Is there anything wrong with running a transmission with no dust sheild over the converter and flywheel?
You can, but really, it is on there for a reason. You don't want gravel kicking around in there, right?
I've run a few that way but not by choice, I always got one asap. I've had a hard time finding non chrome ones.
is it because you cant find the right one that will fit? i currently have that problem on one of my set ups. i dont want to run without it, so eventually it will get something. i would rather catch or rub a cover than to bend or chip a ring gear, or get a plastic bag ****ed up in there, or anything for that matter
That's way they call them dust sheilds. Plus if your car is low and you run over something, you might hear some flywheel teeth noise when they chew into the object. Not good...
I got a factory shield from my local GM dealer. It cost around $15.00. I try and find the GM number. A friend of mine also bought one after he saw how good it fit. I'll post the stock number if I find it.
It can lead to premature destruction of your Front Pump Seal if you leave it off... The Factory plastic one is fine and Jegs P/N 555-60188 $39.99 is metal (chromed) and not as cheap/universal as some of the $19.99 ones you can find... If yours is attached with large metric bolts, that is a Truck trans and uses an Aluminum Cover...
i purchased a truck where the dust shield had been left off and when the motor was started i made a hell of a noise like the flex plate was screwed up and seller figured the drivetrain was junk dropping the price to almost nothing after getting it home found the area between the block and flexplate full of gravel! it had been there so long it had almost cut through the flexplate. ***** was the dust shield was sitting in the back of the truck!
Alright. I wasn't sure how the sheild was going to work out when I swapped the 307 onto the 700-R4. My El Camino ran like this for years without one, and my grandpa drove a '79 1/2 ton without one for about 5 years that he gave hell. It just always freaked me out to see the flywheel hanging there.
Usually the dropped front axle save my flex plate from road debri such as Road Gators and Rac****s which could knock a dust cover off... but all it took for me was "ONE PLASTIC BAG" to get ****ed up and make a mess. So I whittled out a plastic cover so that it would fit the Olds running a 700R4!
i had a customer years ago in a early 70's vette that had a beach towel ****ed up around the converter. it shut the motor down it was wound so tight, it took me 2 1/2 hours to get that thing out (middle of the night and only sav ons was open). i didn't want to take the th400 outta the vette, so i cut, burned, bleached that thing out.
I'ver driven over 600,000 miles with 350/400/700 trans and have never, ever used one. i also live on a dirt road so I drive on dirt/graded roads daily. Never a problem because of it. Also, I cannot see how it could lead to premature seal failure either. Don't worry about it. Steve
54 Oldie Was your shield for a 700R4? I need one also. I'll check back for a part number. This is a small thing that's bugged me since starting my build. I think mine uses 3/8 16 mounting bolts if that means anything. Hate to pay 48 bucks for a chrome one. I'm lost as to what you guys mean about cutting a plastic one. It's homemade from something else? Thanks
Frankly I never put them on any of my cars until this incident and I can't see how it could damage the seals unless it was driven in muddy swamp water! But crazier things have happened!!!! No... it's a factory GM "Chevrolet" part but Oldsmobile has the starter on the opposite side of the engine from Chevy which runs the 700R4 ******. Mixing the Olds with the Chevy ****** requires an adapter kit and slight modifications to the dust cover to accomondate the starter!
Bad advice. My brother's son and friends were out having fun in his truck and didn't have a cover, anyways he seen a box in the road and thought it would be funny to run it over. Broke his flywheel and made a real mess. It wasn't a box after they got out and looked, it was a 1 foot by 1 foot block of wood that fell out of someone's truck or off a trailer.
Wingnutz Thanks, the reason I want it is because some of the local cruises start/finish in gr*** lots, yards or parks and my reason for air bags is to drop it when slo cruising so that puts the flywheel very close to the ground and it would be something I would want to cover otherwise I'd leave it off. Before this car I would only use a shield if it came with the pieces but I never hunted one up until now. Thanks again
I also recommend a dirt shield over the flywheel, but don't be afraid of having a collossal disaster in the next 5 minutes if you don't. I have been planning for almost a dozen years to put one that I know I need under the 700 R4 in my work/daily/family truck. Maybe someday I will get around to it, but I do not worry about it self-destructing any time soon. Keep your eyes open for a dust cover, ok, but don't let the alarmists scare you away from using it in the meantime. No need to let them panic you.
I've been driving mine on short drives on nice safe clean asphalt while I look for one, but if I can't find one soon, I'm gonna have a sheetmetal worker fab one up. I tried one of those $15.00 "universal" covers, they ain't universal. Anybody got a dust cover for a '65 ST 400 on a nailhead, I'm looking.
Definatly safer with 1, but I have run my truck without it for the last 2 years(over 10,000 miles) with not 1 problem at all. For reference my flywheel is about 4-5 inches from the ground at ride height.
I got one of those plastic ones for my 700R used from a local ****** place. I then got some of that paint (silver) that's made special for plastic lawn furniture and squirted it. Looks fine and no longer looks plastic - and the paint STICKS!! -Dave
There are always two schools of thought: Use the manual and keep it as original as possible, or screw all those "unneeded" little parts that are a pain to clean or find the all the hardware for... Pride, Sloth, or Screw It... I based my recommendation from observations over the last 20 years servicing, repairing, or replacing at least a few hundred transmissions for mostly off highway use (mostly idling or low speeds in sandy/dusty conditions) and the ones without covers (Chevy) or inspection/drain plug plates (Ford & some Chryslers) were usually damp or leaking out the front pump after a few years of use... I don't think it would kill it over a few weeks either but don't wait too long...
I'll probably try and run one then. About the box thing, I try to avoid hitting any kind of box. Old family friend drove a box truck in Michigan for several years. One day he was cruising along down the highway and there was a box in his lane. He eased over to run it over and then got a strange feeling that maybe he shouldn't. As soon as he p***ed the box a little boy about 5 years old crawled out from under it and ran off.
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