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How To: Allison 1000 Teardown & Rebuild-NO POSTING ALLOWED

248K views 24 replies 4 participants last post by  StuntHeavy 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, I searched far and wide for a how to on this and found nothing. Use this information at your own risk. I am not responsible for your actions or results after viewing this how-to. Feel free to repost, or save these pictures, but please do not edit-out my tags in the photos. This will be an ongoing "How To" that I will update as I go. At this point, I am waiting on some other parts to arrive. Feel free to discuss or ask questions on anything. Some of my terminology or labeling may be off, but you get the idea. These steps may or may not be as 'the book' says.

EDIT: I see one of the mods has edited my title. spank It was not my intentions to not have people able to post and ask questions. So do not think that the title is my doing... adminpower:

First off, I'll say that I'm on an extremely tight budget. So you will not see any Snap-On tools, Transmission dynos, or Epoxy coated shop floors here. This build is taking place on a second story apartment balcony smaller than most bathrooms, with nothing but basic hand tools, and some innovation. Take that for what you will.

The first few photos will show the GMAX-5 kit with TRANSGO, my workspace, my stand, and my tools (or lack thereof). Again, this isn't fancy, but I do what needs to be done to get by. I bought the engine stand for 40$ from a local china-made-tool-surplus store. The drip pan below it was purchased from walmart for a few dollars. I had seen people have machine shops fab up a bracket for the PTO cover, but I simply did not have the extra money to do such a thing. Instead, I removed the ears off the engine stand's cradle, and used the flat plate as what would become my Allison mount. If you lay it out as I did, you will only have to drill 4 holes. The other bolts will fit into the slots already cut in the mount. I did however have to cut the bottom 2" off the mount to get it to fit onto the transmission housing. Let me say that I would not recommend cutting the 6" long, 1/4" plate steel with a hacksaw! It took the better part of 2 hours. Longer bolts can be had at the hardware store for about 3$.













As you can see the stand works quite well. Being able to rotate the tranny around makes it great to work on. I tipped it up on end, as shown and let it sit overnight to drain the majority of fluid.

Once you pull the pan (13mm I believe) and external filter off, you will have this staring you in the face...


At which time, go ahead and remove the internal filter by simply pulling, and you will uncover the valve body.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Now, for the sake of keeping my pictures in order, I'll show the bellhousing removal.


The bellhousing has 24 bolts inside, 3 on each side, outside. They are all 15mm heads. You will find there are 4 different lengths, so Tay Appention!


In the picture below, the bolt that is sticking out is the longest bolt holding the bellhousing on. You will have to remove the tin inspection cover to remove this bolt.


This picture shows on the passenger side, there is a bolt that cannot be removed via socket, and will not clear the port for the transmission cooler line. Break it free with a box end wrench, then use the open end to continue removal, otherwise you'll trap the wrench.


Now it's time to remove the bellhousing. You may need to 'shock' it free with a rubber mallet. Go easy, it shouldn't take much.


Now you can see the pump, and a plate that it is bolted to. Mine was 'suctioned' to the transmission case from the fluid in between the two surfaces. Grab ahold, and twist one way or the other, and you will be able to grab the plate and lift the assembly free.


Now you will have the input drum staring back at you. Pull it on out!




Just to give you an idea of how large the input drum really is, that's a size 12 next to it... Whole lot bigger than the transaxles I'm used to!


After removal of the input drum, the housing will still have your planetary gears and the like down below.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Ok, back to the valvebody for a minute. There's a handfull of bolts holding it down that need to be removed. Only ONE is different, as shown in the picture below. The longer bolt lives in the hole, as shown. Remove them all.



The solenoid wiring harness is in a plastic sheathing that is clipped to the valvebody. Remove the clips as shown, then replace clip as they hold the smaller solenoids in place.


I marked the larger two solenoids (A/B Trim Solenoids I believe), and note that since the plate is not bolted down, there isn't really much holding them in place. May want to mark them and remove so they do not get dropped. There will be a spring in one of them.


Here's something that caught me by surprise... The 'Rooster Comb' has a small pin with two flats on it, which the flats ride in another rod. You'll understand what I mean when you see it in person. Pay attention to this, remove, and lift off the valvebody.


Go ahead and lift up and remove the valvebody now. It's starting to look awfully bare!




The wiring harness has a bulkhead connector. I guess you don't really have to remove it, but there's a seal on it that I wanted to change.


No fancy tools here...get creative. Only 4 of the tabs actually lock the connector into the aluminum case. I used a small screwdriver to push them down, pop a toothpick in, and move onto the other 3. Then push the connector inward, and it will be free.


Now...it's time to get creative again... remember the budget? (Maybe I should take up a donation collection for this how-to :rockin ) We need a way to hold the input drum upside down while we work on it. Something with a hole in it to slide the input shaft through, but small enough that the drum is stable to work on. A chair, with an upside down motorcycle ramp worked just peachy for me!



Pay attention here folks... I am not 100% sure on this particular trans, but this is where I've seen alot of people mess up. Some of these snap rings are DIRECTIONAL. They may have one side that is tapered/beveled. They will only fit one way. Again, I'm not familiar with the Allison, so this may or may not apply, but I am not taking the chance. Make sure you lay them out, so you know which side was down. UPDATE: It does not appear that any of these snap rings are beveled/tapered, and can be put in either side up. However, I'll leave this note up just for food-for-thought when working on other transmissions/transaxles.
 
#4 · (Edited)
At this time I noticed some wear/damage on the teeth... As I understand, this is common on higher mileage trucks. The plate is only 18$ at the Allison dealer, so replace it.


Remove the top snap ring, then you can lift out the gear and plate. Set aside, and this will be what you see.


I noticed some cracking on this thrust washer, potentially normal?
Remove the next hub, and set aside.


Now you can see a set of clutches, and another hub. BE CAREFUL when removeing the hub. There is a torrington bearing below it. You need to know which way this was set in there. Mine took off for a jaunt across the floor, so it looks like I'll be consulting the manual.


Go ahead and also remove the that set of clutches, and set aside. Again, pay attention to what is on top (fiber or steel plate), and what is on bottom (fiber or steel).

Now it'll look something like this. In the center there is a small ring that needs to come out, followed by another below it. Go ahead and lift the hub out, and the small clutch pack.


What you have left will now look like this.


At this point you do need a fairly rugged set of snap ring pliers, which I don't have. I think I'll make them out of a large set of needle nose, but this is where I stopped for tonight.

Below is everything I have pulled out of the input drum so far, in the order that it came out. This way, as long as I remember how to count backwards, I'll be able to reassembly things in the correct order. I am from Maine though, so that counting thing has always been a little tricky. :rof


So there you have it folks. A good portion of tearing down an Allison 1000. It's not so much difficult, as it is time consuming and tedious. Will you get all the tricks of the trade, like Mike L. or the boys at Suncoast know? Absolutely not. Will they build a better transmission than I do? Without a doubt. Mike L. would run circles around me with his eyes closed, and is probably laughing his arse off at the thought of a broke college kid building an Allison on a second story apartment balcony. But this is a guide to see how I have done my build. It's not financially feasible to have one of the above do my build, and I personally take pride in saying "I built that". It's simply meant to be a reference to the process. And proof that auto transmissions aren't all blackmagic and Keebler elves on the inside. So, take it for what you will. :)

This will be updated as I go along, and as parts continue to show up. Cheers :drink
 
#5 ·
Well heres the rest of the Input Drum disassembly:

I left off just after removal of the C1 clutches and the torrington bearing.
Next is to remove the snap ring holding the input shaft in. Careful, once you take this off, the input shaft will, infact, fall out.

I have a large pair of needle nose I bought a while back from the china-tool-store for 8$. Since they are crap metal, they file down really easy. I cut a notch in the very end internally and externally to grab and hold the snap rings. They don't look like much, but work pretty slick!








At this point you can transfer the piece to a standard workbench since the input shaft is no longer hanging out of it

So after dropping the input shaft out and setting it aside, they say its time to pop the C1 balance piston snap ring and balance piston out.. I had previously pulled out the snap ring, but you can see the C1 balance piston in this picture. It is the greenish looking ring in the middle with the black lip seal. Pop that snap ring out, and you can pull it out now. I did it a little out of order, doesn't make much of a difference...different strokes for different folks.

As a side note, at this point I noticed alot of the parts were suctioned together. There aren't any hidden fasteners here. If you pulled the snap ring off that particular part and it isnt coming try lifting up on it from different angles to break the suction of the fluid between the machined surfaces.





At this point, its time to remove the snap ring holding in the C1 Spring Cage and then the C1 Spring Cage itself. I lifted up the edge of the snap ring, and used another handy-dandy toothpick to keep it from dropping back into the groove. Here's where things get a little tricky. This snap ring is under pressure. It's probably possibly if could bite you in the face if you're not paying attention, but I had zero problems, just take your time. As shown, I used a screwdriver to press down on the spring cage (took most of my body weight), and walked the clip out of the groove, and that was that.



At this point you'll be looking at the C1 Apply Piston... break the suction and lift it on out.


Now you'll have a snap ring holding the C1 Piston Housing in place. Go ahead and get that out of there. Here's my 'heavy duty snap ring pliers' in action.


Once the snap ring is removed, pull the C1 Piston Housing, and you'll see this.


Pull the C2 Spring cage out. Now, they say to pull the C2 balance piston and snap ring out. As you can see in the previous picture, I had pulled mine yesterday, so again...different strokes for different folks.

Now, it's time to pull the C2 apply piston. Mine was suctioned BIG TIME. I couldn't get enough grip with my fingers, so I ended up taking 2 sets of slip joint pliers, covering the jaws in paper towels, and very very gently grabbing the apply piston and lift straight up. It will pop free, and if you did it right, you will have no scarring to the piston.

Here's a side view of the C2 apply piston for reference
 
#6 ·
And finally, you'll be left with a bare input drum...


Here is a complete look at all the parts in the Input Drum. They are simply labled for reference of the order I took them out. Like I said, I did things a little different.




The Input drum is now fully disassembled and ready for install of the TRANSGO shift kit.

If I don't get too tied up, I'll probably start the TRANSGO install tomorrow. It's a pain only having an hour here and there to work on it, not to mention taking pictures reallllyyyy slows things down, but I figured the Duramax world could use a reference. And on that note, time for some victory suds!
 
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#7 ·
Yup pretty sure ive seen it then. Shes had 2 apts that were 1 mile or less from mall. North Bridge, and Middle Brook farms. May have to hit you up one weekend and check out the truck
I'm not too familiar with the area, but sounds familiar. Sure! The ol' truck ain't anything special anymore than any other Chevy. She gets used like a truck should...hauling all kinds of crap, and paint is full of imperfections from having fun on the weekends...wouldn't have it any other way! These trucks are the true epitome of multi-use vehicle... Functional, reliable daily driver that can tow anything you would like, and still run down the drag strip, or haul the little ones to school. :cool:

man you just make me feel like crap i have a garage which is full of crap! and have a service truck full of tools and i cant even get a airdog installed! maybe after the first of the year i will have a spare second to do my build :(
Don't let it intimidate you. At the end of the day vehicles are just glorified air pumps! I started turning wrenches when I was 13... If I couldn't fix my dirt bike, I didn't ride on the weekends. Now I'm 23 and have wrenched for fun and for a living on everything from race bikes to boats, CRX's to Powerstrokes. When funds are lacking you learn other tricks to get by and have fun. Who likes stock rig's anyway?!?!

I envy your setup though. I had semi-nice tools when I got here, but my previous truck was broken into 3 times, destroyed the interior and stole all my tools, so being a broke college kid, I had to buy second hand tools off craigslist and chinese tools from surplus stores. Since I'm not currently wrenching for a living and using them day in/day out, they do alright...
 
#8 · (Edited)
Sorry for the delay. Had my camera phone die the other night, and my backup vehicle just got broken into for the 5th time since I've been here (6 months), and it blew a caliper today and the brakes failed at 50mph. Been a busy couple days.

Anyway, Heres a quick update of how to mod the C2 apply piston, and C2 spring cage as per TRANSGO shift kit requires. You need to take the C2 apply piston, flip it over, and with the supplied larger drill bit, drill the holes out just deep enough to install the supplied plugs.

Picture below shows the bottom side of the C2, and the approx angle the holes will be drilled at


Said plug that needs to be installed...open end up, obviously. End goal is for them to sit flush. Really you've only got one shot at it, so make sure the hole is deep enough.


Now you need to drill a hole in the side of the c2 apply piston, at an angle, just above the 'ledge'. They say, and I quote "It's not fussy"...kinda odd, but this is about the angle they showed it at.



Ta-Da..... also, while you're working with this, might as well replace the two o-rings as shown...match them up with the orings out of your Suncoast GMAX5 Kit, as supplied by Husker Diesel ;) Wipe some TransGel, or Petroleum Jelly on the seals just so they dont tear on install...


Now onto the spring cage...pull apart and pop the top off


I used a drill bit to walk the springs off the cage as shown...


Now roll all the new springs onto the bottom of the cage. One side of the coils is larger than the others... The larger side is what you pop onto the cage...Notice how much thicker the coils are and how much shorter...


Pop the top of the cage back on and you're done with that part of the shift kit install.


I'll update again either tonight or tomorrow with the rest of the TRANSGO shift kit install. Just been far too busy to edit the photos.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Quick update... too beat to write a long post tonight.
Still making headway throwing the shiftkit in. Working on the Pump in this episode.

Pull these 5 bolts out.


Pop cover off, and you'll see this


On the far left side of the pump in the previous pic, you can see the valve circuit we'll be working on. I Used a pair pliers as shown to hold the spring pressure, so I could pop the retaining pin out. It's located in that larger black looking circle below the pliers and pick, in the bottom of the picture.


Once you get that out, use a magnet to pull all the pieces out and lay them in order. This is how they will lay out. The two springs on the right are the TRANSGO Springs that will replace to factory ones.


Closer up pic


Now install the Suncoast tool (a very fancy piece of aluminum angle), and depress the spring on the valve as shown. All you need to do is depress it, knock out the pin, let pressure off and remove the tool, pop the spring stop out (the first thing that comes out of the hole) put the bushing on.... which is shown still on my tool in the picture that looks like a washer, reinstall tool, compress spring, install pin, and your done with that.


Now its onto the transgo lockup boost valve. You will remove, and discard the entire factory piece. You then install the transgo valve... It shows that you have to hammer an orfice cup into the smaller/narrow end of the valve. However mine seemed to be preinstalled. Then drop the ball in. Heres where it gets interesting. You can choose between the white spring, and the orange one. I did some consulting and opted for the orange. Drop the spring in, then the end plug, compress it, slide the pin in place and you're done!






Now move onto the pump body. While your here, replace this seal as shown, with the seal out of your Suncoast GMAX-5 kit. She's a pretty big one, so might take a little coercing with a soft-faced mallet. the key here is to put it in straight, without excessive force.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Next replace these three rings with the new ones from Suncoast kit


As well as these three


Reinstall the cover, 5 bolts, and torque to 32ft lbs


That's it for the Pump portion of the TRANSGO shift kit. Not too bad.

Now you can install a new bushing if needed. Mine wasn't in bad shape but I figured 'why not'.... put a long extension in from the other side, tapped it out with my trusty hammer in the background, and tapped the new one in with a rubber mallet. Not hard at all.


The only thing i found was to hit it just on one side or the other of the split. Seemed to come out easy that way.


All that's left for the shiftkit is the valve body portion which I should have up tomorrow, and maybe the Input Drum assembly.

I'm currently working on getting the clutches c3,c4,c5 clutches installed but running into a little bump in the road. I'll be the first to admit I don't know it alllll, nor am I a tranny guru by any means. Ran into a little confusion, got ahold of Jess at Husker Diesel (which is a hell of a guy...didn't phase him one bit to help out on a weekend, at night! That's customer service that just ain't there in 99% of cases) I don't keep dropping the Husker name because I'm getting something for it, or because I got a special deal to do so. It's because the prices are that good, they are willing to work with you, and the fact that you can get ahold of them, "hey man...this is what I've run into. What do you make of this?" and have someone that's willing to help you get things back on track, is amazing. Coming from the sportbike-world I normally deal with, service like that is simply non-existent.

Turns out Suncoast is, infact, supposed to send paperwork/INSTRUCTIONS with their GMAX5 kits. Now that I'm 1/2 way done, thats nice to discover! Been going by the ATSG Manual, which is slightly different because it is for all the factory clutches, and the Suncoast are different. Had really hoped to button up the trans this weekend, but unfortunately not looking like that will be the case between paperwork MIA, and issues with my backup vehicle. So once I get that ironed out, we'll be back in business.

Alright, so onto the final part of the Shift Kit install.This is about the time my camera-phone started acting up and got tomahawked across the room. So I apologize for any missing pictures. Doing my best!

Set the valvebody on your workspace. Going to split the valve body to clean inside, change a screen filter, and do some measuring as well.

Remove all the bolts from the top of the valve body. There is a roller on the right not shown that engages the 'rooster comb'. Remove that as well, as there is another bolt underneath it.


Now remove the two solenoids and accumulators from the valvebody and note where you removed them from so they can go back into the proper spot. 1&2 are where the accumulators live, 3&4 are solenoids.


Now split it.


Now take the plate, and using the smaller drill bit that was supplied with the transgo kit, drill out these two holes. TRANSGO also provides a map for this. Make sure after you drill them that you clean up any burrs on either side. Nice and clean!
 
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#11 · (Edited)
Pull out all your valves to clean the valve body and measure the springs.




Use the following the above picture (two pictures up) and the one below, to locate and replace the solenoid screen filter.



Once everything is cleaned up, and you're springs measured out properly, go ahead and reinstall all the valves. Double check and make sure they slide freely in their bores. My E valve was sticking pretty hard, which may or may not have had something to do with my limp-mode issues. After rolling up a lint-free shoprag and running it in and out of the bore a couple times, the valve ran through the bore smootly.

You have to compress the springs to get the retainer into place. I found one of the accumulator pistons was ideal size to compress the spring, just don't scratch it.


Go Ahead and reassembly the two halfs. Make sure you get them together in the correct orientation. You'll know when its right. DO NOT TIGHTEN the bolts. Just snug them at this point. You can install all but 15&16 in the following picture.


The trim solenoids are the big ones you removed when you removed the plate as held in by 15&16 in the above picture. Now install the new valves and springs from the TRANSGO shift kit. The best way is to drop the ball into the valve, then the small spring, then the large spring over it, and push them in. Make sure you get them in all the way. May take a little wiggling around. This is somewhat tricky. If you go to remove them, the small spring or ball bearing may fall out and into the valvebody. At this point you'll have to pull it back apart and find it. Ask me how I know ;) Notice the ID rib on the trim A valve. Make sure that this goes in the Trim A circuit. There's a difference.


Now install your accumulators, open end up, and their springs ontop of them. Then install the spring in and solenoid valve into Trim A, and the solenoid with Green O-ring. The B trim does not have an outer spring. just the solenoid valve and solenoid with black o-ring. The plate then goes on and holds the solenoids in place. Go ahead and snug those two bolts up, but again, dont tighten them.


Now remember that pin with the two flats that I talked about on the first page? You can slide that into the Manual valve now, and pull it all back into the valve body for safe keeping at this point if you'd like...or install it when you set the valvebody back on the cases.


Now install the pressure switch manifold, and the reverse pipe. Careful with the reverse pipe. its a pretty tight fit getting it to get it fully seated and if you manage to slip and punch the pressure switch manifold....it's got nice sharp edges that'll open up your knucles for you in a hurry. Then install the 5 bolts that hold the PSM in place, the one short bolt that holds the pipe down, as well as the long gold bolt that goes into the #6 hole as show. Now it's time to torque these puppies down. Start at the inside, and in an outward spiral torque them all. We're only going to 9ft/lbs here, so I used a inch/lbs torque wrench and converted over... which is 108 in/lbs. I did it in two stages just to be safe.


So there you have it...the entire TRANSGO shift kit install. As you can see, it's pretty involved as far as shift kits go. That's why most people do the GMAX kit at the same time. Might as well, while you've got the transmission 75% apart anyway.

Might be a day or two until I get to update again. Got alot of photos to resize and edit, and during the week things are pretty hectic.
 
#12 ·
regarding the springs and little ball bearing... put it all together, then slap some of this on it...



that will keep everything in place nice and neat.
 
#13 ·
Alright well the trans is dont and in the truck. Boy does that pinkish/purple torque converter sure look perrrrttyyyy. Unfortunately had my helper ninja-kick the jack out from under the tranny and I learned just how heavy an Allison is. It's ok though. I cushioned it's landing with my hand. So needless to say, my typing is a little slow, and probably plenty of typos so bear with me.

Not going to show pictures of every single step, because they are repetitive of the disassembly. You'll know what I mean just from the description.

Time to build the input drum. Take your bare hub, transgel up your modded c2 apply piston, and get it fully seated. It may take some pressure. Careful not to tear the o-rings.

You can also install the C2 Balance Piston and snapring now too. And the modded C2 Spring Cage,

Now go ahead and install the C1 piston housing, lube the C1 apply piston and install, install C1 Spring cage, compress and install snap ring. The best way I found to do this was to use a phillips head screw driver, and push down in one of the holes in the spring cage. Then hook one end of the snap ring and walk it around as you keep moving the screwdriver. Seemed to work pretty slick.


Next intsall the C1 Balance Piston and snap ring. Then the input shaft and snap ring can be installed.


Now pay attention. My camera couldn't capture this picture in good quality. The next thing to install is a torrington bearing. These MUST be installed in a particular orientation. This on is installed so that the down part (Part facing into the clutch drum), is the same piece that is on the bottom, rolled up and to the outside race. That is to say the bottom race, and outside are the same piece of metal. The top, and inside race are the same piece.

Ok, so now onto the fun part. Lets check out these famous SunCoast clutches!

Look at them Bad Larry's! Those are the C1's. ESSF (External tooth Single Side Friction), and ISSF (Internal tooth Single Side Friction) Unlike the factory plates that you took out, these are steel on one side, friction on the other....Nice!!!

Ok, So before the clutches, we need to install the bottom plate. One side is flat, one is stepped, as shown below. The step side goes DOWN. As in, FLAT SIDE UP.




No install ESSF Friction side down, then ISSF friction side down (so it should go steel bottom plate, then friction side essf down (steel up), issf friction down (steel up), and so on until you run out of plates. The last one should be an ISSF. Then install the new SunCoast top plate step side up, and snap ring.


Now we need to check clearance. A similar dial indicator can be bought at chinese-tool store for under 30$. Note the difference from factory spec.


Given your specs are good, install the spiral ring and continue on.
It is now time to install the C1 Clutch Hub. This takes a little wiggling around to make all the clutches line up. Keep at it, you'll get it. It's very important to get this all the way down, otherwise you'll never be able to get the C2 together. As you can see it's also time to install another torrington baering. This time, the bottom rolls to the inside, and the top rolls to the outside.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Now drop the C2 Clutch Hub on, and the bushing. Fun stuff again! More perttyyy clutches. These ones are traditional friction and steel plates. Notice the difference in thick(.087") and thin(.067") steel plates, and the top wavy plate.


Heres the SunCoast bottom plate, step side down naturally.


Now put a friction in. Now a THIN steel. then a friction. Then a THIN steel. Then a friction. Now a THICK steel. Friction. THICK steel. Friction. Thin Steel. Friction. Thin steel. Friction. Thick steel. Now install the wave plate.

Now here is where I veered from the SunCoast directions. It says to install the sun gear, then backing plate, and snap ring and THEN take your clearance. Maybe those smarter than me know how to take a clearance measurement when you cant get to your plates, but I dont. So I did it this way, and it came up within their specs, so perhaps a typo? Who knows...


After this, if your happy with your spec, go ahead and remove snap ring, install sun gear and plate, install snap ring, and thats it for the input drum.

The torrington ontop of the sungear goes in so that the part touching the sun gear (bottom) rolls up and to the outside. The part on top rolls to the inside. However, think about what you are doing when you go to install this back into the trans case, as it will be upside down.

 
#15 ·
#16 ·
aw bummer, everyone else's threads have discussions going on. Anywhoo, Onto the main case teardown.

SunCoast directions actually recommend replacing the c4 clutches, then flipping over the trans and doing the c3's, but I removed everything and built up from scratch. Different strokes for different folks. I'm doing this to show a complete teardown, but the SunCoast way is probably faster...

First thing first is to remove the extension housing. If I recall is is something like 16 bolts....15mm head I believe.


Now go ahead and lift up. I used a rubber mallet and gave it some taps. I left the tail section together, as I didn't see the need to take it apart. So the P3 Planetary and output shaft will all come out together. There's a torrington bearing sitting ontop of the p3 sungear (between sungear and planetary), so pay attention to it's direction when you remove the tailhousing.



Now go ahead and remove the p3 sungear and the parking brake assembly. Don't worry about damaging the spring, the TransGo kit has a new setup in it. Also go ahead and pull out the P2 Planetary. There is a torrington bearing ontop of it, so be aware.



Now go ahead and remove the c5 clutch assembly. Nothing difficult or exciting here... It will consist of the c5 spring plate on tope, the clutches themselves, then a backing plate in last.

Go ahead and remove the torrington bearing and p1 carrier. There is a thrust water on it that needs to come too.

Now heres where it gets a little trickier, removing the C4. It is held in by two snap rings. The first is normal, And can be removed easily with a flathead or two. The second is a spiral snapring, thats real thin. I found a long thing screwdriver is great for getting this started. Use a pick to get under the edge and pull up so it can't fall back into the groove and just work your way around. No problems. Now remove the C4 backing plate, the clutches, and finally the c4 spring plate.(The following two pictures are actually assembly pics, not disassembly, but it shows the location of the C4 apply piston nontheless...but this explains the planetaries in the pictures)

In this picture you can see the snap rings I'm talking about...


Next is to remove the C4 apply piston. I guess there are some ports that you can blow air into to help unseat it. But in my shop, aka balcony we don't have such luxuries as compressors. So I just cleaned the oil off the piston, and my fingers, got a good grip, and pulled up sharply. You can also remove the p1 planetary ring gear at this time. Pay attention to which way you take it out.


Now flip the trans over. Now time to work on the C3. We need to remove the C3 snap ring, backing plate,clutches, spring plate, and finally the apply piston. Same idea as the previous clutches. Snap ring has already been removed in this pic. Snag the backing plate, and clutches out of there. Notice the thrust washer surface on the underside of the backing plate.


Now the apply piston...





Heres a look at all the goodies that live in the trans housing.


Congrats, You just fully tore down the clutches in the Allison 1000. At this time you can do little stuff...replace PTO cover gaskets, shifter shaft seal, and whatnot if you deem necessary. Mine were pristine, even at 230k miles, so I opted to leave them and keep them for spares. It is also the ideal time to clean all your gasket surfaces up real nice like.

I'll work on the SunCoast install in the next couple days. Classes are hectic right now, trying to bust hump before the long break. I'll do my best to get this How-To finished up before Christmas. Not to mention I just got the truck up and rolling less than 24hrs ago. But that's a story (with good information) I'll save for the end of this How-To. Until next time,
Chris
 
#17 · (Edited)
I'm trying to keep it clear from clutter so when someone needs to reference it they dont have to read through 10 pages of nonsense and "you're the man" posts to find some tech. That is the reason there is 2 seperate sections in DIY. 1 for tech, 1 for discussion..... :rolleyes:
 
#18 ·
I understand DMC. I will PM you.
 
#19 · (Edited)
So now the cases are how you like. New seals, gaskets, what-have-you. I contemplated powdercoating or painting mine, but opted to leave them alone. Making them flashy screams 'modified', and The ole dust-covered aluminum just makes it look like a stock ol beatup trans.... sneaky sneaky sir.

SunCoast says to do the C4's first. This would work if you followed their directions step by step. However for the purpose of making this How-To I pulled everything out. So this will go back together C3 first, then C4, and finally C5. If you follow SunCoast, then you can use this How-To as a reference still, just skip ahead to the C4 install and C5, then come back to the C3. I believe the only reason they do this is to insure the shafts are fully seated, but I had no problems figuring out the difference between fully seated and Not. It's fairly obvious.

Here's what we're working on in this post... The SunCoast C3 pack. Here is what's included...


1 is the apply piston. 2 is the spring plate. 3 is the ESSF's, 4 is the ISSF's, 5 is the top plate with thrust washers, and 6 is a thrust washer shim for the P1 planetary carrier. It gets sandwiched between the P1 and factory washer. But I'll explain that on another post.

Anyway, Flip your case so it is Bellhousing side up. At this point, you may want to start soaking your fiber plates of your clutches. Don't mix them up, that'd be silly. I soaked mine for about half an hour before hand. Then once things started getting buttoned up I Dumped some extra fluid on them just for good measure.

First thing is to install the new C3 Apply piston. lube it up, and put one of the bleed holes at 12:00 (In terms of how the trans sits on the truck. Trans Pan would be 6:00 and the bottom of this pic is also 6:00)




Now you need to take the factory spring plate, remove the springs, and install them on that beautiful SunCoast spring plate. This is pretty straight forward. There are circular notches cut into the plate, obviously for the spring keepers to sit in. Here they are. This side will actually sit down (as in toward the tail housing and driveshaft when the trans is installed)


Now heres the part that's a little hard to understand (and, to give credit where credit is due, just to be safe, something I had asked Jess @ Husker Diesel) The words "SunCoast" and "Bottom" are engraved. "Bottom" does NOT mean that side goes down. It means that the tab with "bottom" engraved goes toward the bottom of the case, as in the area nearest the pan, in the 5:00 groove in the case. This side shown will be the surface that contacts the clutches. Here is the tab that I'm talking about...


So once you get the spring plate dropped in, its time to go grab those clutches you've been soaking (you did soak them right? If not, it's time to take a break, and drink a frosty one while they soak) A closeup of the SunCoast friction material.



They will install friction side UP. This means that the spring plate, and bottom of the first plate, which is an ESSF will be steel to steel. Read that again. Steel to steel, friction side up. Then after that one, an ISSF friction side up, then an ESSF friction side up, so on and so forth, until you run out.


Now install the top SunCoast plate...

And finally the snap ring with the opening at the 1:30 position. My assumption for this positioning is oil flow/control so it's probably fairly important to do this correction.
Finally, take your clearance. Don't skimp and not check. The boys at SunCoast say its almost not necessary, and I'm sure they've done their homework. But do yourself a favor and just double check your work. After the snap ring is installed, you want to check between the top friction plate, and the bottom of the metal top plate as shown.


That's all for tonight. Next time we'll be flipping the trans over, and working on the C4.
 
#20 ·
'spose its time to talk about the C4 install. So tear the SunCoast package open, and start soaking them now in the fluid of your choice.

Next is to flip the trans over, so it is tail-housing side up.



First thing is to install the P1 Planetary ring gear. This'll take some effort to get into place. you'll have to keep turning it back and forth to get it to fully seat in the C3 clutches. You'll know when you have it fully down. You can also tell by taking a small light and verify that it is sitting on the three thrust washers on the c3 top plate's underside.



Next is to lube and install the C4 apply piston, with a bleed hole at the 12:00 position. (you do remember where 12:00 is, right?) As a side note, the C4 apply piston is different than the C3. they look similar, but the c4 is actually thicker. DO NOT MIX THEM UP. Heres the hole one more time...


You'll notice the P1 is installed in this picture. It will be in the way to take your measurements, but I had had this C4 in and out a couple times (taking pictures and whatnot), so it just happened to be in when I took this picture.


Remember on the C3 how the springs got transfered to the new SunCoast plate? same idea again, and the tab with the 'Bottom' engraving goes in the 6:00 position. Same as the C3, The side with the SunCoast and 'bottom' engraving are the side that the clutches actually sit on, and 'bottom' does not mean to install it so that side is down.


Now its time to start with the plates themselves. Steel side down (so friction side up), starting with an ESSF, then ISSF, then ESSF, then ISSF until all 12 are installed, all friction side up. The only metal to metal you should have is the first ESSF and the spring plate. Notice how the P1 sits slightly above the clutches, even when fully seats. I said SLIGHTLY, which I will discuss in the next post.



Next, is the Suncoast C4 top plate. Compress it down, install the spiral snap ring. Make sure that it is fully in place, and ontop of itself, all the way around, 360 degrees before installing the larger snap ring. Otherwise you'll be effed.


Now install the large snap ring with the gap in the 1:30 position (sound familiar?) Theres a wide gap in the case at 1:30...line it up with that.


Now, same as before, check clearance. Yes I'm aware this pic is of the C3, but the methodology is the same here, as is the spec.


And the final look with everything all nice and happy. (With the P1 in place, which I'll discuss next time.)
 
#21 ·
Alright...so now onto the P1 Planetary. SunCoast gives you a spacer for the plastic shim on this. You need to remove the plastic shim, install the spacer (notice the notches in it for the shim's tabs to slide into), then put the plastic shim back on. This is where it will now live.



Heres the Suncoast part. This will go on, then the plastic factory piece will go on after it.


Now you need to get the P1 Planetary all the way seated into the C4's, and down into the P1 ring gear. You could use transgel to try and hold the shims in place, since they will be upside down. I opted to string a piece of dental floss on each side like below, to hold it up, nice and flush... Then once seated just pulled it out.


Now it's time for another one of those lovely torrington bearings. This one goes in so that the bottom rolls to the outside, and the top race rolls to the inside.

Now start putting the factory C5 clutch in. This is the only stock clutch that you will reuse. If I recall correctly, this clutch is applied during Park, Reverse, Nuetral, and First. So this is why they reuse it. Put it this way. My fluid was black, like motor oil and this clutch was spotless. No signs of burns/slippage. Frictions and still were mint, so unless you're building a reallllll monster I see no reason to replace this.

Anyway, it's gonna go in backing plate first, then friction, then steel, friction, steel, all the way until you end with a steel plate.


Then install the factory spring plate is next. Notice there is a locating tab on it.







Now, here is the tricky part. To measure the C5 clutch clearance you have to have a special "H Gauge" to mount on the trans housing, and be able to slide feeling gauges under it. Take it for what it's worth, but as I saw it...I was reusing the exact factory parts that came out, in the exact same order as they were originally installed, with nothing changed. I didn't see the need to buy a gauge to check something that I knew would be right. So I didn't. Again, some people may want to, but after seeing the perfect condition of my clutches, I decided that they would be fine (and the drivability of the trans proves it).

Now go ahead and install the P2 planetary. Same idea. it has to be worked down through the C5 clutches. You'll know when it's seated as you will get a nice, metallic *clunk*. However, it still will sit a little high. I think this is partly due to that spacer.


And finally, another torrigton. The bottom rolls to the inside (so that there is a large lip on the inside...odd I though, but thats how it is), and the top race rolls to the outside.

Now install the parking pawl actuator guide (the steel piece that sits in the case), the parking pawl shaft, and parking pawl. Dig back into your TRANSGO kit, and you'll find the new spring and pin, as shown below. Sorry that the pic is blurry, but I'm only working with a cellphone here. The pin is sitting ontop of the pawl in the picture, but it is actually placed in the case so that the spring has something to 'grab'



And now install the mainshaft and p2 sun gear.
 
#22 · (Edited)
This part is kind of tricky. they say to line up the notches (oil clearance passages) with one of the holes in the mainshaft. Where you are going to run into trouble is when you turn the case back over it will shift a little, so just be sure not to let it turn too far. I think this may be one of the reasons SunCoast recommends to do the C4 install first.
This pic shows the oil hole in the shaft pretty good. If you were to reach in through the C3 side, notice how you can push the mainshaft up and down a little...


Finally install the P3 sungear, and torrington bearing. This one, the top race rolls to the inside, and the bottom rolls to the outside. This will have the larger lip hanging downward. Since you already cleaned all your gasket surfaces, go ahead and put the new gasket on too.


Now, Since you probably didn't take the tail housing apart (since there is really no need to), go ahead and set it back on. Use the dowels to get it all lined up and dropped into place. About this time you're going to think you screwed up. You didn't... The case will stop about 1/2" short from butting up against each other. This is becasue of the C5 springs. Put all the bolts in, and just run them down in a criss-cross pattern to suck the tailhousing down.


Torque the rear tailhousing to 37ft lbs, and you're done. Go ahead and check output shaft endplay (.018-.032") with your dial indicator. Somehow I've misplaced my picture of this, but I'm sure you all know how to operate one of these. not too tricky. If not, below there is a picture showing the usage of one below on the input shaft.

I'll start on the input drum installation portion of this How-To tomorrow evening. Feel free to post thoughts in the other thread. I'd like to hear your thoughts!
 
#23 · (Edited)
So now that you buttoned up that end of the trans, go ahead and spin it around. Time to drop the input drum in. This update is going to be a little slim on pics, since this is pretty much the same thing as teardown. Nothing spectacular to look at.

In the following pic, notice the groove in the mainshaft. See how it is sitting above the P2's carrier shaft? It is not fully seated. Wiggle it around, until the groove is just about in line with the end of the carrier shaft. Then it is seated.


Next is to lay the torrington bearing in. it goes in so that the bottom race rolls to the inside, and the upper rolls to the outisde. this will leave a large lip on the inside race, facing upward. Now set your completed input drum into place. wiggle it around and you'll feel it drop into place. Starting to look pertyyyy!

There's two ways to go about this. First the gasket needs to go down. Then, either you have already attached the pump to the bellhousing (which I did not), or you can set the pump over the input shaft, then the other gasket ontop of it, and then finally the bellhousing. This is what I did, so that's what I'll show.

So lay your first gasket down. Keep an eye on the holes in it to make sure they line up with the passages. Then put the pump/plate on, over the input shaft.


Now the next gasket, and finally the bellhousing. Now you need to find 10 of the bolts pictured below. Replace the seals as needed. They are the inside bellhousing bolts (hold pump to bellhousing)


They go in like so (theres 10 of them, and they occupy the 10 inside holes in the bellhouing. In this pic 2 of the holes on the right don't have the bolts in it yet)... and need to be torqued to 32ft lbs (i torqued these at the same time I did the outer bellhousing bolts, but YMMV)


Then install the rest of the bellhousing bolts. The following two pics, again, are a reference for the different lengths. These all get torqued to 37 ft lbs.





Go around twice just to be sure you torqued them all. Now, check end play. I set the dial indicator up so the magnet was grabbing onto a couple bolt heads. Zero gauge out, and then I used a large flathead screwdriver to push up and down on the ring gear for the PTO on the input drum. Spec is .030-.045" Endplay
 
#24 · (Edited)
Onto the underside to put on the valvebody, filters, electrical, and pan. So flip the trans so that it is belly side up.


Then clean everything up real nice one last time, and set the valvebody on. Remember this lil guy? That connects the manual valve to the 'rooster comb'? Be sure to get it into the groove in the 'rooster comb'.


Start bolting it valvebody down, with the bolts as shown. They get torqued to 9ft lbs. After, double check that the manual valve moves in and out without issue.


Don't forget to replace the seal in this hole for the internal filter.


Install the new filter, and use teh SunCoast filter lock. As you can see it is held on with two valvebody bolts. The inner one will have to be tightened with a wrench.


Don't forget to replace the main seal on the wiring harness bulkhead connector, lube it, and push that on through the case. Be sure to try and press it back into the case from the outside, to ensure it's fully clipped in. You'd hate to push it inside the case after you've buttoned up the pan and it's underneath the truck.


Get you're wiring all setup and clipped in (remember how it is held in place by those same clips that hold the solenoids in?)....here it is all nice and tidy


Finally, install the gasket and clean the pan and magnet out real niceeee.


Set the pan on, and torque down to 20ft lbs. And finally, what it's all about. One dirty looking, very built, very very sneaky Suncoast Gmax 5. Sure you could paint the cases, or powdercoat them and make it look fancy. I dunno about ya'll, but mine is going in a truck, that gets treated like a truck, and used like a truck.


I coupled mine with a Precision Industries ML torque converter, and have been happy with it.
 
#25 ·
One last look at the 'specialty' tools I used. This is EVERYTHING I used, outside of basic hand tools. Infact, everything but the precision measuring tools shown here, every other tool I used in the build is something that I carry in a toolbox, in the back of my truck on a daily basis. This is not a build that needs expensive tools by any means.



Starting up front is a pick, and a set of feeler gauges.
Second row is a 9$ set of chinese needle nose that I filed the tips on to act as inside/outside snapring pliers.
Third row is a sharpie for marking parts/labeling baggies, a magnet for when you drop things (like torque converter bolts into the bellhousing...ahem), and a dial caliper.
Behind that is a long extension (handy for knocking the pump bushing out, and for reaching those pesky torque converter bolts, and bellhousing top bolts).

Next is inch lbs and ft lbs torque wrenches. Lastly is a dial indicator and the most important, frosty celebration suds of your choice in a Husker Diesel coozie.

I have a couple pieces of info I'll post over in the other thread. I'll also try and go through maybe this weekend and proof read this whole thing and edit any issues I see.

This trans performs flawlessly in the truck. Hooks hard, handles a Duramaxtuner.com max-effort tune without issue, and makes my tires cry.

So there it is folks. A complete, performance build, beginning to end of an Allison 1000, on a second story balcony with nothing more than your basic hand tools. All of the tools I used cost me less than 100$ total (most of which I had purchased for other projects in the past). Quality tools are great, but they don't make you a better tech.
 
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