Bad news.... *might* be the end of my C6 in the motorhome....


Just got back home from long weekend vacation, round trip of 1400km (875 miles).

About 130km (80 miles) from home we stopped at a rest area for bathrooms and a walk, had been rolling for over 4 hours straight.

As I got out, passed infront of the camper, noticed an odd smell, couldn't tell what it was, not minding it to much, we did our things, and set back out...

About 80 miles from home, noticed in the rear view mirror, the back window covered in something... I taught it was water draining from the fresh water tank, as this is our last trip for this season....


Anyways, ran fine down the highway untill I got off the highway 3 miles from home.... shifts didn't "feel" right, had delayed upshifts, and downshifts, and the 1 red light I caught, when taking off from it, it took off in 2nd, wouldn't go into 1st, not even by shifting it in 1st.


And the last shift from 1st-2nd when I did make it go in 1st, it just slided really slowly into 2nd.... scary!


Left it idling on the side of the road fro a few min while I was moving the truck out of the driveway, and backed in there.


While backing up, everytime you gave it gas, the whole camper would *jump* kind of, like the tranny was slipping/catching/slipping/catching really quickly! Did that for Reverse and 1st..... so I'm gussing possible forward clutch pack damage!




Now the really bad news, underneath of camper starting about a foot behind the tranny and COVERED in oil, the axle is soaked from one side to the other! Back wall is also covered in oil spots all the way to the roof!



Oil in the tranny is very dark brownish/black in color, and couldn't even put the dipstick close to my noise, how badly it smelled like burnt clutch!

I checked around with a flashlight to see where the hell did it leak out from, cooler lines are dry, rear input (where the driveshaft comes in) dry, pan is a lil wet around 1 corner, but it was like that since I droped the pan earlier this year. I always check the level/condition before every single trip, and it was perfect before I left friday!


Tomorrow morning before work I'll slide under on my creeper and look it over real well.



Sorry 'bout the long post, but this is sitting awful heavy in my mind right now.....


Anyone think I can get away flushing completely out again with fresh oil and maybe it would still be good to go? What would have caused this random failure? Badly overheated, burnt fluid, but the day after, still drives as it always did, just doesn't always shift from 1st-2nd on it's own, and takes off in 2nd from a dead stop, but that's probably just the VRV that died? Would that have caused the overheat?


And another good boot in the ***, this had to happen, just as it hit the 1/4 million km mark... 250,000!

 

When the fluid turns almost clear and smell very bad that is in most cases a failed converter. You will have to have it removed and rebuilt to get all the debris out and fix any thing else that may be wrong from the converter failure.

Don't forget to check the flow of oil from the trans to the cooler(s) and back. Coolers can clog from debris and you may fry the trans again if its overlooked.

 

Sorry forgot to update this thread this morning. A daylight look at the fluid, it's very dark brown/black and smell horrible, but not as bad as last night.

And also forgot to say, after I backed it up in the driveway, turn it off, I went infront and felt the trans. rubber cooler lines, and they were oddly cool...?

Well got some pics.... what a mess under there!

Only freshly wet spot I can see on the tranny is on the VRV?

I did notice, if I looked on the housing, passenger side, heading up it is also very freshly wet.

I know there is a bolt or plug on the top side, passenger side of the bell housing, I can clearly see it when the doghouse is off, and it's always had dirt/dry oil around it, I wonder if that started leaking?


Heres some pics!

Wet VRV


Hard to see, but this is where I noticed how wet the housing it heading up on the pass. side.


Frame rail, and muffler dripping tranny oil...


Axle covered in oil from one side to the other. Those are yellow Monroe shocks.... blacked out now


Fuel tank dripping off as well..


Heres what the oil looks like, got a better view of it in the daylight, it's very dark brownish/black in color, smells horrible, but not as bad as last night.



What I don't understand, is with the engine off..level was just over an inch over the crosshatch area, and that's pretty normal, if I had it started it and checked, it would of been in the crosshatch, maybe slightly lower but not low enough to burn?

 

Extreme overheating will cause fluid like that.
You can try a complete change, pan and convertor.

Make sure the radiator is clear and the fan is working properly.
I have smelled fluid so bad it would gag a maggot.

 

I'll check for flow first, if the pump is still working, and non of the coolers are plugged. (new Aux. cooler added earlier this year, in series with the Radiator cooler).


The rubber cooler lines going to and from my Aux. cooler were oddly cool, so it's probably a dead/dying pump...

 

UPDATE, doghouse off, I can clearly see it's leaking around where the dipstick tube comes in the tranny.


I went for a drive, still drives and operates fine. Doesn't slip at all, shifts are nice quick and firm. Oil was low by 1 quart!

Only odd thing, is it's still wanting to take off in 2nd sometimes, but not always. Works perfect if you manually shift it?


I felt the rubber cooler lines, the one coming from the trans. - to rad cooler, was normally hot, and the one coming out of the rad cooler was really cool, but I didn't drive enough for the water to heat up, the bottom of the rad was dead cold.


I'm going to disconnect the line after my Aux. cooler and see if if quirts out good, of not, that's the one that's probably clogged.

If all seems good, i'm gonna drop the pan, give a complete flush, again... and seal that dipstick tube, and hit the highway, see what happens.



Any ideas on why it doesn't wanna shift out of 2nd sometimes? Or when it is in 1st, the engine has to rev all the way up before it hits 2nd. Could it be just a vacuum issue?