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Found this in my transmission

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2003 5.9l ho runs rich/ smelly at idle

So I bought this 2003 used from a family friend about 6 months ago. Got a very good price on it. The guy was pretty religious about maintenance, but he is not really mechanical and knows nothing about diesels other than he likes them. So he had recently had a Jasper transmission installed at a shop that did most of his maintenance the truck had 166k on it I just took it in for some service including a transmission service . The mechanic found something in the pan. See photo. So it’s got 192,000 on it now, we’ll under the Jasper warranty. And idea what that part is ? Chunk of a snap ring or a clutch plate ?

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OD clutch pack retainer ring, typical failure if they do not use a new one when rebuilding. The last time I rebuilt mine it came out in about 6 pieces.
 
From what I recall OD unit can be removed separate from the transmission so at least the transmission does not have to be removed to replace the snap ring.
 
Well I just heard from my mechanic. Jasper Tom him to put the trans back together and check for drivability issues , shifting, slipping, codes, etc. if all looks good they said just leave it be. So, I still have a year and a half on the warranty, if something pops up I’ll take it in again. I could fight with them over it , but apparently they feel it’s a small enough piece that it shouldn’t create a problem. There was no other metal in the pan it was actually very clean.
 
It isn't good answer or practice. While the OD retainer snap ring is seated in a groove THAT piece fell out or a reason. The rest of the retainer is in danger of failing and destroying the OD clutch pack at aminimum, maybe other parts also.
 
I found a piece in mine back in May, albeit a larger piece, almost half the snap ring, and the trans shop convinced me to do a full rebuild on it, probably un needed but it did have over 100k since it had been worked on to replace the torque converter so......
 
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Is it steel or aluminum? If steel, it’s part of a snap or retaining ring. If aluminum, it’s part of the case, the outer part of the groove the snap ring goes in. I found a similar piece in my pan 100K miles ago. It was aluminum. No issues.
 
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I found one of those pieces several years ago at about 115000 Miles. Took it to a friend who did transmissions. He determined the diameter with a tool he had then looked up likely candidates in a parts data base. Said it was from the Over Drive unit. Although there were no performance issues he would not say it was safe to continue to drive it.

We tore the transmission down and found the rest of the ring intact. How long it would have held, who know? Truck has 185000 and pan has not been off since the repair. Will be changing fluid this spring, and I wonder if I will find it broken again. But no issues so far. I tow a Open Range 10000 lb travel trailer and haul 7000 lb tractor up and down the road locally
 
Had the exact same thing happen.. drove it for 3 months no problems.. rebuilt the transmission...transmission guy said it could have lasted 100mi or 100k mi
 
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