I need some insight on a weird issue. I am selling a 1953 F-100 hotrod for a friend and am in the final stages of getting it ready. This truck is beautiful and has less than 45 hours running time since the re-build. One of the final pieces was to replace the oil pan on the AOD transmission with a cast-aluminum deep sump pan. I removed the existing pan and replaced it with the cast-aluminum pan. From all of the information I could find, the old pan held 6.5 quarts of fluid. The new pan increases the capacity by 2 quarts, so I replaced 8.5 quarts of fluid using Mercon-V ATF. Once complete I took it for a test drive and it would not shift into second until the engine warmed up. Once warm it would shift 1-2 but no further. No 3rd or overdrive! I am baffled. On the freeway in D position, it will eventually free-wheel like it is in neutral. I visited a transmission shop yesterday for diagnosis and was told that the tranny is likely toast! Ok, here's the $64,000 dollar question: what did I do to cause this? The lady that owns the truck (her deceased husband built it) wants to know how a brand-new transmission could go bad!!! Did I cause this? If so, I'll fix it. I asked the owner of the tranny shop and he said it was just a bad coincidence that it happened on my watch.

Some other background is the lady's son drove the truck a few weeks ago and brought it back saying that one of the brakes was dragging. Huh? 4-wheel discs (Baer) that are also new never had a dragging problem when ever I drove it before. Also, I noticed that the retro-Cadillac air cleaner stud was broken off and the air cleaner was not secured to the Fuel Injection (carburetor-like) air handler. It also needed a front-end alignment. Is this a tell-tale that the son did a boo-boo? I am looking for answers here so I can help this lady through this issue.

 

Does that transmission have a TV cable or linkage? If so was it adjusted correctly?

 

Yes, has a TV cable but the mounting bracket on the transmission was in the same position both before and after. The most that it could have travelled is about 1/4 of an inch simply due to pan thickness. I'm not really looking for answers on how to fix it, just insight as to what may have caused the problem...

 

If the TV cable wasn't adjusted perfectly the transmission will fail. If it moved1/4" in the direction that lowered TV pressure that might have been enough to cause this. AODs are VERY sensitive to TV adjustment.

 

Will it fail before you get out of the driveway? I appreciate your replies and insight; I am trying to see if this was something that I did or if it was pre-existing damage. The owner's son had driven the truck previously and returned it complaining of a dragging brake. I found no evidence of anything dragging but I did notice that the air cleaner bolt had been sheared off...hmmm.

 

Silly question maybe, but did you replace the pickup tube with one that would draw from the deeper pan?

 

No, the pan is deeper by two quarts so by adding two quarts more than stock, the ATF level will be at exactly the same distance from the top as before. No need for a longer pickup since the surface of the ATF, when filled, will be the same either way. 6.5 quarts stock, 8.5 quarts with deeper pan.

 

My son once rebuilt an AOD. He started it and ran it for while with the rear wheels off the ground, but had not adjusted the TV cable.It burned up the direct clutch and wouldn't shift above second gear.

 

by adding 1/4 inch to the depth of the pan (lowering the mounting point of the bracket) then with a 6 inch distance from the bracket to the trans actuator arm, the total increase in length is approximately 0.005 inches. Not enough to change anything WRT the TV cable length or adjustment according to two well-respected transmission shops.

So is it my fault or was this perhaps pre-existing damage and it was just my turn in the barrel?

 

The only way I'd have a chance at answering that question is if I tore down the trans and could determine how it failed.

 

The internal inspection begins on Monday morning...