Not for the first time, either! At least I wasn't 15 miles off road this time

Anyways, the short version here is the trans seems to be overheating and leaking fluid on grades. The sign said it was a 10% grade, but I think it was a bit steeper in spots. It was a back country road, I think the total elevation change was 1k feet in ~5 miles; my speed was between 35 and 55mph for most of it, overdrive was off except in the longer spots where it leveled out, and I was manually putting it in 2nd on the steepest parts (both up and down). For quite a bit of it, I just let my engine shriek at 2500-3000rpm.

The only "load" in the truck was a bed full of plants (maybe 100lbs?), the two fuel tanks (45 gallon rear, stock 19? gallon front), whatever my toolbox and rusty lightbar weighs, and my fat self. So, basically, unloaded.

I have no idea how much it was leaking; last time it was like a small faucet. I didn't catch it this time until after I had gotten off the country road on to the flat freeway and drove for a while (maybe 15 miles). I stopped to get a bite to eat and figured I'd look underneath, and I saw a few drips coming from the same place as last time.

Both times, the fluid was coming out of the little tube on the bottom. Not sure what its name is, so here's a picture:



There's no slipping or shudder, normal shifts, etc. The mechanic who checked it out last time said everything seemed fine, so all they did was replace both filters (the pan filter and the one inline with the radiator) and put fresh fluid in it.

So, what do you guys think is going on? I'm gonna take it to the mechanic when I can, but I'd like to have as much information as I can beforehand. I didn't put a gauge or aux cooler on it last time, I didn't remember until after they buttoned it up and filled it with fluid. I think it may be #1 on the list now, assuming I don't need a new transmission of course.

I just don't think it should be able to overheat if the truck is basically stock and unloaded. If it gets that hot just pulling itself up a hill, how in the world can I expect it to tow a trailer when it's time to move? But, hey, rule #1 is anything I think is always wrong


On an unrelated note, my supposedly 300k mile IP just gave me its first hot start trouble today (today is a bad day). Now it has the big 3: low fuel economy, low power, and (still uncommon) hot start difficulty. I've had an R&D IP on my wishlist for ages, if this trans doesn't bankrupt me then I think it's finally time to pull the trigger. Every cloud has a silver lining, right?

 

That tube is just the vent/drain for the flywheel cover. If fluid's coming out of there then the transmission's front pump gasket and/or seal is failing.

300K on an IP, can't complain about that! You must be living right.

 

all you need is still in the first thread you just linked to.did you ever install a temp gauge and aux cooler? if not,your playing russian roulette with your multi thousand dollar trans.
since it's sealing back up once it's cooling back down again,you probably still don't need to replace the front seal yet.if you'd just keep the temps below 225F you'd be ok.

no props for the 300k on the E40D?

 

That's what our resident E4OD whisperer was saying last time too, I'm kinda thinking the same thing. Rubber gets hot -> hot rubber gets soft -> out comes the fluid until it cools back down. I'm just more worried about why it's getting so hot in the first place, should an unloaded truck be able to cook a transmission like that?


As far as the IP goes, yeah, if it's actually 300k miles old then I really can't complain. It actually got 16mpg just yesterday on the freeway, but usually it gets ~12-13 combined, sometimes less. The PO says the injectors have been replaced, but never the IP itself. I'm not sure if it's true, but I'd love for someone to dissect my IP and find out

No gauge or aux cooler. I called the shop while they were working on it last time and asked them to put a gauge on it at least, but they had already finished my truck. I've been putting it off, I thought it'd only do that if I went offroading again. I'll order that cooler tonight. I assume the trans needs to be dropped to replace the seals (is this correct?), so I might as well have the shop do everything else while it's there.

Thank God the transmission isn't 300k miles old. The original one died at around 170-180k miles. This one should have ~120-130k on it, but it mostly sat for 6 years before I bought it. The PO bought a shiny SuperDuty with a 6.0, so he only used this one when he needed to get some real work done

 

yeah the trans needs to be dropped to change the seal but it will probably be ok and not leak again as long as you get that cooler on there.that's how id personally tackle it.

 

I'll order the cooler and gauge right now. It doesn't leak normally, so the cooler should keep it from overheating during a country drive at least. I'll ask the mechanic to give me an estimate for the seals too, just so I can budget for that and get it done before the big move.

Next up, IP

 

you don't need to pay someone to install an aux cooler and temp gauge.it's an easy and fun diy project.

 

Right up until I spill 15 quarts of ATF in my driveway, or somehow rig it to explode. I've said it before, if I can break my oil dipstick, I can break anything

I'm gonna try and do most of the work myself, I just want to save the messy part for the guys who are equipped to deal with it. I assume that when you pull the plug at the test port, a bunch of fluid is going to come out, right? Or is it above the oil level?

 

none of us knew what we were doing until we attempted it and learned how.the only way you become your own shade tree mechanic is to start.
when removing the trans lines,you just have a bucket under them to catch the mess while plumbing in the cooler.you might loose a whole quart total.that wont hurt anything.
nah,you almost only need a rag under the test port.might loose a couple tablespoons is all.
you got this.

 

That sounds a lot more manageable, I thought the fluid would come gushing out and leave my driveway looking like a triple homicide. I assume I can re-use the old fluid, right? It's only a few months old and maybe ~1500 miles on it, but I have no idea what the temperature actually got up to.

I'll do some more reading and see if I need to order any tools while I'm at it, all I have right now is some screwdrivers and a socket set. It seems like an easy enough job though, but I'm sure I'll find a way to make it a hard job

Thanks a bunch for the help (again!). The cooler and gauge have been ordered, let's hope that keeps it happy for a while

 

i would have a concern about the fluid condition in it now after being heated up to where the seal got warm enough to expand.if you can afford it,replace it and burn the atf as fuel (filtered) if you can't just make sure it still looks ok and doesn't smell burnt and then replace it when you can.though it was just changed just how hot did it get right?


oh yes a very good starter diy project.don't be afraid to ask questions as ya go along.we all started somewhere.there's a great sense of pride and accomplishment in doing it yourself that you just don't get when you need to pay to have something done.there's always times when that's needed for sure but you got this one.

 

Get rid of that in-line filter, its nothing but a restriction and makes the pump work harder, causing the oil to get hotter.


You will have almost no oil come out of the lines when you install the cooler up front, its higher then the oil level in the trans.


Diesel Rod

 

Thanks for the graphic...I have been looking for something like that to give me a baseline for what normal operating temperatures should be!

 

Well, this just got a little more unpleasant. When I got home from work I took a look under the truck, it was dripping a bit of fluid. It wasn't much, but either way, I only drove it maybe 4 miles from work to my house, it's not getting hot. I'm gonna hit it with some degreaser tomorrow just so I can get a better visual on how much it's leaking, but I think the seal is at the end of its life.

Just for kicks and giggles, I called the dealership to ask for a quote. The guy didn't even look up parts or anything, he just said that depending on what's wrong (new pump, torque converter, and/or seals) I'm looking at right around $1800. For that kind of money, I might as well find a parts truck with a ZF-5 and never deal with an E4OD again

I'm gonna visit the local shop tomorrow if I can and see how much they would charge. I might as well suck it up and pay my dues, my number was bound to come up sooner or later.

 

yeah the seal is less than 10 bucks.it's the labor that's gunna get ya.you can do it yourself too."generally" it's just a matter of dropping the trans,sliding out the converter,picking out the old seal and tapping in another and done.
i didn't get so lucky with log truck as the bushing in the pump walked forward and i educated myself on what to do there too.i learned the hard way with 5 trans pulls but now i have more experience there to tackle front pump issues down the road.
by the sounds of it,you probably don't have bushing issues and it just needs a seal.when the bushing walks forward,it blocks off the drain back hole in the pump and pushes the fluid past the seal.........that's a gush! lol.
yours is 2wd right? you can drop that trans,replace the seal and have it back in,even if you've not pulled a trans before well inside a day.have ya got a floor jack?

see that drain tube though.you can get under there and pull that off and take a look.it may just be holding what already leaked past the overheated seal and that's just whats dripping.so don't be in a big hurry to replace the seal until ya keep an eye on it for a bit.