Well, thought I would share this and see how this situation will play out. I purchased a 2000 Excursion about a month ago with 191K miles. When I bought it I fully accepted the fact that the tranny (4R100) could easily need some attention and a few pay checks. The analysis shows high Copper and High Iron, severe actually. In addition the oxidation level was high which could be from high miles on the oil. The tranny was pulled out on Thursday and I should know early this week what the teardown inspection results are.

The fluid is marked as unknown, all I know was that it was brown and smelt burnt. The miles on the fluid is also unknown.

Why did I post this? To see how the fluid analysis compares to the physical condition of the tranny.

 

How was the trans acting prior to pull?

Pop

 

Pop,

She shifted fine into 1st, 2nd & 3rd, just some slippage into OD. TC lockup good at 35 mph. Some problems with starting while in park. Could have been the 2 loose scews I tightened up under the steering column or the nuetral safety switch .


I want to have the tranny solid before taking any long camping trips with the family or jumping her in to 400hp+.

 

Jerry from J&M transmissions showed me the disassembled tranny earlier this week.

Center support bearing on it's way out and needed to be replaced .
the thrust washers and clutches were all worn and needed to be replaced.
He showed me how some of the parts had worn down to the copper and this is what the oil analysis showed.
The pump still looked good.
The fluid was run too long as shown by the high oxidation numbers.

Overall he thought the tranny held up pretty good for 191K miles and most of the parts that needed to be replaced was from age and/or wear and tear. But we caught the center support bearing before it caused and damage.


When I first was shown the worn parts I kind of understood (or at least tried to) what the parts were and how the high copper and iron were reflected in the <ACRONYM title="Used Oil Analysis">UOA</ACRONYM> report. What brought more clarity was comparing them to the new parts. I should have brought my camera to take some comparison pics.

The part thas was closest to failure was the center support bearing. Ironically this is the same part that went out in my F-250's tranny last year.

Here is the <ACRONYM title="Used Oil Analysis">UOA</ACRONYM> report from my F-250's tranny last year. When we dropped the tranny pan there was some good pieces/chuncks of metal in the pan from this bearing. I noticed nothing in the shifting or SOP while driving, the only difference was a 10-15 degree difference in tranny temps.


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Only from my reading, it seems the primary cause of failure of that center bearing is lube loss from internal leakage.

There's a special thin-printed silicone gasket that is used to now prevent that. Did your rebuilder include that in your new trans?

Pop

 

Not sure, something I will have to ask Monday. Thanks for the heads up Pop!

 

Rich,
Thanks for posting the trans fluid analysis reports. I recently had my fluid sampled and I really didn't have any idea if the numbers are good or if I should be worried. Having your reports plus the actual autopsy of the trans is really great info.

Reps if I could....

In case you are curious, here is my report. As near as I can tell everything is normal. Trans has 134k miles since it was rebuilt.

 

Greg,

If you'd like to look at another one, with higher mileage on both the trans and the oil, see:
http://springerpop.net/F350/images/Blackstone_trans.jpg

Just another reference point for you.

Pop

 

Thank you! I would like to see more reports. I am trying to learn more about this area. I will check out the link shortly.

 

Rich, if you still have acess to my transmission OA you can post that. I dont have a scanner. my truck had an unknown fluid, and was the color of used engine oil, truck shifted fine and had been used by me for 20k miles towing 14000lb around weekly. 60t and 80e were used always, and 120r was definatly fun on many occasions. truck has about 240k on it now and still original transmission. After my OA i did a flush and filter, Im waiting for some more miles on it before i do another OA. I been out of state for 4 months and havent put many miles on it.

 

JR,

I looked and the only analysis I have on you is on your engine (Sep 2009 and Jan 2010). I'll send the lab at Schaeffer's an e-mail and see if I can get another copy sent. Is your copy a paper one or an electronic one?

BTW, nice looking report Greg - looking good!

I'm concerned about where my potassium numbers could be coming from on the Excursion.

 

I got a paper copy....somewhere
Ill see if i cant find it and get you a date and record number. (i moved 5 months ago and still havent unpacked the non essentials)

 

I moved 22 months ago and still am at that stage......