Honestly?

Yeah - Now I'm thinking not to muck around and just do the whole BTS tranny & torque converter swap and be done with it!

Thing is - it's not something I'm equipped to do myself at home! That trans is one big heavy mother!

Also - logistics has me worried... i think there are "core charges" like - you get the rebuilt tranny and send in your old one back - and get a refund of $1000 or something? Likely it would cost me more than that to freight one back to the USA for the refund so I guess I'd end up eating the core charge!! I shudder to think what the freight cost down here would be?...on something the size & weight of a tranny!

There are lots of Auto trans rebuild places around locally - but most likely they would just replace with standard parts and I'd be back where I am now in no time!

The trannys not given me any indications of trouble yet - but I haven't towed with it yet either...sooo who knows??

Then theres the problem of someone local installing a BTS tranny for me and doing a half way decent job of it....getting good service isn't easey these days - if the shop doing the install isn't selling me the rebuild...then they aren't getting the profit on the sale - just the labor $ for installing, meaning likely as not they couldn't give two hoots about how well they do the job!

Then theres warranty issues...being so far away from BTS f there is any issue afterwards.

I have a "extended warranty" for a few years on the driveline that I paid for with the truck purchase, so COULD claim a new trans on warranty if needed when this one fails!

But again I only get standard rebuild done locally and how goods that?

So many considerations..

Yes the filtering situation with regards to analysis is something I'd considered....I figure better to have the filters and get better analysis results than not have them and be told things are going bad prematurely!

Cheers!

 

I say get the BTS VB and skip the hefty core/shipping charge if you can. If you don't feel good about the tranny, warranty it. At least if it fails it is still warranteed.

Nobody will change your mind about the filter Magnetron.

So I say refill and drive it while under warranty. That is what they are for. Also, the factory truck is supposed to be able to tow the load so tow it. After all, you will have fresh fluid and additional cooling capacity.

 

Should I?

It's a long story...and likely this ain't the place for it!
I'm a believer in clean oil for engines / transmissions.
It comes from years at sea on diesel lobster boats that work hard every day , day in and day out, for 8 months a year ...every year!

On average they chew up engines about every 5000 hours - some more some less (Say 3 seasons use, 240 days @ 8 hours a day!)

One family I've known in 3 generations of lobster fishing seem to get about double the avaerage fleet hours between rebuilds!

One day after work - when I stayed back and helped the skipper with a oil & filters change - I asked the skipper - why this was!

He explained that it all had to do with oil cleanliness!

He had always used fiat diesels that came with a high speed centrifuge filter in addition to the normal papaer cartridge filters! Even in later years - when he changed away from Fiat diesels to 1000 Hp GM V12, he had the old Fiat centrifuge filter plumbed into the exported oil filter manifolds line, so he could retain the benefits of centrifuge filtering!

He got me to "clean" the inside of the centrifuge filter, for him once he disassembled it! Man it was like removing black butter from a tin with a pocket knife!...

Ever since then I've been a believer in keeping the oil clean!

He is fastidious about changing his oil, on time every time - and same with filters and of course the centrifuge!

He attributes 3 generations of longer than average diesel engine life to his familys practice of keeping the oil clean and changed regularly and the key to it all is that little cetrifuge filter!

It is my intention to get a centrifuge filter onto my truck somehow! Probably in the oil bypass filter line!

When I do - and I'm scraping black butter from the can with a pocket knife - I'll be sure n get a few pics so you can see what I mean!

I'm a firm believer in clean oil - and 3 generations of people whos professional working opinion I respect have convinced me - it'd take an awful lot to unconvince me!

Cheers!

 

Oiled up and away.

Things you find when you look!

1. The turbo timer has a stop button! Doh!

2. Flushed the TC and lines of old oil by following the flush instructions and it worked fine!

3. ALl seems to work fine - if anything the transmissions a lot smoother & quieter.

4. Havent hooked up the tranny cooler or trans temp gauges as yet so more work still to do.

Will report back when I've done some more!

Cheers & thanks for all the advice & help, I do appreciate it a lot!

Magnetron man!

 

Did a couple hundred miles this weekend on her - and I confirm my sense that she is quieter and smoother on all changes etc...doesn't seem to slip as much as before with the new oil (obviously in gear changing before TC lockup is what i mean, it seems a more direct connection thru the gears - less revs and more forward momentum).

Am going to do the cooler hookup this week and the temp gauge too!

Am thinking to do the temp guage first and see the trans temps with just the deep pan, then hook up the extra cooler and see the difference if any!

Still waiting on the LIPD Inline Filters, they are comming via Canada post so could be on a slow boat maybe!

Cheers!