Well, it appears that I ignored the fluid in the trans a bit too long. I had a few slips in thrid, but only under heavy throttle. (at least i think it was the trans, and not the TC, but I don't know how to tell the difference running down the road)

So the fluid is black in a cup, dark brown / red on a paper towel. There is Material in the fluid. A magnet picks up VERY fine particles, so fine, you can't see them until you wipe the end of the magnet with a white paper towel. The smudge is black. It DOES NOT smell burnt, and is not grainy to the touch, (no big chunks that I can tell, I drained and strained a quart from the pan..)

Trans shift fine, no issues there, TC unlocks and locks fine it seems, but I get some shudder between 40-45, but that could be caused by the fluid..

History: I've put 65k on the truck in 5 years.. The trans was replaced at some point. Truck has 297k.. Oh yeah, sorry, 2000 F250 PSD 4x4 EC LB.

My question is: Should i start preparing for a rebuild, or flush it and RTF?

Also, If I did run until failure, could there be more problems to fix than if I stopped driving it now, and rebuilt it ASAP?

Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

Well, I bought a 99 sd 7.3l 4r100 auto transmission with 101,000 in November.
I can tell you the torque converter is weak in these trannys!
I kept driving mine and ruined everything, spent $5174.36 on making it bullet proof.
So, the sooner you rebuild it the cheaper it'll be. Don't forget an aftermarket torque
Converter.
Jeff

 

Thats kinda my line of thinking also. I'm betting that it already has an aftermarket TC, but could be another Factory one. I should take off the inspection cover and look.

 

I made mine super heavy duty as I put around 1000 miles a week on it! Told the shop it can't happen again! I was hauling three pallets of solar panels plus all the other gear and tools, ladders made it within 300 yards of the job I had to do that week!

 

I think I'd flush it thoroughly now and put in some trans conditioner and see what happens.

 

Eh, i'm not really a wait and see kinda guy. I'm leaning towards rebuilding it sooner rather than later.


Opinions a 1 for rebuilding and one for wait and see..


Anyone else? open to any and all advice and opnions.

 

Well the full flush is at most $300. Unless doing yourself. I had the same shudder on my 03 Expy 5.4, 165K. Of note the shudder was not present with O/D turned off. It did occur at the speeds you mentioned or any time I would let off the gas momentarily. I did complete flush and pan clean and shudder is now absent. Usage is totally city driving.

 

How bad was your fluid? Mine's pretty bad, lots of metal dust in it, and brown, but not burnt.

 

Not bad at all. Good color and no odor. I bought the vehiclear used and do not know when the fluid was changed. I do know the plug wasn't found in the pan. To me it was a cheap investment before rebuilding tranny. But I put 100 miles a week compared to your 1000.

 

You won't find a plug in the pan on any Superduty. That is only in the AOD/4R70 transmission family, which was never used in the Superduty.

 

Mark, are you sure about that? My 99 super duty has a 4r100 trans with a drain bolt.

 

It was added by someone. They didn't have drain plugs from the factory.

 

I thought all the 5r110s had em mine does.

 

We must have bought our trucks from the same guy because mine looks identical to that!!!

OP, I feel your pain. I read every transmission post on this website before just pulling the trigger on a John Woods tranny.

Good luck!

 

I had a drain plug on my 05 SD, 08 SD as well as my 2000 Expidition and 2001 Navigator.

About the OP's fluid, metal dust is probally the plates and in my experience is a sign of the future failure as the plate chips and cloggs up the filters.

My neighbor has the same problem and hes been draining and refilling monthly to see how long he can keep it on the road before it fails. so far, hes gone 4 months. The fluid never return back to the normal red color.