Torque Converter Cooler failure

[WHazelwood]

Long story short. last Thanksgiving (11-20-12 @ 130K miles), my truck temp gauge went high as I pulled into the garage. Next morning I checked the coolant and found a pink gooey substance filling the radiator and transmission. The only place those two liquids come close to each other is the Torque Converter Cooler on the driver's side of the engine block. Mine had failed internally and the first indication was a couple of funny shifts and the overheating.

I purchased the Torque Converter Cooler direct from Cummins for $400 vs the $600-$800 quoted by the dealers and Mopar parts.

I change out the cooler, flushed the transmission twice and had a devil of a time getting the pink stuff out of the radiator/block.

I was told that the transmission was going to need a rebuild depending on how long antifreeze had been mixed with the transmission fluid. Well it finally happened last week( 3-10-13). While stopped at a light the transmission gave a little bump like you get when shifting from reverse to drive, and then nothing. The truck would not move in any gear. It was toast.

I had the truck towed to Garmon's in Griffin, Ga and they did a complete refresh So I'm back on the road again,Oo. Yee Haw!



So when you're checking fluids watch for color changes in transmission fluid and coolant.

 

[Prairie Dog]

It's amazing how sensitive to coolant these trans are. I belong to an old ford forum and a guy there drove around for a year with fluid so contaminated with coolant that it looked like orange rusty water. He finally replace the cooler and changed trans fluid and has had no ill effects a year later.