Well hello there. Been over a year since I posted up here, so why not make a drop today. I moved up to Indiana in March and haven't had much of a chance to get out and explore the offroad world here...small as it may be. Lots of farms, fertile ground, and trees around me now, but that means flat and muddy. I will truly miss all that AZ has to offer, but may one day return. Who knows? So what's the news today? Well, the last two times I took the old girl out for a spin, I have had a squeal coming from the XMSN while coasting. I can get back on the throttle and it goes away, but overall its getting worse. The Googleverse returned a quick answer in that on the 6L80e, a metallic squeal while coasting is likely the torque converter, the front bearing, or the pump dying a slow death. The real risk is that a slow death becomes a sudden death which tends to take other items with them. The facepalming amusement is that the ONLY component I have not been through completely at this point is the XMSN. It came out of a 2013 Camaro SS with 35,000 miles on the clock and has been a great player in the band considering the thrashing I have given it in the name of having fun. It has also been underwater several times, including the ill fated swim in the Gila that claimed Engine 1.0. It has never been contaminated or shown any signs of failure and I would estimate it to have a slice over 55,000 miles on it now. I can not tell you how thankful I am to finally have a large shop with a lift. It is a game changer and I care not how cliche that may be. To be able to walk and stand under the ole girl is a real treat for my knees and level of frustration. I was able to drain and drop the pan, to find a spectacularly clean XMSN with clear red fluid. No metal, no rust, no burnt smell, just a tranny that looks as good as it did(internally) as it did when I installed it last. That good news relayed to the highest rated shop Google could find in Louisville was a welcomed win, and I have plans to drop her off next week for a wee bit of surgery. It could well be as simple as swapping in a new TC or pump, but at this point why even consider stopping short of a prefect serving of peace of mind knowing that everything is tip top. Everything except that damned LH swivel hub that will forever leak. I may need to bite the bullet and replace the seals one more time and over drive them a tick to get past the wear marks left my 230,000 miles spinning. I do have plans to be back working on Clappy soon, but that will have to come after this expenditure and the installation of a two post lift this summer. Stay tuned, this old tale not yet concluded.
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