I was driving to the store today and about halfway there the truck kept the same rpms but i was losing speed. The wrench lit up on the dash, checked the tuner (nothing out of the ordinary) so i pulled into the nearest parking lot and shut her down. The tuner is just there for my dpf delete and is set to "no power" or stock settings. It's a bully dog triple something or other. I dont race the truck or work it very hard for that matter. Basically a work truck that hauls more people than trailers.

Lifted the hood, checked the tranny fluid level and the stick was dry as a bone. Thing is, it's winter here and i haven't noticed any transmission fluid leaks anywhere ever.

I'm gonna head to the local (two hour drive one way) parts store for fluid in the morning with my dads truck.

I'm wondering where it went? did it burn up or leak out and i didnt notice? Just wondering where to look first when i get it back home. Or did i simply fail in my maintenance checks (i admit i change my oil and fuel filters religiously but haven't checked the tran fluid) and it ran out??

 

Check the fluid while the truck was running ?

 

Fluid can leak into the transfer case if it is a 4x4, into the radiator, or onto the ground. Those are the only three possibilities.

 

That's what I was wondering. Thanks man! Appreciate it.

 

make sure you get the correct fluid (I think for your year and model its Merceron LV, but double check) and do not over fill it.

How many miles on the truck?

 

It uses MERCON SP or MERCON LV.

 

I went and bought 150 dollars worth of fluid at the local cdn tire. mercon lv it calls for. 16.7 litres to be exact.

Go to the truck, fill it up with fluid and make my way home (about 10 kilometers/6 miles) and halfway back same thing again. Pull into parking lot and add fluid again, I can hear pissing into a puddle under the truck, take a look and the fluid is pouring out about as fast as i can put it in.

Limp the last bit home and pull into my shop. Look underneath and where the pan mates to the transmission is where it seems to be coming from all around.

Must be a gasket there and that must have let go?? I'm gonna let all the snow melt off today and jack it up and hopefully have a better look in a few hours. Ugh last thing i need is a humongous transmission repair bill!! ah well, whaddya gonna do eh?

 

its 17 on a bare empty trans, but for a drain and refill its only about 9. if you added more than 9 on a drain and refill...you need to drain the excess asasp.

 

I agree. If you put 16 quarts in it you're grossly overfilled. It's pouring out of the vent on top.

 

I could put 100 gallons in because it's just pouring out of the transmission. That's the problem.

 

Got the transmission fluid to the correct levels and now it wont warm up. Shows 3 degrees on the tuner been idling for two hours.

Not sure whats going on with this thing. Tran filter clogged maybe????

Went for a drive, transmission started slipping, shut down checked fluid fluid wasnt on the stick. Added 7 liters and it warmed up fine drove halfway home, tranny started slipping again showing 2 degrees temp, added another 5 litres and it came pouring out of the top of the tranny somewhere under the truck, pulled into shop and thawed it out overnight.
checked fluid again this morning showed overful. drained a bunch to to get to proper level, let idle for a coupel of hours and it shows 3 degrees temp.

Gonna limp up to my friends garage and see what we can see there.

Headscratcher here. Transfer case fluid does need to be changed but no sign of tranny fluid in it.

No leaks on the ground so far.

 

Well, given that you had a very bad leak and were driving around for at least a short while with the transmission very low/out of fluid, the various clutches inside may be in need of some repairing...

Also, I don't think transmissions really warm up just sitting in neutral. Other than fluid being pumped around the transmission, there isn't much going on in there to generate heat.

 

So my friend hooked up a diagnostic tool to the truck today. Threw a code. I can't remember the exact code but it said there was an issue with the transmission temperature sensor.
Called the dealer and they said that particular code indicates an issue with the wiring. Said likely a wire rubbed through or ground came out and its sending the wrong voltages to the transmission.
Said that the computer tells the truck when to shift via voltage. That code indicates that the transmission doesnt know the temps, speeds, etc and so it doesnt know when to shift.

At any rate, it's parked at the transmission shop just waiting to deliver me a crippling repair bill lol

Mechanic said the tranny is fine, will do a flush and filter, replace sensor and find the fault, or at least whats going on. fingers crossed.