Hi All,

I'm back again. First of all let me say that lately I keep running into problems with this truck but I would never stray from Ford, one of the reasons I stick with em is because there are such great resources on this site to help me out with them, I always get the answer I need on here so thanks to everyone. Now, I have a new problem for you. A while back I decided to check the tranny fluid and it was hard to read, the tranny fluid was brownish but not burnt looking, sortve reddish caramel but it was very hard to read, couldnt really tell if I was getting a clear reading or just seeing splashback on the dipstick but from what I could tell it seemed within a good range. I went out and bought some fluid just incase I ever had a problem. Fast forward to Friday, I had to drive to a town about 30 minutes away. Ten minutes into my trip I was in traffic on a bridge and it felt like my truck was hopping almost as if it was stalling out, I revved the engine and it stopped. I couldnt really tell if it was the bridge moving up and down or my truck. About 20 minutes into the trip I was going up a hill and its like a gear slipped and it revved really high for a few seconds then went back to normal. When I got to where I needed I got stopped at a train stop and started to smell burnt fluid. I finally got to my destination and parked it. As soon as I was done I went back to my truck (3 hours later) And turned it on so I could warm it up to check the fluid. I went to pull it forward to a flatter spot and it stalled in drive. Turned the truck back on, pulled forward and went through each gear. Every gear except park and neutral made it idle really low. So I let it warm up and checked the fluid. Again, couldnt really get an accurate reading. So I added 2 quarts and decided to limp it home. when I first start out driving or come to a stop you can hear a vibration or clatter (My brother says it sounds like the torque converter clatter he had on his 96). Once the truck gets going over 10mph it shifted fine but acted odd when you first start out. Got it to my brothers garage and started looking at it. He also couldn't get a good reading on it but he said try adding more fluid since burning and stalling as well as the clatter could mean low fluid. So I went on adding fluid quart by quart and checking the level. Still had the clatter but less often. The car would still idle really low in gear but seemed less in 1st now. I kept hoping I would see a difference in level but I kept seeing what looked like splashback, not a clear reading. Finally after about 8 -10 quarts added I noticed actual red fluid but it wen halfway up the dipstick. I went into each gear for about a minute and notice fluid coming out of the top of the transmission, so clearly was not low. My first question is obviously what could be wrong here as far as the Low idle in gear, clatter noise, stalling out, bad shifting, etc. but My other question is why did I get bad readings the whole time and then all of the sudden get a huge overfill reading, could something have been clogged or is it just that new fluid shows up better. As of right now I plan on changing the pan, filter, and fluid but before I do that I just want to know what the issue/s could be. If you made it through reading all of that congrats and thank you!

 

yeah start there and report back.

lets go pats!

 

Also, It is a 1991 and the Tach only goes up when the pedal is touched, has been that way since I bought it, not sure if that helps.

 

Well before I go out and buy the pan and 20 quarts of ATF I want to try to see if there is any explanation. I plan on buying a newer truck soon (08 or newer) and want to make sure this is worth fixing. If I have to replace a Torque converter or tranny then it might not be, but I guess if its a flexplate issue or something else I dont know About or just in need of a fluid change then that would be okay.

 

Oh, And GO PATS!

 

your tach sensor is faulty.the one on log truck was like this when i got it.it wasn't tossing a code and having a problem with it,but i changed it knowing it was too risky.
that will set ya back about the price of a fluid flush though.id do the flush first.you know that required.old fluid and overfull.that could cure all that ails it.you could always pump the fluid back out and save it for latter use if you plan on scrapping the truck.


lets go pats!

 

Well, I don't think the tach issue has anything to do with the transmission.

On the transmission, I'm sure the eventual answer will be a full rebuild of your transmission. Whatever failed has now contaminated the fluid and debris has circulated through your transmission, pretty well guaranteeing that you will need to clean, replace and rebuild everything.

I had the E4OD on my 89 E350 bus with the 7.3 ID fail. It happened on level ground, at highway speeds and what happened is the engine started to rev while the truck slowly coasted to a stop. No burnt fluid and as I recall, the level was fine. After consulting with a trusted transmission shop, I determined that the converter likely failed internally, effectively sending debris through the transmission. Converter failures are apparently not unknown and a suggested upgrade is to use a converter with a billet cover. This is due to the possibility of cracking at the flexplate attaching bolts, (which did not appear to happen in my case), but would account for all the fluid control issues you experienced. I can say, even with the new transmission and the billet converter, my very heavy bus always feels like there is a certain amount of spring in the driveline.

My decision to replace the transmission was motivated by several factors. This failure happened 1000 km from home and I could not risk another failure. R+R the transmission was about $700 in labour. The new billet converter was about $250 and a rebuilt transmission was about $1500. This also happened in a remote area and I had to arrange shipping the parts in as well as an extra trip for myself to recover the bus which was loaded with personal possessions during a move. I had purchased the bus used and had no history on the transmission, so the added insurance of a new transmission was a wise move. I toyed with the idea of flushing the transmission and replacing the converter, but there was too much risk in that option for me. I did keep the core and I intend to try it on a transmission dyno with a used, but known good converter, but I don't want to take the risk on the road. I also may cut the old converter open out of curiosity to see what failed. Not high priority stuff, but I would like to know what happened.

I should add, that prior to the trip, I had experienced an occasional intermittent shudder and some odd noise from the transmission. I kept telling myself that the transmission was fine as it appeared to have been previously replaced on my 100K mile truck. Paint was much newer on the transmission and otherwise, it drove fine. Also, keep in mind if you put a new converter into a damaged transmission, the debris will circulate and contaminate your new converter, rendering it useless.

Anyways, that's my story and my recommendation. No matter what the path is, I'm pretty sure you will be rebuilding your transmission. Don't forget to flush the cooler and lines!

 

Well I see a tranny with torque converter from an idi with 60k on it for 300 on Craig's list nearby but again I'm not sure I want to go out and grab it unless I'm pretty certain it's not just a silly little problem.

 

i don't think id jump to conclusions but 3 bills for a working diesel e40d is a heck of a deal.almost way too good to be true deal.like near core price so use caution.

go pats! wow!

 

I also have a slight knocking noise, I didn't really read too much into it, old diesels and weird noises seem to go hand in hand, I was wondering if it could be a flexplate, could a flexplate be the issue here too? could it cause burning tranny fluid or fluid loss?

 

No, a cracked flexplate won't cause the fluid to be burnt or lost. It can cause the knocking sound.

 

Sounds like the fluid was foaming up and that could give you a false reading. The only other time I have seen this "No fluid - Running out top of trans" is when a factory shipping plug was residing in the the fill tube. Some transmissions are shipped with a fill plug that gets take out or pushed in to the pan.

Since you have clatter noise similar to that coming from the torque converter area and it got better as the fluid level rised in the case, changing the fluid will most likely not fix this issue. The sometimes clatter and sometimes stalling most likely related to torque converter locking internally as in mechanical failure.

If there was no clatter and just stalling "sometimes" it could be the TCC solenoid shorting.

The Noise, burnt fluid, most likely foaming fluid more than likely caused by excessive heat.... sounds like rebuild time.

And if so, why not over haul it yourself ? I did mine back in 2006. Just have to take your time - I took the whole summer. Others have picked up a 95 core which has many updates, Pump, Center Shaft / Center Support, Input Shaft / O.D. Carrier assembly.

 

With my plans on selling it soon, rebuilding isn't even worth it to me. Once I pull the tranny and converter I guess I'll see what I do, I have a torque converter on the way.