NEED HELP FAST, TRANNY

[JoshC]

Last night i was coming home from a camping trip in the mountains and i was pulling my 4wheeler down the interstate and i noticed that once i got going on the interstate that it wouldn't shift into overdrive, well i didn't think anything of it because i was on an uphill slope, but when i topped the hill and started down the other side it never shifted. A few miles past and the over drive light started to flash, it's a 97 by the way, so i made to a little gas station and ended up putting 1.5 quarts of fluid in her. Well, if shifted a little better but still wouldn't kick fully into to over drive, i could be driving at about 60 and just give it the slightest bit of gas and i would have about a 500 RPM play on the tach, so that told me that the torque converter was slipping. So i just kept it easy and drove the 2 hours home like that. The ended up flashing 3 different times after that. I talked to a guy on the phone this morning and he thought the clutches were slipping, what do you think. I had it rebuilt with a new torque converter in feburary. HELP ME!!! Thanks in advance.

Happy trailes!

 

[Robert]

It's a little late in your case but hopefully someone else can benefit by your mistake. Your mistake was by not following the instructions in your Owner's Guide before towing, particularly the part that warns against using overdrive when towing no matter how light the trailer might seem. The added weight of the trailer causes the torque converter to unlock more than it should. Unfortunately when it is unlocked, it is slipping which builds up heat. You got the heat so high inside the transmission that it pumped 1 1/2 quarts of fluid out the vent which would cause it to run even hotter (and shift strangely). Hopefully the damage isn't permanent, but probably only a transmission shop can tell you if it is. You can try doing a complete fluid flush and filter change first though. Maybe all you have is just burnt fluid. Unfortunately if that doesn't fix it then it will be a wasted $100 that could have gone towards a new torque converter.

 

[JoshC]

Thanks for your help, but i actually found the problem and that wasn't it. I got new filter kit and fluid this morning. I took the old one out and found a curious site. The Ford guy that rebuilt my tranny went ahead and put a new filter in it so didn't bother to check it when i got it back because he knows what he's doing and he put one in it for a 2wd. Not good, it doesn't have the "nipple" sticking down in the pan. I knew i had been leaking a little bit of fluid but i had been keeping a check on it. But i don't know where it all went this weekend. It drives better now, but like you said, to late, still has the play when it's in overdrive, at least it goes in now, i think the clutches might be shot, but maybe the just the converter, if it's more than just the converter i think i'm going to put a 5-speed in it, beside the obvious stuff like a clutch, master cylinder, cable, pedal ect... what else do i need, is the computer still the same and things along that line? Thanks for your help!

Happy trailes