I accidentally put my van in reverse from drive doing 20-25 (return spring bracket came off climbing a hill. I decided to get most of the way up the hill then put it in neutral and turn off the key while I roll to park on the side of the road.)

I spazzed and ended up in reverse for a couple seconds.

I left the first skid marks of the van's 25 year life. Once the wheels hooked pavement, the engine stalled.

I pulled the doghouse and drove home 3 blocks using my hand as a return spring, driving hunched over.

A few weeks ago I disconnected the wire to the electronic torque converter lockup. (it was grabbing randomly, presumably from a short to hot.
That seemed to clear up the problem.)

This morning, after repairing the throttle return spring problem, I took it for a test drive.

It stalled in the same manner it was stalling before I disconnected the lockup; twice.

I since ran some errands and made a 50 min round trip to go fishing , without further incident.

I'm going to change the rear end oil and inspect the gears, and check the u-joints etc.

What should I be looking for as far as transmission damage?

How can I test the mechanical aspects of the torque converter lockup? (I don't know what mechanism unlocks the converter: spring? fluid pressure?)

I have no idea.

If reverse in the trans still works I wouldn't bother doing anything special. Going into reverse like that will be very had on the low/reverse band, but if you didn't break it then there's really nothing to do. It's unlikely you hurt anything else. Change the diff oil only if it already needed it.

There is a transmission service manual available for download. http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33288

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Joshua

thanks.

A hard shock like that will sometimes break the pump drive blocks and / or crack the converter's hub, at the pump engagement slots.
If that happens, the trans stops working and / or leaks ATF out the front.
If the unit is still working and not leaking... keep on driving it.
DD

thanks Doc.

The shock did seem to knock the downshift linkage clamp cube loose, causing it to progressively go out of adjustment. (and much paranoia until I saw how much the spring on the linkage had expanded.)

I pulled the linkage from pedal to trans, industrial purpled, and naval jellied everything, installed extra washers to take out the slop, put white lithium grease on everything, and installed new hairpin clips in place of all old cotter pins and other clips.

I filed the flat as flat as possible without misshaping and readjusted. (set screw was just clamping down on rust and chewed metal).

Shifts better than it has in a decade or more, now.

I evidently jinxed myself by writing the above.

No use starting another topic, as the title of this one still applies.

I left for the train this morning half-asleep and didn't notice a huge puddle under the van.

5 blocks later it was slipping. 10 blocks later it would not move in any gear.

I put whatever tranny fluid I had in the van in the fill tube.

It heard the valve body do it's thing passing form reverse to drive, etc, but no movement.

I was stuck on the side of the road in the worst place possible.

I had it towed home.

I found that a cooler line hose had come loose from a steel tube it was clamped to (badly).

My route this morning is clearly marked by a trail of tranny fluid, ponding where I brorke down, a long gap, then ponding again where it came off the flatbed with a trail to the pond where it is parked now.

I guess I'll reconnect the cooler line, top off the fluid, and see if it moves.

It never got hot, and I shut it down once there was not enough fluid to work the torque converter enough to move from a dead stop.

I must have a subconscious desire to wreck this transmission.

If it moves, I guess I'll drop the pan, change the filter, then flush.

Transmission probably has 1,500 miles on it after rebuild and band replacement 6 years ago.

It should not have much operating wear, just the scars of the abuse of the last couple weeks.