Living the Dream - VIN 0628

[Michael]

Those balls can be a bear to get back in but all in all, not a bad job, just a bit time consuming. I only did one axle a few months ago and didn't have time for the other side(wasn't busted anyway).

[JBaker4981]

As the former owner of 628, the transmission fluid, filter and gasket were all changed just prior to the sale. Thank you to Michael for providing new AT filters to the community. I believe it had the DPI silicone gasket as well.

The CV axles were refurbished and new boots were applied as well, but in my experience they boots don't last very long on automatic transmission Deloreans. The angle of the shafts have a lot to do with it. I have helped other automatic owners do the job multiple times on their same car. We even tried boots from different vendors. The advice that I have taken is to use "off-road" type boots that have much more flex to them. We did one car with them, but it was sold before a long enough period to evaluate their performance.

Good luck with getting it back on the road. And I hope your back is healing as well!
Tom

Yeah, the car has held up very well with the exception of the boots however I have heard the same thing regarding the off-road boots. To my understanding, this is what the LS guys are using and have heard a lot of success with them: 108MM OFF ROAD CV JOINT BOOT KIT W/ FLANGE FOR 930 CV JOINT

The gasket on the Trans pan was not the DPI silicone gasket but that's not a problem as I picked one up and all part of the plan

[tommyrich]

Yes, those boots look like the ones we used. They are not cheap, but after doing the CV axles, you probably don't want to do them again any time soon.

[Ron]

I'm glad you suggested this. I was going to, but I thought everybody would say I'm getting his hopes up and doing more damage. For the cost of a filter and fluid, it's worth a try. He won't have to go 1500 miles to know. It will show up quick if there's a problem. (Probably the first drive)

Yeah, probably that day, if there's metal to metal.

Hopefully the discolored fluid is a sign of the beginning rather than the end...

[JBaker4981]

Yeah, probably that day, if there's metal to metal.

Hopefully the discolored fluid is a sign of the beginning rather than the end...

The beginning of what?

[Ron]

The beginning of what?

Clutch material coming off of the plates (and frying of fluid).

[JBaker4981]

Clutch material coming off of the plates (and frying of fluid).

Got ya. It's going to be full send and we'll see what she does when she rolls down the road.

[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 4

Rebuilding the CV Joints
Date: 07/05/2021
Mileage: 40,396

While enjoying the last day of my Holiday break, I got bored so I decided to continue with the CV Joints. As noted by friends and various videos and threads seen, I was able to get the ball bearings and pieces into each hub and slotted onto the axle. All in all, this process took far less time than expected at 4-6 minutes each and they were fully assembled within 30-35 minutes. The most difficult part of the process was seating the clip at the end of the axle to hold everything on.

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With the axles ready, I went ahead and repacked grease into each assembly (front and back) and slid each boot in place. Unfortunately I do not have a clamp tool so I will have to borrow one from Autozone or O'Reilly. Until then, they are sitting on the table awaiting clamps and then reinstallation.

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[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 5

Finishing the Drive Axles
Date: 07/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

When I decided to take lunch today (7/7/21), I took the drive axles down to a local 'good ole boy' auto repair shop to have them crimp the clamps down as I did not have the tool necessary to do this. They charged $10, I gave them $20. Easiest 10 minutes for this car so far. Now that these are prepped and 100% ready to go, these will be installed this weekend when I have a DeLorean buddy come over.

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Oil Pressure Switch Removal
Date: 07/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

While this is straight forward, this guy had been weeping oil for over a year and I wanted to replace it while I have the CAT out of the car and also clean up the area. A replacement is on it's way from Midwest along with my AT Computer Governor which should be here tomorrow. Oil Pressure Switch Part # 102462.

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Final Drive Oil Change: Part 1
Date: 07/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Using our handy dandy workshop manual, this SHOULD have been straight forward but we know that these ARE DeLoreans after all. I had one hell of a fight inserting the 5/16" (8mm) socket into the hole of the Final Drive Drain Plug (Part # 103815). It turned out to have been deformed at some point in its life to the point where it was not completely square. A couple of friends suggested I just hammer the damn thing in and get it out and that is exactly what it took. It looked like at some point in its life, someone drilled into it in order to get a bite to get it out as well. No clue but I'll be phoning in a replacement in the morning with DMCMW.

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A/T Cooler Heat Exchanger
Date: 07/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Cleaning the surface of the A/T Cooler pipe with degreaser and ensuring it was completely clean, thermal paste was applied to the pipe all around and smoothed out evenly. This brings me back to my roots of building PCs. Once the thermal paste was applied, the heat sink itself wraps around the pipe and gets banded down as tight as possible. It took me several minutes to get it as tight as possible but it will not be sliding off. Honestly, I am very curious if I am going to see a difference on the temp gauge but this should lengthen the life of the transmission by dropping it up to 20 degrees.

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[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 5

New Oil Pressure Switch
Date: 07/08/2021
Mileage: 40,396

The new Oil Pressure Switch (Part #102462) arrived on 7/8 along with the rebuilt and upgraded A/T Governor Computer harness. The OPS had a new aluminum or stainless washer with it - no crush washer anymore. I hope these don't leak but alas, it was torqued down to 28ft lbs and reconnected. We'll see!

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The Other Half of the Oil Change
Date: 07/08/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Since the OPS was now installed, the other half of the oil change was completed. Castrol GTX 20W-50. 7.5 Quarts. Enough said.

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New Final Drive Drain Plug Installation
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

The new magnetic drain plug (Part # 103815) arrived from DMCMW on 7/10. Surprisingly, this is a hex head drain plug with the same aluminum or stainless washer - no crush washer. The copper crush washers fit on this drain plug so I set the new washer aside in favor of a copper crush washer. Plug torqued down to 15ft lbs. Ready!

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A/T Governor Computer Installation: Part 1
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

With Final Drive empty and the A/T Governor back from DMCMW, it was time to reinstall the unit! Following the previously mentioned guide on removal, the same steps apply to reinstall the unit. Once the Governor, Solenoid, and Switch were back in and bolted down (where applicable), the last thing is to push the Controller Box up through the bottom of the engine bay and to zip tie the cables away from the exhaust crossover pipe.

Unfortunately this is a two person job as it was a major bear to get it underneath the engine bay in the first place. A buddy is coming over on 7/11 to assist with this a couple of other items.

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New Transmission Filter Installation
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Though no pictures were taken of this, the new transmission filter with the cork gasket and magnet were installed back into the transmission. Not much else to say here.

Transmission Fluid Pan and Gasket Installation
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

With the transmission filter, solenoid, and switch in place, it was time to seal everything up. I went ahead and reinstalled the drain plug, a new crush washer, and torqued it down to 15ft lbs with the transmission pan on the work bench. Easy. Getting the pan passed the coolant pipes and orientated correctly can be tricky but once you figure out the only way to do it, it's fairly easy. With the help of Rafael via text, he assisted me with
the torque of the 13 pan bolts as I was originally torqueing too much. (My torque wrench only goes down to 5.9ft lbs)

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Filling Final Drive with new Gear Oil
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Using 80W-90 Gear oil and a syphon pump, (Thanks for the tip Powerline84) filling Final Drive was quick and painless with one exception. I only bought 1 quart of Gear Oil and I have no idea why. After a trip to Autozone and Domino's Pizza, I filled Final Drive until it started to leak out of the fill hole as per the Workshop Manual and (user) Powerline84. Dope. A new crush washer goes on the plug and is torqued to 15ft lbs.

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What's Left?
Not. Much. Rex Bennett, my DeLorean buddy here in town, is coming over today (7/11) to assist with items noted with an asterisk. There is very few items to do until we fire the engine and check for leaks and levels.

• Fill Transmission Fluid (2.75L to start)
• Push A/T Controller Box into Engine Bay*
• Install DPI High Flow Catalytic Converter*
• Install Drive Shafts*
• Install Muffler
• Bolt Rear Drivers side wheel back on

Once all of that is done, the car should be ready to start again. There is a series of items that I will have to inspect upon starting as noted below. Afterwards, it should be ready for a test drive!

• Check Oil Level
• Check for Oil Leaks at Drain Plug and Oil Filter
• Check Final Drive Drain Plug for leaks
• Check A/T Transmission Fluid Level (Add if needed)
• Check A/T Fluid Pan and Drain Plug for leaks
• Check Oil Pressure Switch for leaks