith in our delivery system.

 

[saylor]

one more thing i thought of -

when you reassemble - check your selector lever @ steering column..

mine was off by one spot - to the left side of P park.

so now P is blank, R is P, N is R, D is N, etc,, they are all off by one spot.

everything works, its just out of position.

i asked 3 different mechanics, at 3 different shops, over a period of time, to adjust it back, and logically they all discombobulate. ive told them just loosen the connection and put the thing back into the correct spot, and they dont understand. they have tried forcing (bending) it, adjusting the shift points, etc, etc, everything but undoing the clip and putting it back into position.

sigh.

one day i will climb under and do it myself.

 

[Dobalovr]

one more thing i thought of -

when you reassemble - check your selector lever @ steering column..

mine was off by one spot - to the left side of P park.

so now P is blank, R is P, N is R, D is N, etc,, they are all off by one spot.

everything works, its just out of position.

i asked 3 different mechanics, at 3 different shops, over a period of time, to adjust it back, and logically they all discombobulate. ive told them just loosen the connection and put the thing back into the correct spot, and they dont understand. they have tried forcing (bending) it, adjusting the shift points, etc, etc, everything but undoing the clip and putting it back into position.

sigh.

one day i will climb under and do it myself.

There was a lot of slop in the gear selector to begin with so I am wondering if that ball bearing was ever in there to begin with. I will definitely make sure it is all the way over in P before we re-assemble. Thanks again for the great advice.

 

[commando1]

And the tech is screwed. The book only gives him an hour for the job.

 

[Dobalovr]

And the tech is screwed. The book only gives him an hour for the job.

Actually I gave him 3 hours originally .....So as I was fuming about there not being a single 11/32 steel ball bearing in all of the fine metropolis of Calgary I thought to myself what would Stan do....Six Sigma came to mind and I looked down and there in the floor drain sat the wayward ball of steel waiting to be plucked by my magnet and installed in it's rightful home...God does truly love C-bodies=====>to be concluded.....

 

[saylor]

hey wouldyalookit that -

I hope I never see that part of my car ever again

 

[Dobalovr]

All buttoned up and dry after running for 30 min. Next is to try it out on the street for shift quality. Couple questions for the group IIRC spinning rear tire on one side and other side spins in same direction = suregrip? Opposite directions = open diff? Also still sloppy shift lever on the column. Looks to be worn roll pin any ideas on fix or is it in the column? FYI drained the converter and it took 8 litres and topped out nice on the full mark.

Pics for y'all

 

[Dobalovr]

BTW thanks to this forum for the tip on the steel A518 46RH gasket versus cork. Worked so much better!

 

[cantflip]

All buttoned up and dry after running for 30 min. Next is to try it out on the street for shift quality. Couple questions for the group IIRC spinning rear tire on one side and other side spins in same direction = suregrip? Opposite directions = open diff? Also still sloppy shift lever on the column. Looks to be worn roll pin any ideas on fix or is it in the column? FYI drained the converter and it took 8 litres and topped out nice on the full mark.

Pics for y'all
View attachment 84677

Sure glad you got that worked out...
Everything eventually shows back up... but it is amazing how hard little stuff can be to find. You're correct... if both turn you have SG. If in park and SG you cant turn either with wheels up.

 

[300rag]

I know you got the job done, but did you get your spare balls today?

 

[Dobalovr]

I know you got the job done, but did you get your spare balls today?

Go figure.....NO! Good thing I like my parts MGR.....