1991 SDL no forward gears
 

Bought the above car last week. I knew it did not move forward but only in reverse. Thought I might get lucky and have it be a b 2 piston issue. This weekend I pulled the pan and found no metal shavings or parts, only a small # of clutch friction pieces that broke in my fingers as I tried to pick them out of the oil. I could not get the transmission over far enough to check the b2 piston.
I did find black oil that looked and smelled more like oil than Dex 2.
Question is should I try and drain the converter and put in a new filter and fluid or just buy the used transmission ?
I have never seen any thing come out of a transmission that looked like this fluid did.
There was zero metal and reverse works very well. The filter was quite heavy and could have been plugged.
Thanks in advance
JOHN Madsen

Yes.

its worth a try
 

In my opinion, its worth a try - to change the oil and filter. Maybe you'll get lucky. There is not much expense involved in doing so. Good luck!

Ok so I was partially successful with my fluid change. I was unable to find the converter drain plug so I gave up and put every thing back together.
I put in 4 quarts of new fluid and I still have same issue of reverse but no forward.
There was a change in that I did get some attempt to move forward in all forward gear selected positions but also.......
In the park position it tried to move forward.
Reverse works great and will actually spin the tires !!! Prior to the fluid and filter change there was NO forward motion at all !

Help when I took the transmission pan off and saw no metal at all just a few small pieces of clutch material I assumed that the b2 piston was not problem.
Is/was that the wrong assumption and should I go back and remove the b2 piston cover and see what is there ?
Thanks in advance
JOHN

Black does not sound good. I believe a fluid flush if you have no torque converter drain plug will consume about 16 quarts. Drain and refill again several times making sure you go through each gear while the engine is running.

The lack of forward gears but good reverse is the classic description of a failed B2 piston, so that is what I would try next.

You may need to loosen the transmission and engine mounts and carefully wedge the transmission over in the tunnel to get enough room. May also need to remove the drive shaft connection or loosen the center carrier bearing mount.

On these old cars you really can not afford to ' give up'... on something as important as getting the old fluid out of the torque converter... They are tough nuts to crack many times... literally and figuratively .....
Have you considered trying Trans-x ?
There is a current thread regarding it...

So I am not giving up just asking for some wisdom from people who have had b2 Piston experience.
I had the drive shaft off and the support off but decided to look in the pan and finding the horrible bad fluid but absolutley no metal or plastic decided maybe it was not b2 so moved on.
My thinking has evolved to maybe the piston is not working because of the minimal attempt to move forward after the fluid/filter change.
So am still wondering peoples experience with b2 piston issues.
#1 Do they see metal in the pan or do things look great in there and they still find b2 piston issues ? and
#2 what do people think about the minimal attempts to move forward change from before and after fluid and filter change ?
Thanks for reading and responding.
John

QUOTEhttp://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items...rrow-10x10.png=Maxbumpo;3527173]The lack of forward gears but good reverse is the classic description of a failed B2 piston, so that is what I would try next.

You may need to loosen the transmission and engine mounts and carefully wedge the transmission over in the tunnel to get enough room. May also need to remove the drive shaft connection or loosen the center carrier bearing mount.[ QUOTEhttp://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items...rrow-10x10.png]


This is exactly what you need to do. My 1987 SDL demonstrated exact the same issue. Drained old fluid (converter), replaced filter and new fluid along with b2 piston. Car drives and shifts as new...

Good luck

I was just referring to you saying you gave up on finding the drain plug for the torque converter...