Went out on a wheeling trip. Dubz got stuck, so I had to pull up next to him and laugh at him... naturally. Then I got a little hung up and was really beating on it to get out.. overheated and blew a hole in the radiator. Lost reverse. Starter stopped working. So we pull it out, spend most of the night getting it started (hadn't diagnosed bad starter yet, thought it was cables or bad battery). Finally get it moving, go pick up some stop leak and tranny fluid ...dump some tranny fluid in (was 2-3 quarts low!) reverse came back. I had a little stutter on the way home.

Next day I pull starter, get it tested.. need a new one. Install new starter and truck fires right up like new. Radiator not leaking, it moves. Lets go back and beat that hole! Stutter is getting worse going up the road, feels kinda funny..

... get stuck again and overheat it, lost drive this time. Back out of the hole and stumble around to where dubz is sitting. Truck starts peeing out of radiator again. Let the truck cool down. Hop in, fire up and its not moving. Dubz had to push me home.. had to be a funny sight to anyone that saw it.
So yesterday I got some more stop leak and threw it in, seems to be holding fine now. But I still don't have drive.

On to the question..

Now, it was late, i was in a hurry and the store was about to close.. I have no idea which type of tranny fluid I dumped in there (i don't even know what type its supposed to take?). Is it possible that if I have this thing power flushed it will start working again? Reverse works fine.

I read somewhere else about someone having problems with vacuum lines and the c6 not shifting into the right gear.. my trucks idle jumps up when I step on the brake (vacuum leak?) could these be related?



Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to get any pictures this time, but two '78 broncos sunk to their floorboards was pretty funny.

 

The old C4 C6 and the FMX take Type F tranny Fluid.

 

The C6 in his truck do NOT take Type F.... It is Dexron III/Mercron
But you are right, the C4 does take F, and I want to say some real OLD C6s take F too.

IF you bought the cheapo deepo O'reilys or Napa brand tranny fluid, then it was the right stuff(mercron).

You could try takeing the pan off, putting a new filter and gasket(for pan) with all new fluid, and put a quart of LUCAS transmission figood stuff), and then if you want, you can put a chrome pan with a drain plug(real cheap), or just put a drain plug on your current pan(makes things alot easier and cleaner).

For the radiator, Most of the stop a leak stuff is bad for your engine, and can just stop up the cooling passages. You could try a junkyard for a new one(if it looks good, and still has water, it should be good to go).

GOOD LUCK!

 

I'm thinking a cooling passage has been blocked. It gets a lot hotter than it used to just sitting there idling and the radiator is holding pressure/not leaking.

I found a couple of the bottles and the latest few qts were type f. Before that I don't remember. I think there's a couple of different types in there

Do you think its possible that fluid would be the cause when reverse still works just fine but drive requires mashing the throttle to get it to jump a little bit?

 

I do not understand Auto trannys. They do some weird things some times. One of my friends lost 1st, 3rd, and OD one night after a rough rutty feild, and drained his tranny, replaced the filter, put a quart of lucas with new fluid, and it acts like brand new!
IF nothing else, it wouldn't hurt, and you can get everything for about $45ish(if you don't buy a new pan) I want to say $15ish for a new filter and gasket, and about 10 quarts at $2.somthing each, and $10 bottle of lucas.

 

Yeah, I have an extra filter/gasket sittin in the garage I think. I just did this when I had the body off because it was leaking, what a mess. I should've done the drain plug then.

I guess its worth a shot, like you said, for 45 dollars.

oo and the AC idler pulley seized up, stupid truck! lol

 

Ok, go to a junkyard and get a parts truck with a 460 C6 combo, rebuild the 460 to a modest 600 ponies, swap the C6, use the radiator off the parts truck, and then your good to go.

Or do like most people who don't have money for a engine rebuild much less a parts truck, and fix the problems and hope for the best.
I'm still stuck with no way to use a front driveshaft(I have some options 1 requires about $100 on a guess, 2 do a 203/205 doubler $1000, or 3 something I'm not going to do..... Other than that she's rolling around (finally!) in 2wd again.

I'm thinking the new fluid(maybe don't need the filter if you just replaced it)(might not even need the gasket for that matter, and a quart of lucas would help.
You might want to try fixing the radiator and do a flush/clean to get the radiator stop a leak out of the cooling system and put some new coolant.(then too.... it could be getting hot do to a stuck thermostat.... something else to spend money on.


I've got one question for you? ok two? Do you have a mechanical oil pressure gauge, and when the engine warms up or gets hot, does the oil pressure drop a lot(5) or stay around 20+?

 

I just have gauge on the dash and it always reads really strong, not much change if at all when it gets hot. I actually thought my temp gauge was broken because it never went past the first mark on the normal thing, it went ALL the way up when it overheated though.

I have a 2wd c6 that is supposedly rebuilt (attached to a 460 sitting next to the garage sinking into the blacktop). Can parts be swapped to make it work if I need to?

This just ticks me off because I wanted to get the tow rig setup the way I want (stacks/gauges/programmer) and now I have to spend money on this thing again. Plus I don't have any time now that school started back up.

 

I want to say if you change the tail shaft, put a adapter(the one that's on the bronco now), and change the dip stick it should work fine(the C6 that is).

I know what you mean, I wanted to start using money for a trailer or insurance for mine, but I still need to dump more into it now.