I bought an e34 so quess I'm finally an official member :)

[gale]

I picked up a local 89 535i for cheap with a blown torque converter seal. Perfect candiate for another 5-spd conversion. Alpenweiss, 204k miles, engine is tight, body is straight, paint is fair to good & drives nice. I was able to drive it home but it pumps ATF out of it about as fast as I could pour it in, left a trail all the way home & took about 9 quarts to go 6 miles. The trans ran smooth & quiet & shifted well when the level was up. To early to tell if a new seal is all it will need. I'm willing to invest the labor but only a token few dollars to give the automatic another chance. If it takes a dump then all I need is a manual trans, a flywheel, clutch, & driveshaft. I have everything else for another conversion that I've been accumulating on spare Saturdays down at the U-Pull-it.

I knew if I waited long enough, a candidate like this would come along. Looks like we're in for some serious wrenching over Thanksgiving. It will eventually become my son's car so when it's ready to put back on the road, hopefully he'll have a good understanding of how to fix things himself.

Cheers!

[BigKriss]

How much is cheap?

[Jehu]

Did you hear ? E34's aren't "exciting"......

[ryan roopnarine]

welcome-en

now they're gonna have to compete with you for your affection
that must have been a massive leak out of that seal to lose that much atf. i had a full blown cooler line rupture a few weeks ago that would let me drive more than 6 miles if i overfilled it...

[Dave M]

looks like you'll be having a happy thanksgiving

[632 Regal]

leakers are good for un upgrade, however it might just need a seal and be ready for resale. Good oppertunity.

[winfred]

most likely the bushing behind the converter seal has walked forward and blocked the drain the last two pictures here show the seal and where it hides, it may be possible to just knock the bushing back into place, i've never tried i just replace it and do a a-clutch job and be done
http://www.bimmer.info/~rickm/trannyrepairs.htm

[Digita1 Ecstasy]

I was able to drive it home but it pumps ATF out of it about as fast as I could pour it in, left a trail all the way home & took about 9 quarts to go 6 miles.

!

Yeah. How cheap is cheap?


Take some pictures : )

[gale]

Yeah, I figure the bushing issue is what caused the seal to fail. Hard to imagine it leaking that bad from a merely worn seal. I'll drop the pan & check for metal chunks & sludge & then pull the trans & torque converter & separate the bellhousing. I've read that replacing only the A-clutch & seals can sometimes be a bandaid fix & will only postpone its eventual death. I hate to put much money into an automatic but will prolly take a chance and do at least the A-pack & teflon seals before calling it toast. Paid $1500 for it. It needs a thorough detailing inside & out. Might be able to turn a few bucks on it if all goes well, as Jeff suggested. Then again, my son might get attached to it & would make a good daily driver for him at a price he can afford. Eventually he'd like to sell it & get a pickup for work & hunting.

[winfred]

been doing a-clutches for about 7 years and have only had one come back and that wasn't my fault after we started looking, the guy brought me the tranny to build with the a-clutch basket exploded, so i built it with some used hard parts and about two weeks later he calls and says it crapped, tows it in and upon inspection it was idling at around 2k and that how he was driving it, every time you put it in gear it was a neutral drop (totally raunchy 528e if you were wondering) the rest of the tranny is pretty good, about the only other failure i really see is occasionally a set of planitarys are busted and i am not sure what kills those, i see that when i go to do a a-clutch and they just freewheel or grind when i get the front end off, at that point i sell them another tranny, doing a a-clutch without doing the seal upgrade would be a band aid fix imho