So I had a friend call me today and his son is having troubles with the transmission is gone. It's a 4x4 and won't drive forward unless you rev it and wair. It would limp into reverse but not any forward gears. He has a mild lift, big wheels and tires, and an edge programer set for economy he says. Does this happen to a lot of these trucks or was he just abusing the truck? I checked the trans dip stick and it smelled burned but the color was what caught me, it was an odd clearer pink grey. I'm thinking maybe some PS fluid got mixed in or something. Any pointers, hints or advise on what to rebuild it with.

 

I would suggest pulling the pan for inspection and change fluid and filter. It may be to late but its worth a try. Could also, be cooked from abuse.

 

Sounds like water in the fluid. That is doom for the transmission and torque converter. Usually it gets past the rebuild stage when they are run too long that way. Too much has to be replaced to make a rebuild economically feasible.

Darrin

 

Someone was telling me that it might have synthetic fluid but does the dealer use synthetic? He hasn't done the trans service or flush in forever.

 

Most of the synthetic fluid is exactly the same color as non-synthetic fluid. Some is purple though, but none of it is anything that can be called an "odd clearer pink grey". That sounds like classic water in the fluid color.

Can you post a pic?

Darrin

 

No I didn't think to take a pic, I might go over there to see which trans it has. Which trans would have come with it?

 

Depending on the engine and being that it's an F150, either a 4r70E or 4R75E.

Darrin

 

4 or 5 speed huh? Well I thought it would be easy to tell but if it's the same where would be the markings or signs to look for to tell which one it has?

 

They are both pretty much the same 4 speed automatic transmission. Just minor differences actually.

Darrin

 

I thought the 75 might be a 5 speed trans.

 

The nomencalture works like this

4=4 speed
R=Rear wheel drive
70=700ft/lb input torque capability
E=Electronic

In the 4R75, the 75 means 750 ft/lb input torque capability.

Honestly though, internally they are pretty much identical. I jsut had this same discussion with someone today actually. LOL

Darrin

 

If you had water in the fluid it should be milky looking. Drop the pan to do an inspection, if there are a lot of flakes of material it is burnt clutches. If it has a lot of gray material in the pan you may get by with a fluid and filter change. I would suggest a professional flush of the transmission system if the fluid and filter gets it working. How many miles are on the truck? Normally you should change the fluid and filter at 30K.

 

I see water in the fluid a whole lot around here. Makes the fluid look the same color as a strawberry milkshake sorta. That's where the word "pink" in his description of the fluid took me. On top of that the water usually carries some of he contaminates in the transmission with it and thus a grey sometimes.

I have never ever seen a pink transmission fluid.

Dropping the pan is the best first route to honestly finding out what is in there. If it is water there will be water that isn't mixed with the fluid in there. If it isn't water then I definitely think something else is in the fluid other than transmission fluid. And that whatever it is probably ate up the clutches at the very least.

Darrin

 

Thanks for keeping the discution going for me guys. I was in class today after work.

It was not pink as like pepto. It was very clear, very clear as why I think it might have gotten power steering fluid in there over time. The trans has either 108k miles or 118 I can't remember but around there. The worst part is that it was never changed since the very first time when it had 40k miles. I'm trying to help the guy out but he's got everything working against him.

I think if it were just shifting funny or kicking a little harder than usual I'd try flushing it but it wont even go forward so i know it's bad. How bad is the part I don't know I was hoping on some recomendations as to what to upgrade while the trans is going to be apart.

 

Yeah, I misunderstood what you were saying about the color. I would love to know what is in there. How on earth could anyone get enough power steering fluid in a transmission that holds more than a dozen quarts to change the color of the flid like that? That's why I couldn't get my head around it at first. It would have to contain more than half of the total capacity in something else to do that.

Weird.