I finished the engine swap - United Bimmer Community

**htp.bmw** · 06-15-2005, 08:13 PM

if you are a member of bimmerwerkz you may have already read this post as it is posted there too.

its a long post but please read

Alright so I finished my first ever engine swap in a 1990 325i bmw convertible (Auto) . It was a hard thing to do for me because I had never done anything like this before, and thanks to the help of this forum and all of its intellegent members I have been able to pull through without the engine blowing up or anything bad like that.

about a month ago I got the engine to start, it was a standard swap from an old engine to a rebuilt one so therefore I had no conversions to make. it would start and rev up then shut off. At this point my dad said that he wanted it finished and checked over so we brought it to a mechanic my family has used for as long as I can remember. This shop has fixed all of my dads previous bmw's so I thought hey why not mine if someone else is willing to pay.
They told me I did a good job in the replacement but I neglected to replace the torque converter seal on the transmssion so they said that they would replace it and the car would be ready.

last friday I went to the shop to pick up the car and pay the 900 something dollar bill (mostly labor) for pulling the transmission and fixing the seal then putting the transmission in. I started it up and started to drive away. About 500 feet from the shop, the car slipped out of gear and I guided it to the side of the road.

so now its back at the shop, and they are looking at it again, and they said something is wrong with the transmission (I could have told them that). I drove it to the shop with a bad idle and the transmission did fine so my question to you guys is what went wrong. it had and still has enough transmission fluid. im starting to loose my assurance that this mechanic knows what he is doing.

thanks ahead of time for any feedback you might have

-Casey

**bmw4life** · 06-15-2005, 09:18 PM

Congratz on the swap. Sorry but I can't help with your transmission troulbes.

**RealBmw 02** · 06-16-2005, 05:07 PM

it is unlikely that the mechanic messed up anything in your transmission. Auto trannys are never touched when it comes to replacing or servicing torque converters. As a matter of fact, most mechanics will simply take out your transmission and send it to a specialist when it goes bad. Therefore, they are just the middle man who is removing and re-installing it.

So there is a good chance that the transmission just had enough and decided to quit on you. But there is really no way of knowing without physically inspecting it.

congrats of your first swap and good luck with the tranny

**htp.bmw** · 06-16-2005, 05:25 PM

boy i hope it didnt go, if it did thats alot of money and I wont put another auto in it would have to be manual

**htp.bmw** · 06-16-2005, 05:37 PM

**Update**

talked to the shop today and they said that a pump inside the transmission may not be working because transmission fluid isnt flowing... any ideas on what they are talking about

Casey

**Mot** · 06-20-2005, 05:26 PM

sounds like your a canidate for a manual tranny swap.

witeshark · 06-20-2005, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by htp.bmw

**Update**

talked to the shop today and they said that a pump inside the transmission may not be working because transmission fluid isnt flowing... any ideas on what they are talking about

Casey

I think what this means is that the torque converter isn't getting fluid pressure, so torque is not getting through the transmission to the drive shaft

**htp.bmw** · 06-21-2005, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mot

sounds like your a canidate for a manual tranny swap.

i agree with this, if i need a new transmission im not gonna get another automatic, is there a diy or instruction or even parts list available for the swap?