pink sludge

i've got a th350 with gobbs of pink sludge
i don't have any history on this TH350, but i'll tell you what i know so far.
the numbers tell me it was built by Chevy in 76. the kickdown cable hole was plugged with electric tape. it had plenty of red fluid in it but also had about 1-2 cups of water seemed to be floating on top. pulled the pan, and found pink sludge and broken "detent spring" (the one that rides on the rooster comb).
i'm praying that the broken detent spring made previous owner think tranny was junk and caused him to abandon it, then maybe it just accumulated water while sitting outside in the rain or something... hope it wasn't run with water in it. i cleaned it out with solvent and low air pressure, but i dont want to waste the $50 in tranny fluid if it needs to be rebuilt anyway.

does presense of water automatically require a rebuild?

When they get that pink fluid/water mix inside them it usually isn't long before they crap out, even if you are able to flush and reflush it until it is all red fluid. There are so many 350TH out there I don't think I would waste money and time on one that is suspect. Plus, you will have all the time installing, removing, then reinstalling a new one that your time has to count for something.

I tried to save a Pontiac tranny one time what got water in it, and even though I caught it right away and flushed it until clean, it failed a short time later and required a total rebuild.

Don

I would agree with Don. Not worth all the work and then have to rebuild it anyways. Lots of cheap working ones out there.Or you can get a rebuild kit for pretty cheap,I got one on ebay with quality parts and kevlar band for $100 , cost me more in synthetic fluid to fill it after. And unless your getting a new converter,which I did, its hard to get all the old fluid out.

Agreed, there are a million of them out there and the 2wd are easier to come by then the 4x4 and even those infest craigslist listings. Buy one and fill er up with type f and chirp some tire!

thanks for the input guys, i guess i'll try having this one rebuilt first before i put it in. anyone know what i should expect to pay to have the local Eagle Trans Shop rebuild it?