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Friends 1985 olds delta 88 :)


bigfoo

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I know it's not a Caddy :) But still....... He was driving home and his transmission overheated big time.. tons of smoke behind his car , he pulled over and lots of fluid leaked out... It's still sitting there now.. Question is, if we fill the tranny back with fluid again, is there any chance it will work, and is there any chance it might work without having to replace anything right now?

If all else fails, does anyone know where we could get a transmission online or somewhere cheap? Places like aamco and stuff want 1800$ to rebuild it which is just insane. The Caddy transmission probably costs that but not a delta 88, jeez.. I rebuilt manual transmissions for 300$ of course taking it apart myself. Still..

Thanks guys for any help you can provide to him.. I'd hate to see the car toast, I really like that car :)

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Yea that there can go either way. I had a transmission cooler line have a pin hole in it and was lucky becuase a friend and I were shopping for cars. I got out and I could see something running out the front of my 1992 Chevy 4X4. It was tranny fluid. It was pouring out of a hose on that goes between the tranny and the cooler. Got a new hose and filled it up and has worked fine ever since. There is numerous questions regarding a tranny failure.

Did he drive the car very far without oil in the tranny?

Has the oil and filter ever been changed?

Where was the oil coming from when it was overheating?

Does he have a tranny cooler on the car?

Best bet would be to fill it up, hope for the best and see what happens :D .

Spence

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If the tranny is really cooked, the cheapest place to

get a replacement is at a local boneyard. A 700R may

be hard to find, but the 200C is common. I'd spend the

$1200 for a rebuilt job. All that smoke was probably

leaking fluid burning off. It's hard to kill an 88, so test

it out before replacing.

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His Delta 88, if it's a 307-V8 car, has the TH-200-4R transmission, which is fairly common, and holds up fairly well, assuming no malfunctions. Try your local boneyards to see what you can find. I bet you can find one for 200 bucks. You could put a TH-700-R4 in it, but they're different lengths, and you'll have to modify the driveshaft. Not worth it in my opinion.

If it's a 231-V6 car, it'll have the TH-200-C, which is a fairly weak transmission. The typical failure on those is reverse gear going out. I wouldn't risk my money on another 200-C, if that's what he has. In this case, you can put a TH-350-C in its place with no modification.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Yes it's a V8.. can we put a t350 or t400 in it? He has 2 delta 88's and both of them the trannies went toast.. Bad luck with t200 :/ He wants to drop a 383 engine in the 88 (almost 400hp ) and so replacing the t200 with a 350 or 400 would be necessary anyway when he does that so might as well do it now. Can get either one from JEGS

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/Pro...245&prmenbr=361

I'm not sure if he has a cooler or not.. Don't think so..... THe fluid was just coming out, it was dark so we didn't have time to check but it's over the road and he drove several miles with it smoking before he called me. I'm assuming it's toast. Will check for leaks but it could be inside and if I have to take it out of the car, we are going to replace it :) 350 or 400 would be nice and jegs looks like they have the right one for the olds, just have to call them and check. Good price too :)

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The TH-350 or TH-400 is NOT the same length as the original transmission, which is probably the TH-200-4R. The 200-4R is overdrive, and the 200-C is not. If his OE transmission had OD, it was the 200-4R. If his OE transmission was just 3 speeds, it was the 200-C, and can be replaced with the TH-350 without many mods. The TH-350 and TH-400 use vacuum modulators if I recall correctly. The 200-4R and 200-C used a TV cable on the carburetor, so that detail would have to be looked into.

That car would do pretty good with the 383. It'll take some effort to swap it (it's a Chevy vs. an Olds), but it'll work. Look into an Olds engine...it'll literally be a bolt-in, but aftermarket parts are harder to find.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Ya but i think jegs has bellhousing kits or something that even the length up to the right amount .. and they put a different shaft in there or something like that.. I'm going to call them to double check. The engine he wants to put in it is

either

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/Pro...230&prmenbr=361

or

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/Pro...083&prmenbr=361

or

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/Pro...228&prmenbr=361

Of course the 200 tranny won't hold up with that kinda stuff... it's going to have to be one of the others and probably have to get a new driveshaft and rear end also or he'll blow it up :)

And probaly have a shop weld in some new motor mounts

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Sounds good. Either way, I think he'll have to have a custom driveshaft made (no problem). The rear axle should be no problem...unless he launches at the 'strip with slicks or something like that. Otherwise, the li'l 7.5" axle is good for a LOT of power...lots more than your friend will be pushing. Had a buddy with a blown 350 in a Monte Carlo SS who ran low 13s in the quarter on street tires, through the mufflers, with the stock posi 7.625" axle (same as the 7.5" axle). While he's at it, though, he outta look for an 8.5" axle from a wagon or RWD Fleetwood.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Ya... well I got under there and looked at it and we filled it up with fluid and such.. and the tranny amazingly still works :) Although it was almost completely empty of fluid and he was still driving it ... unfortunately when the engine is running it drips.. or rather comes out.. not exactly pours but not exactly drips either out of the bellhousing.. So something either the seal or the torquye converter is toast and leaking madly.

So.. out it comes when we get time :> Hopefully we can just use a rebuilt kit for $150 and replace all the seals, filter, clutches, etc. and be done with it until end of year when he gets his bouns and can get the 350 or 400 and a new engine to play with :>

I'm still amazed the thing still works .. he said it was to the point where it wouldn't shift at all and then when he put it in park it wouldn't engage any gears etc.. Guess it's a little tougher than we thought :>

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Hey man, I tell ya, that 200-4R isn't a bad transmission. I had one behind my Olds 403 and it worked just fine. I didn't even rebuilt it or add a shift kit, although I probably would have if I had kept the vehicle. :)

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Ayuh! :) Well the transmission has to come out of the car anyway to fix this leakage. I was thinking I might as well rebuild it while it's out. Maybe not necessary but since it's out, why not :) Hopefully it's not the converter... lock up converters aren't cheap. I've been looking for a higher stall one for my caddy while still retaining the lockup to keep mileage and less heat...not cheap :)

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If you do decide to keep that transmission, do yourselves a favor and get a higher-stall converter. The OE stalls at around 1600 rpm, and that's way too low for a performance engine, especially one with some cam in it. With that Regal I had, I let my buddies talk me into a cam for that 403 that was really too big for the rest of the motor (bored .030 out to clean the bores up, but OE specs everywhere else) and drivetrain (stock OE 200-4R and 3.08:1 gearset). If your buddy is considering a healthy 383 cui. engine, I'd recommend at least a 2000 rpm lockup converter and a 3.42 or 3.73 gearset.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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