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Tranmission Failure in all forward gears after kit installation

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2004.5 auto shift indicator will not show P (park)

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06 QC 4x4 5.9l, 48RE. 200k miles.

Last week, I installed the Superior shift correction kit (K48RE) and the Superior Extreme Duty Servo kit with Band strut, etc. The shifts were firmer and more predictable for the first 50 miles. Then I parked it overnight in 15deg F temps, and the next day, it felt a little sluggish when shifting. 30 Miles down the road, and sluggish has turned to slipping a bit, and 10 miles later, sitting on the side of the road. No forward gears whatsoever, although reverse is fine. Towed to shop, dropped pan and the fluid is for sure burnt. It look like "clutch dust" in the pan as well. Fine black material?

From what I've read so far, the rear clutch pack has maybe failed? I'm not really an expert, but I can follow a good set of directions well. I don't think anything was screwed up on the install of the kits (I could be wrong). It is possible that the clutch pack was a time bomb waiting to go, and the shift kit was enough to push it over the edge?

Where do I go from here? Its my daily driver, but I only tow a small (7x14) enclosed trailer, maybe 8000 miles/yr., so I definitely don't abuse it, in that regard. I'd like to get another 200k out of it, but it has a fairly easy life. I can get a reman from O'Reillys pretty reasonable, or should I get a more built unit? Is there something else that I'm missing, like maybe it isn't the clutch pack?

I appreciate your advice and comments.

Thanks!
 
It is possible it was just a time bomb, at 200k all bets are off on a stock transmission.

It is also possible it was the shift kit. Miss one thing, as check ball out of place or something else will do it. There is also an issue with shift kits that use a manual valve change to charge the TC. If the bore is wore a little too much the circuit that charges the TC will bleed pressure into the forward clutch pack and cause it drag while in park. If you lost all forward gears it is either the forward clutch pack or loss of pressure in the forward clutch pack.
 
I had a similar experience when my 48re torque converter sprung a leak. At 150k I decided to have the transmission overhauled, billet steel torque converter and shift kit included. Ran fine for about a month just driving around not towing anything. Hooked up the travel trailer, hit the freeway and 150 miles into trip lost all forward motion in transmission. Got it to a shop and it was toast, it even smelled burnt. Towed it home, my transmission guy went through it again, same problem. It seems two gears were trying to run at the same time. long story short, the shift kit was the problem. It took months to figure out that one of the vendors had supplied the wrong size orifice in the shift kit, causing the problem. I think this is possibly along the line of one of Cerbs points.
 
Thanks you guys for the feedback and info. I've decided that at 200k, its time for a new transmission, so I'm tackling that tomorrow. I don't want to risk another failure, since I really don't know what caused the failure in the first place.
 
Thanks you guys for the feedback and info. I've decided that at 200k, its time for a new transmission, so I'm tackling that tomorrow. I don't want to risk another failure, since I really don't know what caused the failure in the first place.

If you are having someone build the existing trans make sure they diagnose the failure BEFORE they pull it down. And advise them of everything you did to the valve body so they can double check the work you performed in case there was a mistake. Nothing worse than smoking a brand new build because of something missed.
 
I went ahead and installed a new transmission and everything is up and running great again. I did discover a line (that I wish I had available at the time) that looks like it circulates coolant into the transmission, that is leaking. It runs above the transmission and around the back of the engine, from the turbo area to the driver's side of the transmission. Its all corroded and leaking slightly at the junction on the passenger side. I can't find this part anywhere online. Does anyone know what this is called, or have a P/N for it? Thanks.
 
IIRC, that line is like $320 on the later trucks. It is for the coolant in the fluid to fluid trans heater\cooler.
 
Because I didn't really have time to obtain a built transmission, and I don't do any serious hauling, I went with a PowerTorque reman (O'Reilly's brand). Which reminds me....Could separating the transfer case from the transmission be a bigger PITA?

Thanks for the info on the coolant line.
 
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