The Black Hole

[410Fortune]

Drivers side is the HARD ONE because of the accessory brackets, dipstick and steering shaft
The pass side only sucks to get access to the rear downpipe bolt....and with a long extension, 3/8 drive and wobbly I an get a straight shot from next to the cat converter. The drivers side downpipe bolts are straight up and down....yippie!!

no coolant behind manifold bolts, at least not on the 5.0
Remove the neg bat cable
Remove steering shaft, two 13mm, collapse shaft pull it out
Unbolt AC compressor and just move it forward a bit, ratchet strap or find a good spot
Tackle the downpipe and dipstick bolts first, the others are a breeze
If you have a torch hit those downpipe bolts then they will back right out

Is your replacement manifold the dorman unit?
If so consider removing any rough casting marks inside the exhaust ports with a dremmel


I bet when your old rack went some debris was forced into the lines
Note to self:
make sure PS hoses are clear before install because watching what you went through and not being there to help SUCKED
HOWEVER I see this truck in a whole new light. Any rig that will make the whole drip DESPITE the universe being against it, and still get you there and back = WINNER, good girl here's your treats. BII has NEVER left me stranded = shes still in the stable

 

[mrboyle]

Got him mostly back together. Manifold was simple with the body lift and pre trimmed inner fender. He kinda has power steering but I'm not 100% sure why it isn't fully operational. I pulled the lines and blew through them and the PS cooler. No restrictions found. The restrictor is installed on the high pressure inlet as far as can tell and there does not appear to be an issue with flow. It seems to me like something is not allowing it to build pressure. My first opinion is there is something bad inside the rack.

 

[gmanpaint]

Thank you so very much for all the help Mike. What you did today will get me home. That's the important thing out of all this. Once home, I can work on replacing the rack again.

Seems like everything needs to be replaced twice to get it to work right. Lol

For today, I am in great company, safe, warm, and patched up to get back home.

This has been one crazy adventure for sure. Still have a couple days to go, and not out of the woods yet. Back to the midwestern ( bermuda) triangle.

Have to get the trailer moved to a new spot in Kansas Monday morning, and get home by Monday night. Then back again with a different vehicle to get it home.

Buy hey, got one good day of wheeling with this rig out of it. Lol

New Manifold on.

Old busted up POS manifold. Supposedly, these are off a Saleen rig used from 99-01 with less restriction in them than the 98, and supposedly less prone to cracking. Myth busted.

Mike thinks the smaller pieces happened after the fact, from the weight of it, and flex during use, getting it back to camp, and to his place. It was only the one crack (all the way thru) at the down, when it blowed itself up on the trail. It threw a CEL for the HO2 lean, on the way to his place.

 

[410Fortune]

WHAT THE HELL??????????????????????????????????????????????? I know every cast part has a weak spot but
DAYYYUM!!!!!! That sucker blew up!
I have a special shelf for parts like this, stuff that has reeked havoc, each bit has a story behind it, that manifold would be up there for sure

Maybe whatever was blocking the flow found its way deeper into the rack now? Who knows, that just plain sucks. I have replaced plenty of racks and power steering pumps and I have never seen this before.
I was even thinking sheesh maybe his serpentine belt is spinning the pump backwards? LOL

Did anyone pull the belt off and spin the pullies? I'm wondering why the 230 degree water temps

 

[gmanpaint]

Yes, it broke pretty good!! Lol

Mike did remove the belt, and check. All good. Water temps are fine, it's the trans temps that have been running hot.

Had to rest the trans at the bottom of monarch pass for about 45 mins. By the time I got there, it was hitting 235.
Rested again at the top for another 45 mins, as it hit 240 at the top of that 7 mile climb, in 2nd gear, doing 40 mph.

Made it to salida for fuel, and avg 58 mpg from top of monarch to salida. Lol

 

[boominXplorer]

By chance do you have an exhaust hanger at your transmission mount? If its left out and the exhaust gets hit it will break at its weakest point.

 

[gmanpaint]

Yes, there is a hanger there. I know what your saying Boomin. Best we can tell is ice cold water hit it just right. If not that, it might just have been hairline cracked already.

Right before Colorado springs my GPS says low battery, then it died. No idea when, but the auxiliary outlet in the console stopped working.

Plugged it in the rear outlet to charge back up, and will do again overnight.

Deffo something electrical going on.

What's next?

 

[410Fortune]

where areyou taking the trans temp? Factory sensor in the pan?

 

[gmanpaint]

where areyou taking the trans temp? Factory sensor in the pan?

Yes sir, and reading that stock sensor with a scan gauge plugged into the dash port.

Never realized that Kansas has some long long grade hills in it. They're gradual but they caused the trans to hit 230 on one of them.

Without control of overdrive, it's just hard to keep the trans cool.

Kicking down only hurts it as the temps climb super high. Say it's doing 2500 rpm at 75. Hit a grade, and drop to 68 fast. Kick down jumps the rpms to either 3500 or 4500. Ugh.

 

[boominXplorer]

230* is wicked high. Maybe consider bypassing the radiator and run 2nd factory cooler on the opposite side of the grill opening.

Have you checked your hubs for heat after driving? Might have some brake drag adding to the cause.

 

[gmanpaint]

230 is what I'm told, is the beginning danger zone for this trans, but never verified that. What temps will actually grenade this trans, never found that out either.

New rad is bypassed, with larger than stock Hayden cooler, with a pusher fan. Been running the fan while on the hwy.

I plan on revisiting this setup soon, and see what more I can do for it.

Getting ready to pick up the trailer this morning. Luckily the owner of the company I work for, has in laws about an hour from here. They are letting me store it indoors until I can return for it.

This will be the longest day of on road use for this rig since a day in 2017. Ironically also a trip to Colorado. Figure 14 hours or so today.

 

[MrQ]

WHAT THE HELL??????????????????????????????????????????????? I know every cast part has a weak spot but
DAYYYUM!!!!!! That sucker blew up!
I have a special shelf for parts like this, stuff that has reeked havoc, each bit has a story behind it, that manifold would be up there for sure

Maybe whatever was blocking the flow found its way deeper into the rack now? Who knows, that just plain sucks. I have replaced plenty of racks and power steering pumps and I have never seen this before.
I was even thinking sheesh maybe his serpentine belt is spinning the pump backwards? LOL

Did anyone pull the belt off and spin the pullies? I'm wondering why the 230 degree water temps

Had it happen to both of mine when Red got dunked.

Hot cast iron and water do not mix at all.

Sorry to hear about all the issues, Greg. I know it's not fun dealing with this stuff on a trip like this.

 

[410Fortune]

230 is hot but its not going to explode
Consider your water temp normal operating range is 200-215 degrees, the trans should be cooler like 180-210 but 230 is not going to kill it
What the 230 pan temp does is start to break down the mercon V, shorten its lifespan and varnish the internals
Once you sort out the cooling you will want to change out that fluid

IMO and in my own experience Hayden coolers suck, you want a more efficient cooler.....
If the pusher fan is not dropping the temps consider turning it off, it may be restricting airflow to the cooling stack. If it is helping the temps...well obviously run that sucker.

Hayden fin and plate coolers do not work nearly as well as stacked plate coolers like the factory style of this B&M unit:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CIGE9G/?tag=serious-20

Notice the factory trucks come with this style cooler?

The cat converter right underneath the torque converter and the other one right next to the trans do not help these pan temps
My converters are well now that I am in Idaho they are hollow, I see them as a heat trap
The exhaust pipes are also wrapped until after the trans, the exhaust wrap pushes the heat further down stream

Glad you found a place to keep the trailer, that is a load off, literally

We are pulling for you!

 

[gmanpaint]

Yeah, it's the tube and fin cooler. Going to search out the plate style for it.

Pusher is helping. I can see it drop the temps.

Looked at the cats, and can see how they will heat it up.

Found a blown fuse. The overdrive and console auxiliary works again.

Mechanic has the trailer hubs off and found one brake adjuster not on right. Its upside down, causing drag.

Also found one hub nut a little loose. Dang it!

Going to see how it pulls the trailer on route to the next drop off. If it doesn't overheat the trans, I'm going to attempt to take it home. I'm out of Colorado and the major hill climbs are behind me. Mo has some good ones tho. 60 mph od off, and 75 mph hwy speed limits will be risky, but if it gets it home, that's a win.

 

[BKennedy]

My transmission guy says the tube and fin type coolers do not work because the fluid flows through them too fast to cool. I have both, a large tube and fin attached to the front of the radiator, and a fin and plate cooler. The tube and fin cooler is mostly for volume since I have been schooled on coolers. Now that 410 said they don't work as well as the stacked plate coolers, I need to fine one of those. I also have a pusher fan attached to the front of my plate and fin cooler that decreases the fluid temps by 10-20* when I use it at crawling speeds. Mine really heats up when the torque converter isn't locked. When its locked, the temps drop dramatically. When off-road and pulling long grades I will put the Atlas into low range, and the transmission in 2nd or 3rd, then lock the converter. When on the highway I will pull grades in 3rd with the converter locked.

I am planning on getting my Explorer to the transmission shop sometime soon. The trans has been in there for about ten years and I figure its time to go through it, and maybe replace the torque converter. It was build by Bowtie so its living on borrowed time.

 

[Turdle]

I was going to say the best thing would be fixing the overdrive off. It really helps.

Cold front today should also help.

 

[410Fortune]

Chevy trucks use the stacked plate style coolers, you can get them at Junk yard.
We have found the removing the tiny radiator fluid to fluid cooler and running dual factory style aux coolers works very well

Good tips about the OD off and converter lock up.........

 

[gmanpaint]

Appreciate all the tips, advice, and help guys!

Left the shop a couple hours ago. Since I have control of the overdrive again, I found that 65 mph, at 3100 rpms, with od off, the temps are staying below 200, with the pusher fan running.

I passed up the new trailer drop off location, and am pressing on with it.

Currently at Hayes Walmart parking lot. Has to stop for some grease tubes for the gun. Shop ran out. Going to add some to the trailer bearings, via the center zerk.

Engine load has improved a bunch, after the shop adjusted the trailer brake hardware, and got the hub nuts where they should have been.

At this rate, it will be around 2am b4 I'm home. Going to be a hard one on this old man. If I start to get sleepy, I will pull off the road.

Hopefully this is the last post of the day here! Lol

 

[CDW6212R]

Best wishes on the trip to bring the trailer home.

Do get some more cooler area in the truck, that will help the ATF temps a lot. I like Amsoil fluids of all kinds, and their ATF is about the best, but it's very high(around $10 a quart). It can survive that high heat much better than other brands.

 

[410Fortune]

mercon V is not far behind that $10 a quart from valvoline or mobil its $7-9