I hope this is the right forum for this question. If not, someone please let me know.

I think I have a transmission problem but it might be something else. I hope! I have a Ford 460 with a C6 transmission on a 1988 Motorhome (converted E-350)

I have about 3 things going on at once and I am narrowing them down slowly but surely.

About a month ago the catalytic convertor went (melted down) and while awaiting a new one from the parts store I blew the guts out of the old one. The vehicle ran normally. I had good acceleration and the transmission acted normally. Upshift and downsifts were all normal. I installed the new catalytic convertor and didn't pay much attention to the performance.

Then one day I noticed that I did not have "passing" gear when I floored it at below 35 - 45 MPH. I also noticed that it didn't seemed to have enough power. Not a real bad loss of power but it seems less than it shoud be. The engine runs normally and the transmission shifts smoothly, engages almost immediately when I put it in gear, and doesn't feel like it is slipping. However, under full load (up a hill) I can feel either a miss in the engine or a slip in the transmission. I can't tell which.

I checked the transmission fluid and it smelled burned so I changed it and put in a new filter. However, I only got about 6 quarts of transmission fluid out of it even though the dip stick read full. I put 6 quarts back in and it read full.

I checked the transmission fluid after running about 50 miles and it still smells burned. Might be because I am not changing all of the fluid or it may be over heating. I don't think over heating is a problem because the fluid on the dip stick isn't "hot", just warm.

Question: Aren't these things supposed to hold 12 quarts of fluid? Since the dip stick reads full I can only assume that 6 quarts aren't coming out. Why not, and where are they?

One other point. Like a dunce I had not changed spark plugs in this thing for some time. Can't remember when I last did it. Since I burned up the catalytic convertor and had to replace it I am suspicious that I may still have an engine issue going on and may have burned up another catalytic convertor. I think that could be why I don't have the power I think I should have.

Any comments or questions would be welcome.

 

If you didn't drain the torque converter, you're not draining the system completely. When you put in 6 quarts of new fluid you drained from the pan, it mixed with the old fluid in the converter, so you really didn't get a complete fluid change.