I have had the same issue, towing and empty. 4 quarts at one point. My tranny temp has never exeeded 170 degrees when it puked. My local stealership told me my converter was on its way out. It was building to much heat and causing the converter to pump seal to distort and fail, all before the hot fliud was able to reach the guage sensor. Now this sounds reasonable but I have not had anyone besides them tell me this could happen. Seems to me if the converter was that bad, the truck should have performance issues, but it doesnt.

 

Since this has been mined from way back on the list, I'll update everyone.

Since I have had this incedent I have driven this truck about another 4K miles with no problems. Our 5th wheel has been in the shop, so I haven't towed anything bigger than the bass boat we bought. It has a very small leak, but it had that before this happened.

 

What year is your PSD? You mentioned you had it happen but was it 'hot' out and were you in elevation?
I'm a novice at this stuff but logic tells me that if something is going out like the T. Coverter the symptoms would be routine and not rare. I did read some good advice on this forum and that was to shut her down and let things cool off after it pukes. Also to go to 4x4 low range and the tranny fluid doesn't get as hot. Of course if you don't even know your running hot then ???
The gauge as I understand them should predict it getting hot. Again, I'm not suggesting I'm correct but if the gauge is temping the fluid what difference would it make 'why'? I am changing the filter, a $35 easy service. I was told at Ford they don't even suggest it until you hit like 300,000 miles. There are few specifics in my service books that came with the truck other than the generic term: service transmission...One might imply that you should change the filter. My fluid, after both puking incidents remained clear. If yours has even a little tanish,yellowish, then you've indeed overheated the fluid and it really should be immediately replaced since it's lost it's properties providing lubrication. I've noticed some local ads to do the tranning fluid exchange for under $125. They simply disconnect near your radiator the tranny line and visually run new fluid in until it looks right. At $100 labor rates I think you spend a little more to have a tranny guy drop the pan, change the filter, and then give you the bad news. It's difficult to 'trust' anyone doing repairs these days. That why I respect this forum so much. You get a few kooks but for the most part there are some very helpful members and the more we learn the better of our chances are of getting our trucks reparied or serviced correctly. Good luck CJ

 

I think, after much research on the subject, the simple fact is that the stock seal is just subpar for this aplication. I have read thread after thread about this very subject and it seems to me it all boils down to replacing that seal with a better one(viton), to bad you have to drop the tranny for such a simple part!!! Im at the point to where I dont know if its worth it to drop a 90xxx mile tranny and not having it rebuilt while its out.

 

My fluid has an amber color. I was told if it didn't have a "burnt" smell, it should be alright. I have no idea if I was overheating the transmission or not. I've been told in this thread that it did. When I looked at the gauge, it was reading fine. I didn't while all this spewing was going on, so I'm not sure.

Any body have any idea what it will cost to change the seal? Should it be a Ford dealer or a transmission shop?

 

As I understand it the puking is a result of expansion caused by overheating and the transmission has an accomodation for this which I suppose you could call a seal of sorts. As I understand it, it works like a tea pot boiling and the top opens up to release steam. Once the tranny cools it closes and returns to 'normal'. If this happens often then you could conclude it the tension will deminish and puking at higher temps be more prevalant. The hole in the front of the tranny is where it pukes. If you have a leak that's another issue.
In no way would a bad seal suggest you need tranny work but obviously you would be wise to have it inspected and consider R&R. You can follow any advice but if your fluid is other than almost clear or slightly pink I'd replace it. Once you boil the fluid, turning it into the amber the primary properties you have it for are diminished. In your case, with a puking issue you should have all your fluid changed via the fluid exchange. I too read much about preventative and measures we can take to keep our trannys from overheating. Despite some credible people suggesting an add on tranny cooler is a waste I believe that if you add a larger cooler you reduce heat in the fluid. If you look at an 08 Ford PSD compared to the previous years you will see that the entire front of the vehicle is nothing but coils to cool air intake and transmission fluid. We have essentially two problems: a marginal factory tranny, and an engine that has become so modified we push the temps beyond the design. The weakest link always is discovered. You'll either invest in a shift kit, more cooling, a rebuild, or limit your towing. Your only other option is to buy a new truck. Good Luck, CJ

 

Unfortunately you don't understand how a transmission works. There is nothing like that in an automatic transmission. You must have dreamed that up. Why do people post explanations of how things work when they make up ALL of the facts????? On another board I frequent they call this BS tech, and that is a good description of what you wrote. It would get you banned on that board.

What's happening here is that the torque converter hub is getting very hot. That gets the hub seal hot, and unfortunately the stock seal gets soft when it's overheated. Now the fluid pressure that the seal is supposed to hold is enough to press past the softened seal and leak out of the bellhousing. Once the seal cools off it hardens and works again. The stock seal will do this heat/cool cycle several times before it finally fails for good.

If the trans is in good shape the trans can be removed and an aftermarket seal installed. The aftermarket seal works MUCH better at higher temps. That and better trans cooling should fix the problem.

The 4R100 did not have the greatest cooling. The hot setup (pun intended!) is to replace the air to oil cooler with a cooler from a 6.0L truck. That cooler will mount in the stock location using the stock mounts. All that needs to be done is to get some hydraulic fittings to adapt the 1/2" lines on the cooler to the 3/8" lines on the truck. If your truck has a trans cooler in the radiator, KEEP IT. It does a FANTASTIC job of cooling the trans fluid. The routing is from the front of the trans to the radiator cooler, then to the 6.0L cooler, then to the rear of the trans.

 

Well obviously your 'right'. I was somewhat repeating what the owner of a transmission shop 'tried to explain' to me in somewhat simplistic terms compared to your expert explanation. I suppose I do have a somewhat accurate conclusion in that former Ford transmission egineers of say the 1999-2004 era were; ummm let's say not the best designers of heavy duty transmissions.
Don't be too critical of those in these forums who at least try, and respond with what information they believe to be correct. In short...You get the picture. CJ

 

I get the picture. You didn't know how it worked, but thought you heard something once, and any information is better than no information.

How does wrong information help anyone? It's not a crime to not answer a thread if you don't know the answer.

I never said I designed a transmission. I never have. I was an engineer there at that time, and I worked on programming shifts, not designing transmissions. Most of the problems that these transmissions have are not the result of bad engineering, they are a result of poor management. If management would let the engineers design the trans the way it should be designed they would have worked better. Bean counters ruled at that time, and we are all living with the results of that.