Hey all, I'm removing my valve body so that i can clean it and inspect it. what can i use to wash or soak the valve body with? can it be water and soap? or does it have to be a solvent? i want to wash it first and then take the valve body apart little by little. will anything rust if i use water and soap when i do this?

 

I would recommend a mild degreaser if you are going to soak it, but I have always just used brake clean and a brass brush for the stubborn spots. I believe that the valve body is aluminum anyway so it shouldn't rust.

 

Ok thanks. yeah the valve body is aluminun but i think the valves inside are steel? but any here are some pictures. i think the separtor plate is rusted? when i was taking out some of the valve body bolts, water droplets would drip out from some of the bolt holes. and there was milk like stuff around the bolts. and on some other valve body bolts a clean colored oil that was colored just like new motor oil would drip out but it smelled like gear oil, why? was it factory assembly grease that never dissapated? and some of the treads felt like they may have had some tread locker but maybe it was just dirt from the top of the case that got in the tread?

 

There shouldn't be any motor/gear oil, grease, or water in there.

Looks like your separator plate is rusty. That is a cheap piece and I replace them whenever I drop the valve body just to refresh the check ball seats. Unless the transmission I'm working on is a low mileage one that looks perfect already. I have never seen one that bad though.

 

this valve body is very dirty. i have no choice but to take it apart and clean it. i have been spraying the gasket that is stuck on it with NAPA brand gasket remover but it still is very hard to remove. i have been slowly scraping it with a razor blade. is it normal for it to be hard to scrape the gasket off? and would gasoline be a good thing to soak the valve body in?