Hi,
We us our truck mainly for hauling our horses. We only have 37,000 miles on it but on our last trip to the Sierra's we lost most of our transmission fluid. Has anybody else ever had this problem? Also, I've recently heard that they are recommending installing a transmission cooler. Pro's & Con's.

Thanks
Laura

 

Well to start with we need to know the specifics of your truck. Model, year, etc.

 

Hi,

Sorry about not giving enough information. Our truck is a 1999 F350 turbo diesel. We bought the Lariet model. I'm not sure what else you will need.

Thanks

 

Well, to begin with, I think you should seriously consider an auxiliary transmission cooler. I installed one about two months ago, it not very difficult. I usually tow a 24 ft TT, about 3000# and it definitely helps (a lot).
How fast were you going up long hills? You might want to install a transmission heat gauge to monitor the temperature, again, not a tough install.
My $.02.

 

My 99 7.3 did the same thing this week while hauling a camper up a steep grade in the mountains. I talked with a good trans. man this morning. He said that by attempting to make the truck shift smoothly like a car Ford has introduced a lot of slip and therefore friction heat under heavy load. This coupled with the inadequate cooler they use is a formula for failure. Heavy duty after market parts are available which will solve this problem, but Ford will not install them. Bottom line: Super Duty does not apply to this Ford Transmission.

 

1st time I pulled my 30 TT with my 95 dually, the front seal blew and dumped fluid everywhere. My transmission man tore it down and said that the seal was of the old style even though the transmission had been rebuilt about 30m miles earlier. He said the new style seal that he was installing would fix the problem. 25m miles later it looks like he was right...

 

ford took the trans cooler portion of the radiator out on some of the 99-01 f350/450. it's not covered by a "recall" but they will sometimes replace it under a complaint only repair. we have had ford supply the updated radiators to us and we do the work. check with your local dealer to see if they'll help.

 

Thanks, Our truck is currently in the shop. They did mention that they put a tranmission cooler on later model trucks. We bought the extended warranty so I hope that they cover this. All in all I really Love my truck. I have never had a problem with it's towing ability until this happened.

I'll keep you posted to my outcome.

Laura