Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

Well I got my 4.44 swap finished this morning, which turned out to be a 4.11 swap after looking into the parts a bit more. Can't complain as I get the tranny and rear end for a great deal.

So I drive it into work this afternoon. Tranny is great and everything seems good. The A/C stopped working on my way in for some reason. I pull into work and the rear binds pulling into a parking spot. I swap in the FWD fuse and it goes away. Ok, so heading home I pull up to a light and feel the car vibrating in a way it should not. I look down and the temp gauge is rising (it never went into red, but just below), and I can smell coolant. So I pull right over and pop the hood. The rad cap is leaking and the overflow res. is full and the system is boiling over. So I am like wtf! I've never had any coolant in my oil and never had a cooling system issue. I have not had the car that long, but it hasn't been leaking coolant or anything.

I've done some searching on all of these issues and it seems the binding of the rear dif could be that it needs to just "break in" or it could be something else, I think the fact that the FWD fuse makes the issue go away seams to point that the c solenoid is in fact good. Am I wrong?

The coolant issue seems like the best place to start is with a rad cap and a thermostat which I am doing tomorrow, but I seriously do not want to do a head gasket on this thing. How bad is it? Do I have to pull the motor to do one? It is not leaking coolant from any where. What else is there to check?

Any tips or threads with further info would greatly be appreciated. Thanks guys!

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

I just finished a 4.44 swap a couple weeks ago and had the same binding problem that went away when the FWD fuse was put in. I followed the instructions from one of the other tranny swap threads and drove the car in reverse in figure 8's. It cleared up. Supposedly a sticking transfer clutch. Who knows how long the tranny was sitting in the salvage yard.
Gene

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

Ok, So do you drive it in FWD or AWD when doing the reverse figure 8's?

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

if the issue goes away with the FWD fuse, it means the Sol. C is actually bad and a constant signal is the only way to disengage the rear drive. I would replace the sol c

Tom

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

I'm not the expert Tom is but, in AWD, it worked for me. I was sweating bullets there for awhile.
Gene

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

This only works if even when the FWD fuse is in, the trans still binds. This means the clutches themselves are stuck and need to be freed up.

If the binding goes away when the FWD fuse is installed, it means the solenoid does not react to the normal signal and requires a full 12v constant to disengage the rear wheels.

You have a solenoid issue.

bwb3... I would suggest if the binding issue went away and your car suffered the same symptoms that you do a check to make sure the rear wheels are engaged at all anymore. You may have just sheered the drum off the output shaft.

Tom

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

Ok, so I still have my old tranny and I did not have this issue so I assume the c sol is good in that one. Should I swap them or should I replace the c sol with a new one? Is there a how to on this?

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

You can just swap the solenoid if you want to keep it simple. You are going to need to replace the extension gasket .

Tom

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

That happened to my original tranny :(

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

Thanks Tom. I assume I can buy the extension gasket at the dealer?

Re: Good news and bad news... 4.11 swap, coolant boiles over, rear dif binging, etc
 

yes... it may also be called the tailshaft housing gasket... But if you tell them you are replacing the sol c i would hope they would know what gasket you need

Tom