Hey guys. Was going to leave on a trip for Utah this last week, and had my 04 4.6L non-towing package Ex loaded up with a 1500lb steel trailer, two 500 lb ATVs, a 200lb dirt bike, 5 people, and luggage for 5 people.
We left my dad's place and started driving down the highway with OD off for towing, no problems, truck was pulling fine. When I started to slow down for a ramp not more than 10 miles from home, I noticed a significant amount of smoke coming from the rear. Pulled over and saw tranny fluid was dripping onto the exhaust.
My first thought was I smoked my transmission as they seem to be a weak point on these vehicles. My second thought was the transmission pump seal my local Goodyear told me was starting to leak had failed much sooner than anticipated (they told me it was a non-issue).
The reason I thought it might be the seal was the truck was still pulling great and shifting normal. When I blew the tranny on my 91 GMC, the shift points were all over and it was jumping in and out of gear.
However, when we got back from our week long trip, there was no fluid on the ground under the truck.... Doesn't seem like a seal now.
Called the local Ford Dealer and they said if it wasn't giving you any signals of failure or it wasn't shifting weird, it was simply overheated and blew fluid out of the piss valve. Just happened to hit the exhaust and cause it to smoke. He says don't do anything, just keep driving. He even said it will push fluid past seals before it fails.
I'm kind of a preventative maintenance kind of guy, and I don't want to let something fester that will give me problems down the road.
Anyone have any recommendations or have insight on what may have happened? Is a tranny cooler for me? The Ford mechanic said it was probably just a little too full or something weird happened that day. Not a fantastic reason in my opinion. I do want to continue pulling with my truck but it will never be more than a 17 foot fishing boat or a couple ATVs.
We left my dad's place and started driving down the highway with OD off for towing, no problems, truck was pulling fine. When I started to slow down for a ramp not more than 10 miles from home, I noticed a significant amount of smoke coming from the rear. Pulled over and saw tranny fluid was dripping onto the exhaust.
My first thought was I smoked my transmission as they seem to be a weak point on these vehicles. My second thought was the transmission pump seal my local Goodyear told me was starting to leak had failed much sooner than anticipated (they told me it was a non-issue).
The reason I thought it might be the seal was the truck was still pulling great and shifting normal. When I blew the tranny on my 91 GMC, the shift points were all over and it was jumping in and out of gear.
However, when we got back from our week long trip, there was no fluid on the ground under the truck.... Doesn't seem like a seal now.
Called the local Ford Dealer and they said if it wasn't giving you any signals of failure or it wasn't shifting weird, it was simply overheated and blew fluid out of the piss valve. Just happened to hit the exhaust and cause it to smoke. He says don't do anything, just keep driving. He even said it will push fluid past seals before it fails.
I'm kind of a preventative maintenance kind of guy, and I don't want to let something fester that will give me problems down the road.
Anyone have any recommendations or have insight on what may have happened? Is a tranny cooler for me? The Ford mechanic said it was probably just a little too full or something weird happened that day. Not a fantastic reason in my opinion. I do want to continue pulling with my truck but it will never be more than a 17 foot fishing boat or a couple ATVs.
