automatic transmission won't engage

Bolt the fly wheel to the torque converter?

Are the two transmissions/vehicles compatible?

Is the linkage properly adjusted?

Yes the flywheel is attached.

I used the engine from the van so it is compatible.

Yes the linkage is correct.

If he changed the engine and tranny as a unit, the flywheel and torque convertor should be the ones that came with the combo. Are they, amigo?

And we'll assume that the driveshaft coupled up perfectly (or halfshafts, as the case may be).

I think I would try to readjust the shift and throttle linkages manually one more time, carefully, before going deeper.

The flywheel and tourque converter are the ones that came with the combo.

Yes the driveshaft coupled perfectly.

I will double check the shift and throttle linkages one more time.

Thanks

- Most likely, but one point is to approach it systematically and be sure...at every step... that you have cleared the way to the next step.

Although it is unlikely that the tranny went belly up during the transplant, even that is possible.

Talking about *belly up*, did you at any time have the tranny turned upside down, like when replacing bottom-end engine components like seals, gaskets, even bearings? Is it a Ford van? s

The van it came out of is an '87 chevrolet.

And no it was never turned upside down. I did almost no work on the transmission so it sat on the floor of my shop for the couple months that it was out of the vehicle.

Did you put a new tranny filter in it when you installed the tranny? If so, are you sure you got the old O-Ring out of the hole where the filter plugs in? Did you get the new O-Ring properly seated before you pushed in the filter? This can cause a common obstruction.

I haven't replaced the filter in the transmission. The pan never came off the bottom of the transmission so there sould be no problem there.