tranny reverse engages, drive dont, help..

[bennyhana20]

92 XLT automatic 4 wheel 115000 miles
in about mid august i blew my seal at the torque converter which resulted in about 5 quarts of fluid pissing out. The whole process took place going 70 on the highway at about 4 in the morning. After putting 5 quarts of ATF in the tranny it was running as pisser as ever, (only damage was about a 1-2 second delay engaging drive gears). But once the tranny had warmed up the tranny began pissing again. (fluid leak directly between engine and transmision)
with no transmission experience, but help from friends i pulled the tranny and changed the seal. This involved removing the bell housing and tapping the seal from the other side. i had some gear out which i wasn't happy about but everything seemed snug when putting back together. I made sure the torque converter was fully engaged and put back in its original position against the drive plate.
Once everything was back together i put in about 8 quarts. (Torque converter empty) and ran the engine. at this time i did not have the vaccuum hose at the vacuum diaphram attached (accidentally) the engine was idling high, the transmission engaged in reverse and drive, drive gears would not shift (i think due to vaccuum hose detached) i was driving about 30-35 mph, and slowly it slipped from gear, and wouldn't go back into drive, getting the enging high about 2-3000 rpm, i was able to get the truck moving enough to get back to my house.
At this point i located the problem with the vaccuum hose, attached it, and the tranny and engine sound perfect. I put some more fluid in ( at this point about 9 1/4- 9 1/2 quarts, but the reading is very high on dipstick.
Right now reverse engages Very Smooth, no shaking, Park engages, and neutral engages, but no drive gears engage, and car will not move forward even when reving engine high.
i played with the linkage excesssively to attempt to correct the problem. linkage arm seemed to get knocked around when dropping tranny.
Any ideas for me, im praying its something simple. Something that does not involve pulling that tranny off again.
My one concern is a gear that fell out when i had the bell housing off. it was about 5 inches in diameter. one side had a 45 degree angled notch on one section on one side, i am pretty sure i put it back correctly, it spun smoothly and there was no marks or evident necessity for the angled notch facing one particular direcion. This is basically my only concern..
i hope my problem is a linkage issue. please get back to me... thanks a ****load!!!!!!!

 

[Brain]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113354&page=1

Look about two thrids of the way down on that page (as well as the next page) and you'll see those gears (pump gears) and a conversation about the way the gear should look and how the bevel should face the front of the tranny. If you keep going with Glacier991's thread he shows how to align the pump so that major damage doesn't occur from a misaligned pump.

One way to see if it is just a linkage problem is by disconnecting the ball ended connection at the tranny and trying to shift it by hand (use a friend you can trust and the e-brake so you don't end up flattened). Did you remove the valve body for any reason (shift linkage problem inside the pan)...?

Now you know why the shops want $6-700 to labor to replace that $8 seal.....had the same thing happen to me at 85K miles.

 

[Opera House]

It may seem obvoius that if the seal leaks, replace it. In fact, this seal is not supposed to have any pressure on it. Leaking is generally the result of other bushings being worn. There is a drain path back to the pan that many make larger to handle additional flow and prevent the seal from leaking. If the pump is taken apart, the assembly must be aligned with a tool or bigger problems will happen.

 

[cjbarron5]

MAKE SURE YOU STAKE THE PUMP BUSHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!this is required so it doesnt push aginst the seal if you have access to a fluid preasure gauge i would see what kind of preasure you are running in drive this can help alot to direct you to the problem

 

[Glacier991]

Yes. If you removed the pump from the bellhousing.... (which you would have HAD to do for that gear to fall out...) IT SIMPLY HAS TO BE REINSTALLED WITH THE RE-CENTERING TOOL OR THE NEW BUSHING WILL FAIL AND POSSIBLE PUMP AND TORQUE CONVERTOR DAMAGE CAN/WILL OCCUR. [emphasis added]...

That said.. reverse will run on little pressure.... forward gears require a higher pressure.
AT 115,000 miles... if I pulled the trannie I'd seriously look at some form of a rebuild....ALL the advice above is sound advice. CJ's point about a pressure gauge is a good one... but so few people have or use them (another thread coming up)....or know how to interpret the readings.