I was towing my 4 horse goosneck trailer with my 2003 Ford F350 Power Stroke Diesel today . After about 50 miles of driving (much of it steep) we came to some road construction, stoped and turned off rig to wait. About 3 minutes after we started driving up the pass again I noticed the truck starting to act funny. It was making a nose that came from the front, right hand side of the cab. Kind of a Sshhh, Sshhh, Sshhh, sound. I could feel the truck surge a bit with each sound. My first thought was transmission. We pulled over and a man checked the tranny fluid. It seemed empty. We put some tranny fluid in and headed back down the mountian. Truck seemed to be running fine for 5 miles until we had to turn and start climbing again. Then it started making the sound again and I felt the surging. I backed way off my speed and took the inclines at about 35 miles an hour. After ten miles we got to a spot where we could coast down hill about 20 miles. After 20 miles of coasting downhill back to civilization I started driving it harder up the hills and it didnt make the sound or act funny anymore. The truck has ALWAYS been serviced regularly and was most recently serviced Sept 7th. The transmission fluid was marked full at that time. Any ideas as what caused my fluid to run out? Or was that just a red herring and is there another problem not transmission related?

Thanks!

 

Have you found any signs of fluid leaking such as fluid on the undercarriage or spots on the driveway? Just wondering because the hissing sound you're describing almost sounds like one of the CAC boots has either come loose, split, or blown off. I'd start checking there unless you've found evidence of a tranny leak.

 

Welcome to FTE.

Which trans do you have? In 2003 you could get the 7.3 with the 4r100, or the 6.0 with the 5r110.

 

No signs of leaking anywhere. Its the 6.0 engine.