Have to admit, I keep thinking it has something to do with the radiator since I just did that work and the truck runs fine otherwise.

 

A time-consuming but free way to check is to drain some of your atf into a very clean container to check for contamination.

 

Actually have the new filters and fluids to do a regular tranny, oil, and fuel maintenance, so it would be easy to skim some atf off in a separate container. How do I check for contamination?

 

If it has coolant in it, it'll look like pepto bismol.

 

Going to tell him the BAD part about any coolant in the transmission?

Seems that the clutch bonding is water soluble. Ckeck with Mark on that
for 100% accuracy. If it is then it's time to start looking for a trans.
But I would of expected other problems with the trans if it were.


Sean

6.0L Tech Folder

 

OK, I drove 8 hours, 450 miles yesterday. Limited info to provide because my ScanGuage is on the fritz (arrrgh), but it seemed to drive just fine, no temp problems according to the dash, LOL, gauge, plenty of coolant left in the bottle.

More info: my fan clutch is weak. a few weeks ago, my A/C started cutting in and out. Works great when it kicks on, but in this Texas heat or pulling a load, or when I'm stuck in traffic, idling etc. with no wind pushing through the condenser, the compressor overheats (my guess) and kicks off. I can turn if off for 5 highway miles or so and it'll come right back on and work again.

When it first started doing it, my Scanguage worked and the EOT/EWT weren't out of range during the cut-out. I'd already have fixed it if I had an air hammer. Instead, was planning on taking it to my tech in Dallas this week. Other times like yesterday, I can drive all day long with almost no problem (cut out once in slow traffic, but I only had a small, light load and no trailer, worked again after a few minutes, never stopped again).

Anyway, don't know if that could factor into this.

Another random factor: Earlier posts describe how I poured some old, what I believed to be, coolant into my truck. Seeing how thick it poured, I was afraid it was oil in a coolant bottle. Finally decided, based on smell, that it was coolant that had sat in the sun for months and thickened. Siphoned what I could out and went with it.

Got home late last night, looking at my fluids with the truck stone cold this morning and couldn't see that I lost any coolant, atf, or oil on the trip. Neither dipstick shows any signs of contamination. The degas bottle looks the same as yesterday, no better, no worse. Uncloudy cold, orangish slime around the tank, white/gray film on organish slime on cap.

I took the bottle off and cleaned it out. I'm not an expert on fluids and their various color combinations, but it just seems that black diesel oil and green diesel would be less likely to turn orange than red atf.



Plan of action??

1. Assume the best - i.e. no cracked heads, blown oil coolers, HGs, etc.
2. Put the tank back on, refill coolant, drive again. With tank somewhat transparent again, see if coolant clouds up at WOT/what color? Then, see how much contamination is in the tank when I get back.

What comes next, LOL?

I'm hoping it's atf. When I had to take the one line fitting out to take the radiator in for repair last month, I must have not installed it back correctly/o-ring failure, and fluid is leaking into the coolant.

If so, it doesn't seem to be leaking as much as I could imagine it leaking, not knowing how much these leak.

Did I read somewhere in this forum that removing the fitting is discouraged because the o-ring almost always fails and that they are impossible to replace - one should just buy a new radiator? If so, my hard-headed, bonehead frugality probably bit me in the cash again.

Step 3 possibly: new radiator, complete flush?

 

You say you took the radiator in for repair last month. What repair?

 

I'm thinking it's "trash" from having the system open and the radiator repaired. If your oil and transmission fluid levels are good/steady then you might try the following. It's a "quick" way to determine how serious and possibly what your problem is cheaply.

1). get your scangauge working so you can check your temps.
2). drain the system by dropping the lower hose (if you can). Pull the thermostat, fill with tap water, and run til the motor gets "warm" and everything has circulated thoroughly. Shut it off and check the degas bottle (unless the problem reappears on startup) for contamination. If none appears then add simple green and flush the crap out of it. Reverse flush the oil cooler, if it's relatively new, put it back together, and run it.

 

I had a pinhole leak from a crack by the top hose. The shop replaced the top plastic cap.

 

sounds good. How do I reverse flush the oil cooler?