Issue with Transmission Fluid Replacement (1 Viewer)

[josharre2000]

Hello Folks.

Bought my son a 1997 CE 80. Rig has just over 200K. Its been great to spend time with wrenching on it and seeing his appreactaion is priceless. We knew the rig has a so-so maint history going in so we are working our way through it baselining everything.

We got to the tranny today... Figured we do the tranny fluid replacement, pretty straight forward. Wel 1st off the fluid smelled especially burnt and was very dark. (Truck drives fine and shifts very smooth / no sign of slippping). THe level of the fluid was just below the “hot” marks. Before we started. The following are the steps I took:

1. Drained old fluid form pan (4qts)
2. Replaced (4qts of Valvoline Max Life Synthetic)
3. Checked level and it was the same as before
4. Un-Plugged the top hose from the cooler and connected to 3/8 ID clear tubing — Into bucket.
5. Started truck — NOTHING HAPPENED — NO FLUID CAME OUT IN ANY GEAR — LET RUN FOR ABOUT 45 SECONDS — Shifted from D-N-R.. Shut down truck and rechecked fluid level — same level.
6. Figured cooler was clogged. I disconnected the lower (feed) hose and started truck... only a very small dribble of fluid came out and then stopped. I blew compressed air through the cooler once disconnected and it was not clogged.
7. Dropped pan and removed the filter... All appeared to be in ok shape.

So I am at a loss folks. I would really appreciate any help you can offer so I help get my boy back on the road.

Thanks — Josh

 

[jasheehan]

I think I remember cycling through the gears when I did my fluid replacement.

 

[josharre2000]

I think I remember cycling through the gears when I did my fluid replacement.

Yes, we tried that as well. Thanks

 

[shocktower]

I don't understand mixing a synthetic with what came in it, I think it's not a good idea for 1 you'll never get the 2.8 quarts out of the TC and then you're combining to dissimilar oils that are not going to like each other, I just use an inexpensive dextron 3 I've got 280k on my cruiser with a Cummins 5.9 through my stock transmission I would dump that synthetic and just use what it had JMHO .

 

[shocktower]

Well valvoline said it's ok I still dont trust it I mean who's going to back it up

 

[josharre2000]

Well valvoline said it's ok I still dont trust it I mean who's going to back it up

Thnaks. That 5.9 setup is bad ass btw. Just looking for any ideas why fluid is not getting to the cooler. Hoses do not appear to be clogged. Is there a temperature that the tranny fluid has to reach before it’s pumped to the cooler?

 

[Kaninja]

Is there a temperature that the tranny fluid has to reach before it’s pumped to the cooler?

No, if the engine is running the tranny is pumping fluid.

Check for a pinched hose or something has an obstruction somewhere.

 

[BILT4ME]

Like @Kaninja said, pinched or kinked line somewhere.

That may explain the burnt fluid.

It should pour out of that hose with the engine running, like a garden hose. It will make noise, then shut it off, and do it again.

I exchanged 5 gallons of fluid through mine to improve things. Did not pull the pan.

You MAY have to actually remove each line and blow both directions through it, as some replacement hoses have been known to have plugs in them that did not get removed by the installer.

 

[josharre2000]

Like @Kaninja said, pinched or kinked line somewhere.

That may explain the burnt fluid.

It should pour out of that hose with the engine running, like a garden hose. It will make noise, then shut it off, and do it again.

I exchanged 5 gallons of fluid through mine to improve things. Did not pull the pan.

You MAY have to actually remove each line and blow both directions through it, as some replacement hoses have been known to have plugs in them that did not get removed by the installer.

Thanks for the reply. Ill dig into it tonight and keep y’all posted.

 

[josharre2000]

Found the issue. PO installed a new radiator and looks like they accidentally placed it on top of the tranny cooler lines. Fluid was fried. I dropped the pan and replaced the old filter (which looked fine), cleaned the pan and magnets (all were free of metal bits). We replaced fluid with Valvoljne MaxLife tranny fluid (about 14 qts did it) via the upper tranny fluid hose. I also replaced all the belts, oil pump gasket, distributor o-ring and front crank gasket since I had verythjng pulled apart trouble shooting the tranny issue. She runs and shifts like a champ and is now free of all leaks.