Tranny Trouble

Jeepnmud74

Jeepnmud74

New Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2005
Location
Mount Holly, NC
Ford F-350 PSD 4R100 auotmatic tranny touble........never heard that one before have you :D

Anyway it poured fluid out of the dust cover that lets you access the torque converter. I drained the pan and the fluid looks fine. there was not any clutch material in it other then the usual sludge on the maganet. I also blew air threw the cooler lines to see if they were stopped up. They appeared to be clear. I kow it got hot I could feel it on me feet while driving and so could my passenger. felt like the heat was on and blowing into the floor on my feet. Anyway I am going to refill it and see what happens but I am assuming my front pump seal went bad for some reason. I am not replacing it yet I want to see what happens first. Can anyone help to enlighten me as to why it may have went bad. I was thinking that maybe the lines got clogged up and caused excess pressure in the tranny. If that was the case would it not have leaked out of the vent tubes up top and ran to the rear of the truck and ran out back there? I kow some of you guys know a lot more about this then I do. So please help me out if you can.

Just wanting to get some more opinions before I consider this problem solved. Buying a new transmission is out of the question. They are very expensive.
 
My friend had the same problem. We towed out of Tellico thru the TN side. Got to the top, just before getting on the Scenic hwy and adjusted trailer brakes. He was pulling a 30' gooseneck with two hybrids on it. Got on the scenic hwy and drove just a few hundred feet to the rest area so his wife could use the last facility before descending the mnt. As we waited, just a couple of mins, His tranny puked a bunch of fluid. We waited for it to cool, filled it back up, and went on. He had a friend come up and take his trailer. He got his problem fixed though. He waited about a week, got fluid all changed, cleaned up the truck and traded for a CTD with a six speed. But during the time he still had it, it didn't do it again.
 
Guess I better carry a gallon of tranny fluid everywhere I go then, you know just in case :lol: .
 
the neck on the converter gets worn out as the trans get older, and then the seal leaks

or the pump and valve body gets clogged from worn clutch material or whatever and builds up pressure and the worn converter doesn't help that


Brendan
 
So do you guys think I should pull ti out and replace the converter and seal as well? I had not planned on doing that but I guess I could.
 
One more question if you guys dont mind.

If I wanted to change over to Synthectic tranny fluid is there anything special i need to do. Can I simply drain out all old fluid and then refill with synthetic blnd. How do you drain the torque converter and how do you getthe fluid back in it after you dain it? I thought you filled it before you installed it and its fluid just kind of stayed there(might be showing my stupidity with that comment but oh well got to learn somehow).
 
Fluid exchange

Yo,

The only way to purge is to have a shop pull the cooling lines at the radiator and while the motor is running, suck in the synthetic on the return line while the "Saudi oil" is purged out the other line. This will, and the only way to, purge the converter.

You and a buddy can do it yourself if you have the grapes to try it....


:beer: :beer: :D
 
Ford may be similar, but if it "puked" fluid as opposed to a big leak, it very well may be from a vent. The Dodge 47RE has a vent in the bellhousing.
 
As does Chevy's (weak) auto offerings...

My bros '99 1500 Z71 4x4 did the same thing pulling an empty trailer in OD. It puked fluid & lost power (scared the $#!7 out of us both the first time)... he talked to an inlaw that told him where the dump tube was... sure enough, that's where it came from! We babied the other 500 miles to Richmond and back (with Jeep on the trailer)... stopping every 45 minutes to let it cool and refill the tranny.

According to Terry Lebante Cheby techs, the tranny had a "factory defect" that was gonna * cost HIM* $2500... :shaking: He got the "extended warranty" folks on the horn and the tranny was replaced. Then he drove it straight from there to a dealer in Burlington and traded it on a truck that wouldn't crap the tranny pulling an empty trailer ('03 2500HD w/8.1L & Allison) :lol:
 
So I would have to have a tranny shop purge my system in order to get it back in the Torque converter. Since I do not know a whole lot about automatic trannys I may just go back with regular Mercon tranny fluid and see how much cooler it will run now. With the new valve body and 30,000 GVWR cooler running in line with the stock 20,000 GVWR cooler it should run cooler now.
 
You can drill a hole in the torque converter ,then thread the hole and put a drain plug in it . Dealership did that on a Towncar I once owned.
 
So the pump will refill the torque converter if I drain it?
 
you can't drill and tap the converter without getting it balanced again or it will wear out the front pump bushings, and you also run the risk of getting metal filing's in the trans which is bad, the pump supply's oil to every part of the trans including the converter, the purge idea might work but you might as well get it flushed at a trans shop with synthetic, that will get it all out and also clean out most of the deposits.

The fluid that leaked out wasn't from a vent, the vent is on the top and rear of the trans, not in the bell housing.

there could be a more serious problem that caused the fluid to leak out, like a worn bushing or seal and then a valve body problem that caused excessive pressure to build up.

Usually(98%) if they puke all the fluid out of the pump the trans is on its way to the graveyard, sorry you prolly dont want to hear that.

Good Luck

Brendan
 
I might not want to hear it but I need it honest.


I have managed to get it working now aith a new valve body so I will see what happens. I also added a second cooler and ran it inline with the stock cooler.
 
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