A buddy asked me to swap his trans out with the original one that was in it before. I asked why he took that one out and he said because the speedometer didnt work. After explaining to him how that all works he said, "can u put this one in for me and replace the speedo thing", i said sure. He was all excited cause he remembers it running perfect but didnt know how fast he was going.
So, i put new seals, speedo gear, filter and gasket, with same TC tho, adjusted the cable properly, idled and filled to the line, put it in R.......turned off, engine couldnt turn the transmission as if locked up frozen. But park and N, smooth. D or R, engine stalls like solid.
When i took the pan off to change filter and fluid, all bad in the valve body area. White lard/gravy instead of fluid, only about half the pan full. Cleaned it as good as i could but i suspect thats probly the problem area.
Please everyone, anyone. Advise please?

 

if as you say

a known working, identical transmission with a known working TC were installed, and prior to the instalaltion, the old trans was also working, then giving all of those assumptions, the TC was not properly seated

the milky goo you mention shows that my above assumptions are incorrect

 

2 identical trans, the one he drove it over here with has the 3-4 clutches burned, that i know for sure cause it happened to my 89 silverado last year, and the original trans to the vehicle is the one he brought with him wanting to put it back in since he knew still worked fine except the speedo. He didnt know that the speedo is replaceable without dropping the trans, he thought it was the trans. He said to use the same TC cause he cant aford one right now plus he figured "well the TC thats in there now works fine cause i drove it over here with it". So if the TC wasnt seated right, wouldnt it bind up when putting the bolts in the bellhousing? I pushed in on it while turning it and it felt like it fell in the notch.
After i installed the "working" original trans, it was then i was able to drop the pan to change filter and noticed it didnt have a gasket at all and the pan was about half full of that funk juice. The filter that was in there was totally submerged in it. Now, would there be any of that in the valve body, possibly sticking the ball(s) in those lil maze-like inner part?

 

The white lard/gravy is likely from moisture or direct water. Was the trans sitting on a floor, possibly got wet or flooded? With no gasket, things could have easily gotten wet inside, and yes the valve body could then be corroded and stuck.

 

Ah, Mr Holmes is on the right path

for how long was that trans just hanging around and was it shrink wrapped or at least protected and not on the ground?

It doesn't really matter

Craigslist is your friend, working 700Rs are a dime a dozen

 

Ok, heres the final flag. It turned out to be the o-ring on the input shaft that was making the engine shut off when put into R or D. Steve at Madera Automatic Transmission advised me to replace that o-ring and everything will be alright. I almost lost it with that one. But, after it was all said n done, it doesnt shut off anymore. Steve doesnt know it yet but hes getting dinner with 2 guests, on my wallet. I cant thank him enough.

 

that's great news