Cue up the blues music...

I've got the broke transmission and now the worn out clutch blues. Do-do-do-do.

And so the rest of the song goes...

I got news from the transmission shop today that not only is my transmission screwed up (they still haven't gotten down to all of the transmission molecules to find out exactly what is wrong with it) but the clutch is worn and needs to be replaced as well.

That totally blows!

The only silver lining in a huge cloud is that at least the don't have to remove the transmission because the clutch needs to be replaced. It's already out of the truck for the transmission work that they are doing. So it should only be parts and a little labor but not the R & R of the transmission.

So the saga continues and I'll find out tomorrow exactly what the damage will be.

I ended up getting two gallons of AMSOIL ATF fluid to fill it up with when they are done.

I'll keep everyone posted on the final outcome.

TinyWonder

 

Does anyone else hear the terrible sucking sound. That is the distinct sound of all of my cash being sucked out of my wallet, savings and checking accounts.

I got the diagnosis from the transmission shop and it wasn't good.

The clutch and throwout bearing are shot. Apparently the throwout bearing basically blew up. I'm going with an upgraded clutch.

The input shaft has some damage from the bearing going bad and needs to be replaced or the shop won't gurantee the clutch work.

The syncromesh for the 1-2 gears is damaged. The owner said he couldn't see any visible damage but that it was really difficult to remove it which woluld indicate some sort of damage and he didn't want to replace it in that condition.

And the owner suggested that the bearings be replaced in the transmission... they were really showing some wear and he said that I may get 20,000 more miles out of them before they absolutuly needed to be replaced. But if I wait until then I would have to pay for the R & R all over again.

All told the damages add up to $2,100.

I had hoped that I could use some of that money for some other repairs that I have been waiting on (body work). I guess they'll just have to wait a bit longer until I can save up the cash.

Hopefully that is the last transmission work that needs to be done for quite some time.

TinyWonder

 

This sort of expense is like buying new plumbing for your house.
A lot of money going out, but nothing really visible to show for it.

 

I am also interested - subscribing - Mark

 

I used Mobil 1. First time drain the fluid was dark and had a gold hue, second drain was like new. I'm about due for another drain at 106k, but I'm not driving it much these days so, I'll let it go for a while (when I have time to do it I will). Sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

Tiny,

Sorry to hear about your transmission troubles. Overall it sounds like your trans shop is giving you a fair price. These transmissions aren't cheap. I personally don't think they build these things to last anymore. JMHO.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

Well I finally got around to getting some pictures of the damaged transmission parts. After close inspection by a layman (me) I really don't see any reason that these things failed so soon. The surfaces where the gears mesh up don't show much in the way of wear.

This first picture is of the 1-2 synchromesh gear. There is a small crack that goes all the way through the gear. You can't see it in this pictuer but I think that the metal was defective with the way that the crack is shaped. I remember exactly when this gear started acting up.
It never did grind or clunk like a normal synchromesh failure presents. It was extremely hard to shift between 1st and 2nd gears, weather the truck was running or not. The tech at the shop said that he had to drive the gear off the shaft with a punch and hammer. Typically they just slide around on the shaft with the help of the shifting forks.



This picture is of the input shaft. You can see the damage that was done by the worn/non-existant pilot bearing.



This last picture is of the bearing on the input shaft. You can see the lines & discoloration that was beginning to appear on the rollers. If the transmission wasn't already apart I probably wouldn't have replaced this bearing or it's brother on the output shaft. However, it was suggested that I replace them now rather than pay for the R & R later on down the line.



After all of the pain and agony, shelling out $2,100 cash money for the repairs. I can't believe how much smoother the new clutch and transmission are. The old clutch was so stiff my leg would get tired if I tried to hold it in while at a stop light. The first time I pushed in the clutch in it was as if my hydraulics were out (which I just replaced about a year ago).

I ended up having the shop fill the transmission up with AMSOIL synthetic ATF. I'll keep and eye on things and see if this was a good investment. Hopefully I won't have to do anything to the transmission for a long time.

TinyWonder

 

Thanks for the follow-up and the pictures.
I'm willing to bet that the reason that syncro ring cracked is because of the pilot bearing not being there.
Sort of a cascade effect.