2000 F450 4X4 7.3 PSD Chipped
Aux tranny cooler with separate fan


I pulled a huge load on a goose-neck trailer about 9 miles in low range 4X4, hubs in of course. Took over four hours to go 24 miles total, the last nine really tortured the poor truck. Over heated the transmission to around 260* for a short time. The fluid is burnt, duh.
Now when I use reverse I need to really rev up the engine and then it slams into gear. I didn't use reverse during the entire loaded trip, just pulled forward. All my forward gears work OK. Haven't checked for codes but the OD light hasn't flashed.
Changing the filter and fluid on Monday, what should I look for while I have the pan off? What do you guys think happened?

Hope I don't need a rebuild, this tranny is only a couple years old (rebuilt) but has been worked quite hard. Nothing like last week though.

On a second note; how much work is it to put in a 5 or 6 speed? I am getting sick of this automatic for the kind of work I have been doing.

Thanks
Ken Gardner

 

What happened was the breaker that powers the fan on the aux tranny cooler failed and the fan quit working. Of course I didn't realize this until I noticed the tranny temp was too high. Immediately I rewired it to a fuse that was not being used so it continued to work. After doing so the temps hung around 200 and reached 210 maybe 215 a couple of times on the hardest pulls. The engine never really reved up all that much, just a steady hard pull for a long time.
I'll be the first to admit that I expect a lot out of my truck. I DO ask a lot of it, I pull heavy loads over tall mountains, haul loads of hay and lumber to remote "Back Country" locations that require a tough truck. Sometimes I have chains all the way around and bumper deep snow with 10-12 tons of hay on a 20 trailer. This truck is not babied. That being said, let me say that I am not complaining about the break down, just seeking advise on the tranny situation.
I had used Dodges up until three years ago. Always had manual trannys until now. I picked up the Ford because it had a full size crew cab and I have a large family. I like the PSD but these transmissions are not all that strong or forgiving.
I took the pan off today and found very little in it or on the magnet. Just some super fine metal. No brass, plastic, o-rings or large metal of any kind. Of course the oil was way burned. I'm going to do a flush and replace the filter and cross my fingers that I have not totally destroyed the thing.
Any other suggestions are appreciated. I still may need a rebuild, hope not.
Thanks for the info and advise.
Ken Gardner

 

Changing ATF Fluid in a E4OD and 4R100 transmission .: Articles here is a good article on changing the fluid and filter.
When you dropped the pan was the filter still properly plugged on?
Not an expert but I would think the fluid and filter change is worth a try.