Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Auto transmission leak

[Axtell3]

As most of you who have or had one know, the 47re is fraught with issues.
In my truck, which I bought at 95000 miles, I had to replace at 97000 with a Jasper. It was early in the learning curve, so I should have spent a bit more and got a truely built one or had a good shop repair the one I had. I was in a hurry.
The following spring, after some education both here and behind the wheel, I installed Goerends VB and heavy linkage, spring and solenoid, with the deep pan.
So now at 201000, it started leaking like a stuck pig, so I replaced the filter again and put on a better gasket, did the fill tube over too. It then would not move unless over filled. $ is tight, so it was on the back burner while I drove something else. But reading my service manual, I decided that the check valve must be the most likely culprit. NAPA wanted 57 and It will be here in a couple days, Amazon wanted 23, and it was on my step in 2. And it fixed the issue. Must have been getting stopped up and caused overpressure somewhere, forcing fluid out the bell housing. At least the bottom of the 97 is coated for winter...

 

[JR]

Are you referring to the checks in the line on the bottom of the ecxhanger to prevent the Trans fluid from draining back to the pan when the truck is off?
If so, save yourself the money and remove the fittings, knock out the spring and ball and reinstall the bare fitting and line. They are failure prone and can burn the Trans up in extreme circumstances.

 

[Axtell3]

Yeah, and I have read many accounts of people who went that way and had problems too. I'll keep an eye on it.

 

[JR]

There can't be any problems associated with removing the check ball. One simply has to allow the truck to idle for 10-15 seconds before kicking it into gear if the truck has been sitting for a while. Small price to pay considering the alternative.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

There can't be any problems associated with removing the check ball. One simply has to allow the truck to idle for 10-15 seconds before kicking it into gear if the truck has been sitting for a while. Small price to pay considering the alternative.

+1 on that. My DTT trans has had a happy 100K miles without a check valve.

Imagine if you had been out on the highway when that valve failed.

 

[Axtell3]

Well after a week or so of happy driving the darn thing acted up, so I pulled the rubber tube and cleared the valve, cleaned it up and reinstalled. Worked like a charm for another week or so, but last night decided that 3rd and 4th are not an option. I'm going to borrow a scanner and see if it can point me in an inexpensive direction. At this point I'm driving the jeep, looking for a standard high mileage truck to put my cherry 222000 motor into.

 

[Axtell3]

And to follow up hooked a scanner up, and was not able to retrieve codes successfully.

 

[JR]

As in the scanner does not acknowledge it is connected to the truck? What scanner are you using?

 

[Axtell3]

It's a friends scanner, We had several failure to connect errors, then a few times it found errors but would not navigate to them. We hooked it to his truck and it worked flawlessly afterward.

 

[JR]

When the PCM in my truck went out it had some of the same symptoms your describing, lost 3rd and 4th gear and could not get a scanner to connect to my truck. I'd give the harness and all connections to the trans a real good look over and follow it back up to the PCM. This is the point I took my truck to a trusted diesel shop and let them diagnose it. I felt pretty confident the PCM was bad but wanted someone with the resources and knowledge to make that call, that way I wasn't shelling out several hundred dollars on what essentially is a non returnable item to find out I had overlooked something.

 

[Axtell3]

Kind what I'm thinking. The auto is not making me happy.

 

[JR]

I hear ya there. When mine went out I had it rebuilt by a local guru that builds transmissions for high horsepower sled pullers. It's been a great transmission in terms of functionality and has survived through two trucks. My complaints are the gearing of the 4 speed combined with 3.54 gears, makes for good mpg empty or lightly loaded but she really works when I've got a good load hooked to it.

I've thought about converting to a standard but I don't think it makes sense for me. The only way I'd do a conversion isbwith a 6 speed, either an NV5600 or a G56 and everybody wants stupid money for either Trans. Most of them are high mileage units so IMO the cost of going through it and freshening it up must be factored into the overall cost. For what one would have into a standard transmission, a rebuild, and all the interior parts to do the conversion you could build one heck of an automatic.

 

[Axtell3]

I'm still waiting to hear from Goerend on who builds out here with their goods. But then theres a 5speed that need an engine nearby too and it's not so rusty crusty as my rig. The limiting factor is still$$

 

[Texis]

When mine went out I had it rebuilt by a local guru that builds transmissions for high horsepower sled pullers

I did the same. At 260K the OEM auto died. I had a local shop that commonly builds drag racing autos do mine. $2000 later and now 404K it's still going. My converter leaks down, over fills the pan and comes out of the shifter o-ring seal, soiling the driveway if it's not driven every couple of days. They told me to drop it in neutral for a few seconds each morning to refill the converter. Does this mean that the local shop took the check / spring out?

 

[Axtell3]

I pulled out the spring myself. and after going over all of the connections it's shifting like normal again. Most of the time. every so often it will throw a wild card at me.

 

[Axtell3]

Yesterday case in point. Start it up for work, and within a mile it's like I pushed in the clutch. drift to the side of the road, shut it down and restart, all new ball game, so I turn it around, it blanks out again, restart, head home and it won't climb the driveway. restart, park and borrow my neighbors rig. Shop for used v10 5speed for a swap. Anyone know if I'd need a different bellhousing, pressure plate?