I got my transmission installed last night. I started it up, drove down the driveway, and pulled right out onto the highway. :D

It definitely works. It shifts through all four gears and the torque converter locks up. :) VERY COOL. :cool:

:cool2:

It pulls strong, shifts decently, and goes as fast as I want it to go, rather than the 30 or so that it would go before I worked on it. :cool:

Next on my list: I am going to save up enough money to put all new clutches in my other transmission. Then I will swap transmissions. When I was doing the work on this transmission, I didn't replace all the clutches because I didn't have the money. I selected all the best clutches from my two transmissions and put them together. The new one will have all new clutches. :)

You can view pictures of the work I did in my new TH700R4 garage at http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/garage.php?do=view&g=4732.

Thanks to everyone for their help and input on this!

Well your certainly in the learning process & you appear to be making phyiscal progress in being able to get the work done. That is a good sign. But I caution you to always find out why failures are occuring. The clutch pack that had burnt clutches probably have leaking seals ,either internally or on the member it rides on. I have heard no mention of what you've done other than replace what was obvously damaged. I will say that when the unit has integrity as for sealing, proper clearances , bushing support & proper assembly that is one part of the equation. The controls are even more important to working properly & lasting a normal amount of miles. I hope you will get a Sonnax catalog ,some tech articles on making the thing last to keep you on the road. Learning exactly how the transmisssion should shift & function will help you obtain the best fuel economy possible. That is why we buy diesels,right. Getting the converter clutch valve from an early unit that provides lockup at about 15 MPH in second gear is optimal for fuel economy. Also I found that using a governer for a taller rear rear end ratio shifts the trans earlier & helps city mileage. You have a 3.42 so one from a 3.08 or 2.73 ratio would shift sooner than your original. The transmissions have the original designation stamped on the r.h.side @ rear of the pan rail just above the pan. Trans specialtyshops & dealers all had this info at one time so if you want to work on these matters you can seek the informaton. I would like to know more about how your obtaining the WVO & preparing it for use. Like how many miles of use you have racked up,your mixing method ,etc. thanks

The reason for failure was the extremely high amount of miles (200K+)both of these transmissions had accumulated, coupled with the fact that someone had poked a hole in the pan on the one and run it out of fluid. I didn't know that until AFTER I bought it of course... They had brazed the pan up and refilled it with fresh fluid... No wonder the fluid looked so clean...

The trans I am building up right now is the one that is going to be a showpiece. This last one was really just a bandaid to get me on the road quick and with very little expenditure. The new one will be done right, with all the HD upgrades I can afford stuffed into the later model case. In the mean time, this one gets me down the road.

My WVO setup... Let's see...

I started out running no mods. That worked, but I couldn't run when it was cold out. Then I built a heat exchanger. It is plumbed into the heater hose for the cab heater, and works pretty well. To prep the fuel, I run it through a piece of fabric and pour it in the tank. I have a very clean source - all they've got in their oil is a little pepper (don't ask where that comes from - I don't know). I used to use a much more complex filtering system, but I quit doing that when I noticed that I wasn't catching anything. So now I am running it through a piece of fabric which has a bit smaller weave than cheesecloth. Of course I have an auxillary filter on the truck in case I screw up and get some dirt in the tank. Right now I am switching from a cheap gas filter (too restrictive to fuel flow) to a hydraulic oil filter.

If there is anything I haven't mentioned that you would like to know about, let me know.

So do you only use one of the side tanks for the WVO,or do you have heaters in both? I think you can mount a third tank from a Suburban where the spare tire rides. They had 30 & 40 gallon ones & fill from the rear of the LH 1/4 panel. I'm not sure the 40 g will fit though.At least you can hook up a gauge & you could pump over to the heated tank with a seperate pump. I used to install the 92/93 6.5TD electric lift pump replacing the mechanical one on the oldies 6.2. That would be a good pump to use for transfer. About your oil supply,are they only cooking veggies or & meat products also ? I would think the animal fat would be a higher viscocity & would certainly turn solid when cold. Oh my achin bacon. LOL iSo do you wrap the WVO supply line & are you using a stock tank switching valve ?. Later

I only use the righthand tank for WVO. One of the keys to using a coolant heater is that the engine has to warm up a bit for the heater to work, so I start on diesel and switch tanks once it runs for 2-3 minutes. One of the cool things about tapping into the heater lines is that the thermostat doesn't have to open for the lines to get heat. It starts to get hot within a few seconds of startup. If you put your hand on the heat exchanger and have somebody do a cold start of the truck, it will be warm to the touch in about 30 seconds.:cool:

I thought about mounting a suburban tank up there. It would fit, but I'd have to cut a hole in the bedside and I don't want to go doing that just yet. Plus, rather than buying a tank, I need to save my money to buy the stuff for my new transmission. One of these days...

I am still using the original mechanical lift pump, but I may end up installing an electric boost pump.

The place I get my oil is only using the oil for french fries. No meat products or anything. Animal fat and diesels do not mix well, although it can be done. Really gives you headache if you get any of that. The oil to avoid is the stuff like Taco Bell uses. It is a solid at room temperature. I got some to experiment with, and if it is above 90 degrees outside it will work excellent and is very clean. Below 90, you'll have a tank that might as well be full of lithium grease.:eek:

Other than the heat exchanger and auxiliary filter, my fuel system is stock. I haven't wrapped the lines (I probably should, eventually), and I am using the stock tank switch. In theory, the tank switch isn't much good for VO because when you switch back to diesel it empties whatever VO is in the lines back into the diesel tank. I keep the diesel tank full so it gets pretty well diluted, and every now and then I run it down a bit and refill it with fresh diesel for the same reason.

I know I am forgetting some key part of my system here, but I can't remember what... :confused:

How does the WVO go to the diesel tank when switching. As I recall the switching valve is between the tanks with a line going up to the fuel filter. It justs shuts off one tank at the valve & opens the line to the other.So how big ,type of material & where is the heat exchanger installed? Are the hot water & fuel both in the HE ? Or is the HE In the tank? bottom,side end.Soldered welded or brazed? Does the HE mfr describe BTU output at various temps & do you know what temp the WVO gets to if in the tank? later

The fuel gets mixed through the return line. When you switch tanks whatever fuel is in the return line dumps into the wrong tank.

My system is very basic. I am still in the devolopment stages. I made the heat exchanger myself. I have no idea what the BTU output would be. My heat exchanger is a few copper pipes for the fuel strapped around a central cast iron pipe with engine coolant in it. I know, I know... I should have used steel lines... The copper was just what was handy. It is mounted under the bed so that it is before the tank switch. I should have relocated the tank switch up to the front of the truck so that I could put the heat exchanger up there. Future versions would use a hose in hose style heater instead of the kind I made up in a hurry when it was cold out. There is a pic of it somewhere on the forum here, I can't remember where and I no longer have the photo on my computer. I will try and find it and post a link.

Definitely not the best setup, keep that in mind.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82027&page=2

Found it!