UPDATE!! Steve, From Marshall's Transmission here in Knoxville, called and said the trans has everything in it MELTED!!!! He said that the oil didn't hit the gears and that they just welded or melted together? I don't understand how a transmission built by ATKINS AND SONS ON RUTLEDGE PIKE, KNOXVILLE, TN, could not have enough oil in the trans after just 13 months???? I had them put ROYAL PURPLE FLUID IN IT EVEN!!!! Steve said that the shaft that has the pilot bearing and throw out bearing looked like it hadn't been replace and it is chewed up pretty bad also. I have a good friend that can get me a RE-MANUFACTURED trans with I believe a 3yr 36000 mile warranty on it at a good price, and Steve at MARSHALL'S TRANSMISSION IN KNOXVILLE said he'd put it in. He sais that my transmission is so shot that it would not be wise to rebuild. I hope he gets some pictures I would like to see. What happened to the oil in the trans? I asked Steve if he would put full synthetic fluid into the re-man and he said he would use whatever the manufacturer calls for, to be sure it was under warranty. i would love to put the new trany in myself, but time doesn't permit and the truck we needed last Sunday, so time is of the essence.

 

Old seal blew and then the oil then the melt down??? Maybe?

Sorry to hear that. Chunk the old cooler too.

 

Do 5-speeds have coolers?

 

Sorry thougth yours was a auto

 

Hmmmmm, If there had NOT been any tattle tale signs of an oil leak, which should be evidenced by oil on the under carriage, then the only logical explanation that I can think of was that at the time of rebuild there was NOT sufficient amount of oil added to the tranny.

"IF" just a small amount of oil was added to do a minimal amount of lubrication then it is possible that the amount of ATF that was in the tranny, over the period of 13 months got super hot, burned off to the point that there was no further lubrication and a ceasure occurred.

Bear in mind that the above is just my guess!

Rog

 

Yes, fluid should have been seen/smelled at anytime before the seizure if there was a leak..

 

That is what I would think also, I mean, the Royal Purple fluid was red, if I remember correctly, and there was not any sign of a leak, believe me, after spending the kind of $$ I spent I think I would have noticed? Just makes me very unhappy that ATKINS AND SONS TRANSMISSION IN KNOXVILLE, TN, doesn't want to stand behind, beside or in front of their work!!!!

 

Additional thoughts re your fried tranny. You might consider taking pix of the underside of your truck to document that there is/was no ATF leakage from the tranny. Take pix of the inside of the tranny to document the damage and last but not least get someone from Marshall's Transmission to testify as to the probability of the tranny failure. Take them (Atkins & Sons) to small claims court It's worth the filing fees. I think that you have a good chance of getting a judgment to recoop your losses if there is NOT other evidence that you haven't told us about. jmho

What did Steve from Marshall's mean when he said that the oil wasn't "Hitting the gears" What does that mean? Did he give an opinion as to why the oil wasn't lubing the gears? This in it's self is an important statement and observation. I'm not familiar with the internals of the ZF tranny but I don't think that it's rocket science on how the lubrication system works, the gears rotate in a reservoir of oil and self lube themselves. No oil, no lube. At least that is how it has always worked in the past.

Rog

 

Just took about 250 mile trip with my F 350 with a re-manufactured transmission in it, and I think I could smell the transmission fluid? The center hump got really hot also? The boot that goes around the shift is torn up, so I know we are getting a lot of heat from there and I think that is were the transmission smell is coming from. There are no signs of leaks anywere, I will try to check the fluid level tomorrow when she cools off, what is the best way to check it and fill her up? I had ROYAL PURPLE transmission fluid in the other transmission that was melted and locked up, it didn't have enough fluid in it which caused it to seize up? Can fluid boil off and if so, what causes it to? Any suggestions?

 

Basically what I think MAY have happened is,the low oil level caused an extreme over heat problem and what little amount of oil that was present just "Cooked off" causing the "Melt Down".
Documentation and expert opinions are going to be your case.

Rog

 

But, with the smell of transmission fluid with the new transmission, could there be something that is causing the transmission to heat up other than low oil? I will try to check the level of oil today because I think it may be cooking off the transmission fluid in the new transmission,. I have a 24,000 mile or 1 year warranty, but I don't want to take a chance of ruining another transmission if it is heating up due to something else?

 

I really don't know what the cause of your tranny failure was/is, I'm only giving you my guesstimate. You really need to check with Marshall's Tranmission if you think that something is wrong with this tranny as well, they're the ones that are warranting it.

Did the mechanic's at Marshall's ever give you their take on what possibly caused your first tranny failure, what happened to the oil, anything?

Rog

 

Manual transmissions get just as hot as the engine they are connected to. They also generate heat themselves. The big trucks often have oil coolers for the trans. & are still too hot to touch after coming off the road. Not having enough oil in the trans. will hamper the the natural self cooling & the oil will breakdown & lose its lubricating properties. Then once you start wearing out metal It's all down hill from there.