Mr Richter I humbly ask for your expertise...

10434 Views 93 Replies 22 Participants Last post by Dysfunctional, Aug 23, 2007

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · Aug 3, 2007

My trans temps have gone WAY up in the last two weeks. Prior to this, the highest temp I've ever seen was 180* driving like a PRICK on a 118* day over the crooked and steep mountain road I drive daily. Today I hit 230* in the morning with outside temps in the 50's

oke:

Tonight I came home, hooked up a snap-on MODIS I'm borrowing from a friend and went for a test drive. Trans temps with the scanner are +/- 10* of what my autometer gauge says, I even got it up to 240* with ambient in the high 90's. You can monitor alot with this scanner, but I just locked in trans temp, TCC%, TorqueConverterClutch (on/off) and gear. When I LUGGED it on hills with TC locked in 3rd, TCC% shows 100%. A downshift, TCC% drops to about 60% momentarily (this seems ok). If I climb a grade with 2nd gear manually selected, the TC never locks according to the scanner (TCC shows OFF the entire time to any MPH) and my temps rise FAST.

IMO something is wrong... My temps are sky high out of nowhere. So the other weekend I bypassed the bypass valve on the trans by removing it and adding fittings to adapt back to the threads in the trans. After that temps seemed lower and stayed in check a few days.

When I got back tonight and my trans temp was 240*!!! I started feeling the cooler lines and I didn't not burn myself. Seems to me with fluid that hot I should have 2nd degree burns on my hands right?

Tomorrow I'm going to my friends shop to have the transmission flushed with a machine, 10 times if necessary.

Short version of this babble... I'm thinking I have a blockage...? :swordfight:

Save

1 - 11 of 94 Posts

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 5, 2007

I found the blockage. I had debris stuck in the OTW cooler. I did a flow test and only got about a 1/4 of a quart in 15seconds from the return line. So I popped all my lines and started blowing them out with air. When I blew air through the OTW cooler circuit (opposite of the fluid flow), I got a bunch of small brown hard flake lookin crap. I'm assuming this is TC clutch?

Prior to finding the blockage... I flushed the entire fluid system twice, dropped the pan and installed a new filter. Temps got better, but not back to *normal*. I will get the fluid bypass tube back on there, but I had to eliminate that as a possible cause.

I'm trying to hold off untill later this year/early next year for a bad mo-fo trans. I'm looking to pick up a decent (not the best) TC right now. I'm going to drop the trans, do the rest of the tugger kit (front pump mods, snap rings), Lockup on/off valve and install a new TC. Then cry myself to sleep thinking I'll be re-doing this stuff soon. Sound like a plan? :hehe:

My truck drove perfectly fine, no shudder or slipping felt. If it weren't for having gauges.... I'd be clueless.

oke:

See less See more

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #7 · Aug 7, 2007

Transman said:
Sorry, but it is best to leave the bypass off! This is the cause of most tranning overheating problems. The bypass was used to heat the fluid on units without rad cooling and cheaper to leave in instead of removing. If you had that much converter clutch in the cooler you will have failure soon.

Just to help,if you plan on installing the other parts of the transgo kit you need a better snapring then the one furnished in the kit.This the second design and will still pop out! If you use manuel 1 or 2 on decell then install the tugger. If you do not this part of the kit does nothing for you.

Transman

I've noticed my trans warms up the same whether the bypass tube is on or off.

Are you saying that even a little TC clutch material will lead to failure soon, or having enough TC clutch material to create a blockage will lead to failure soon? It wasn't *that* much... but it wasn't 3 little pieces either

Where can I get a better snapring than what comes in the tugger kit? I have and need to use manual 1 or 2 for compression braking. I thought I'm ok doing that, because I did do all the VB mods with the tugger kit. I just never pulled the trans and did the front pump part of the kit.

thanks!

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 8, 2007

topped out at 118* here on July 5th

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #15 · Aug 9, 2007

So I towed my rock crawler home yesterday (was storing it at my parents) and it's a nasty pull back to my house. Temps went up again and today I hit 210* without a load. Blew the OTW cooler out again and got this... can't really see it all, but I had atleast that much saturday. Oh boy, time to spend money

oke:

See less See more

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #41 · Aug 13, 2007

444-4D said:
But just for the record, what do you think the cooler in the bottom of the radiator is for? To cool the fluid, or to raise the fluid to operating temp.

it's there to catch torque converter clutch material and create a blockage increasing fluid temps astronomically... :hehe:

you guys need to drink more beer and chill out

oke:

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #84 · Aug 22, 2007

ok ok back on topic for atleast one post... :hehe:

I started pulling the trans tonight. Richter hooked me up with a TC, gonna finish the parts to my tugger kit, do a on/off lockup valve and install a billet input shaft I scored. I've pulled a lot of transmission, but this one is already making me want to shove an ice pick through my eyes... or maybe it's just the 110* weather and laying under a truck I just drove home on concrete that's been in the sun allday. So should I re-install the bypass valve or not?

oke: :swordfight:

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #86 · Aug 22, 2007

gregrob said:
How cold does it get in the winter?

It'll get down into the teens a few times, maybe a single digit once or twice... but never below zero. Hopefully I'll have a commuter car by then and the truck will get to go back to tow rig only duty.

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #90 · Aug 23, 2007

Tom S said:
Do you guys like those on/off lockup vavles?

Tom

I'll report back once I do it. I see it as one more place to eliminate heat build up. With my current mods when my trans *seemed* healthy, I would still see trans temp increase 20-30* in the hills atleast. I tow through some pretty nasty terrain with lots of shifting and tc lock on/off. So just hoping it will help that much more.

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #92 · Aug 23, 2007

RacerX said:
A bypass, If it worked as described in this thread could save parts from lube starve, but time would be short to do so.

The quote has one key sentence that is the final analysis. A converter or less than a full rebuild will be a band aid following a plugged cooler.

Psss: When i buy a new Ford part Loco, it comes with a 1 year guarantee. I just take it back if it fails

If you read back in the thread, I was right on top of things. Good for me I had a real trans gauge or I would have no clue! Soon as my temps shot up, I was messing with it. I've flushed clutch material out of the OTW cooler twice. I didn't find it anywhere down stream.

I just got the trans out tonight and the fluid is still crystal clear red. Temps have been fine for the last two weeks, but I have BABIED it and drove it in "stock". I fully understand I'm doing a band-aid repair. I'm just trying to get by untill I have the funds for that $5,000 dollar trans that I NEED.

oke:

Save

Dysfunctional

Discussion Starter · #94 · Aug 23, 2007

haha the poke wasn't really directed at you... lol

I'll take your advice and get an inline filter. I've just gotta get to about january and then I should have the funds for a bad mofo trans. I might even do a 6spd if I could find the right deal.

Save

1 - 11 of 94 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month