transmission Cooler Lines (Act now or regret it later)

[mwilson]

Heads up all you 3rd Gen Automatic truck owners.



I have seen a couple mentions in the past on the TDR regarding chafing transmission lines and had inspected mine from the topside several times. There was always plenty of room between the lines so I never went any further.



Two weeks ago I had the '06 out and ran it to work for a week to exercise the drive train.

Second night Seth walks by the tailgate and yells "What is all over the back of the truck?", I look underneath and there is ATF everywhere!!!! Big spots where I park at work, more spots at home, etc.

It is dark when we leave and dark when we drive home so lucky that he spotted it.

Sure enough the lines had rubbed and worn a hole in the transmission line.



It is hard to tell where it is coming from as it runs down the line and onto the starter, then gets blown everywhere!!!



I have some pictures I will post, the main thing is that the offending coolant line can MOVE!!! Sometimes it will be an inch away from the transmission line and sometimes it will be rubbing against it. It always was an inch away when I looked it over during a fuel filter change.



Now the transmission line (the one with the built in check valve is a $100. 00 item) is not that bad price wise, it is however a PITA to change.

HOWEVER, the coolant line that gets rubbed as well is just nuts.

MY COST for this little black steel line from Cummins is $250. 00.

That means it can cost you $350. 00 to $400. 00 bucks from Cummins.

Dodge probably would charge you a testicle for it.

A good reason to look it over now in my opinion.



Mike.

 

[mwilson]

The offending line.........

If you want to deal with this, the only way I can see to properly add protection to your lines is to remove the LH fender liner. If not you will never get in there to do it unless you are a professional contorsionist. .





My patch job to slow it down a bit until the new line arrives...

 

[mwilson]

Changing the line.....

1st and 2nd pictures...

I took the line apart at the check valve as I was not sure how much room I would need to snake it out of there... .

Also I removed the washer tank, it made it far easier to release the qucik coupler on the hose. It is held in by two bolts, then pull it up and set it on the turbo upright. That way there is no spillage, plenty of hose to allow you to move it.



Spray the fitting on the cooler with PB Blaster or your own favorite penetrant.

Starting the fitting is not fun, it is a tight area due to the close proximity of the water elbow. I found it was the easiest to start the fitting reaching up through under the truck working behind the starter with a varity of 7/8" wrenches. Make sure you use a back up wrench or you risk damaging the cooler itself as those fittings are tight... .....

Release the clips, remove the drain line from the fuel filter canister. Then there is room to bring the line out towards the front of the truck.



Picture 3 is the damage to the transmission line... .



Pictures 4 and 5 are of the damage to the over priced steel water line.

 

[mwilson]

Protection....

Picture 1, 2 and 3 show the 1/2" push loc line that I split to slide on the lines. It is exactly the right size.

It would be a simple project to do this to your existing lines BEFORE it ruins the one or both of them.



Pictures 4 and 5 are of the protected line happily in place.



Mike.

 

[blacksheepdiesel]

Heed Mike's advice!

Yes, those lines are nasty to change, just glad the fender liner comes out fairly easy. I replaced my transmission lines with hydraulic hose. Much better deal money wise and much easier to keep them from rubbing on something.

The transmission cooler line that broke on my '05 was the quick connect fitting at the cooler connection. Absolute piece of worthless junk! It vibrated until it wore the fitting out and then spewed fluid everywhere.

Godspeed,
Trent

 

[mwilson]

Now I should not have to do this again, I hope... .....



Mike.

 

[cerberusiam]

MY COST for this little black steel line from Cummins is $250. 00.

That means it can cost you $350. 00 to $400. 00 bucks from Cummins.

WHAT!!!!!!



That has got the be the MOST ridiculous thing I have ever heard!!!!#@$%!#@$%!



Guess I am just building up the rubbed spot on mine with JB quick and if it goes I will replace with good rubber line. Stupid, stupid... .....



On another note, your lines look to have room where mine didn't at the block holder. I have plenty of room now where original hole was but they are too close right back of the block line holder.



I just did the one line, maybe thats the difference in bends or there are subtle differences across years.

 

[mwilson]

WHAT!!!!!!



That has got the be the MOST ridiculous thing I have ever heard!!!!#@$%!#@$%!



Guess I am just building up the rubbed spot on mine with JB quick and if it goes I will replace with good rubber line. Stupid, stupid... .....



On another note, your lines look to have room where mine didn't at the block holder. I have plenty of room now where original hole was but they are too close right back of the block line holder.



I just did the one line, maybe thats the difference in bends or there are subtle differences across years.

The part numbers are in my notebook at work but each Dodge line (I checked pricing on all three for the truck) ended in AL, AI, etc. which means several revisions or vendor changes have occurred already.



The replacement line was bent exactly the same as the take-off, but people have mentioned on TDR in the past that they noticed a difference with the replacement line. I think that they were working on earlier 3rd gens.



My '06 could have come from the factory with a later design already.



The Cummins line blew my mind, but there has been a number change so they had to have changed suppliers.



It would be a lower production item but tripling the price is just plain nuts.



Would the 6. 7 3rd and 4th gens use a different water line???



Mike.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

I had this same problem about a year ago. Happened to me on a Friday night and Cummins wanted to charge me $200 to open their shop on Saturday to get the parts. Hell no! I went to the local Dodge dealer on Saturday, free of charge, and got both lines and two gallons of coolant for under $300.

By the way, I didn't remove any of the parts mentioned above. I probably should have as changing these lines out really ******* sucked ****!!!

 

[BIGNASTY]

04.5 2x2

Just spoke to Mike was wondering if the problem was common to only 4x4? Went to look on my 04. 5 2x2 and there is a line spacer to keep the lines apart at that point and no wear marks. Following the lines to the front of the truck however they cross just in front of and under the OEM fuel filter. There were some ware marks at that point. As soon as I can feel my fingers again and cut off the one with frostbite I will install the rubber hose wear guard. Mike sorry for your !!!!!! problem but would like to say you are the MANThanks for the head's up buddy.





BIG

 

[DZink24]

excellent write up. i will be checking mine soon.

 

[goodguys75]

just checked mine... my transmission line is all rubber next the the hard line, must be the updated one... . but I did find next to the starter where there is the duel plastic line holder next to the nut fitting. . it was touching. . so I put a piece of rubber line between the 2 hard lines ... . check that out too

 

[59Turbo]

Mine chaffed through where the tubes from the aux. cooler clip into the radiator. I'm gonna double check the rest of them now. Thanks for the info and pics.

 

[TWhiteside]

Mike - Thanks for the write-up and pictures!! Simliar to you, I inspected these lines way back and saw there was a gap between them and figured I was good... (well I was wrong)



Just went outside and climbed under for a quick look and I see where I have clearance between the lines, but as you described, there are definite wear marks.



Looks like I am going to be installing some hose as a wear guard!!

 

[MColp]

transmission Cooler Line chafing through

Thanks for the heads up!



I just inspected mine and sure enough both lines were starting to wear a small dimple from chafing. I only have 33k miles and each rub mark was approx.

1/8 inch dia. I used 1/8 inch wall thickness Silicone tubing and tie-wrapped it

to the outside steel line. Although there was approx. 3/8 inch separation between the lines the vibration from the cummins is probably causing it.

If you want to see a real thrill, observe the transmission dipstick tube vibrating back and forth approx. 1 inch while the cummins is idling.



Mike

 

[Dieselnerd]

Thanks for the warning! I just inspected mine and they look OK right now but I'm going to put the rubber on to make sure. I did find a spot close to the radiator where they do rub and I'll be adding some rubber there too.



I thought the transmission line problems were just in the 2nd Gen as I remember well from my 1996 Cummins but I was wrong.



Good info and well worth checking, thanks again mwilson!

 

[B.G. Smith]

Just checked mine, although I can't see down in there well enough to tell if I have a potential problem or not, I did find that the battery cable was rubbing on one of the aluminum lines and had started a pretty good wear pattern. Tied the cables off with tie-wraps and will have to do a more thorough look-see at the cooler area. bg

 

[B.G. Smith]

Looked again today, can't find any rubbing. The lines seem to be pretty well secured/banded together going to the front. Is it possible that a revision could have taken place on later models in that year class? Of course I can't really see up behind the fuel filter where the problem really is. bg

 

[mwilson]

Looked again today, can't find any rubbing. The lines seem to be pretty well secured/banded together going to the front. Is it possible that a revision could have taken place on later models in that year class? Of course I can't really see up behind the fuel filter where the problem really is. bg

I really need to provide a shot from the top for you guys, I could not get the camera to do it the day I had it in the shop.



It was freaking the camera out as it kept trying to add the flash which would not illuminate the area I was attempting to photograph. I will have to back light it somehow.



I will try again as soon as I get a chance.



If you lay on the intake snout and reach down behind the fuel filter with your left hand you can grab the coolant line and see if it can flop left to right and contact the transmission line. Mine would move laterally about an inch with no effort at all.



I figured it was the coolant pressure that made it move and chafe the transmission line, but a previous poster mentioned the vibration at idle could be the cause.



He may well be correct.



Mike.

 

[TGVET]

As I will soon be replacing or rebuilding my Trans, does anyone have photos of replaced stock lines w/ fab'd custom hydraulic ones ? Routing and securing ? I know it's rather simple, but show-n-tell is always nice.



Also, thoughts on deleting the HE (after having already replaced mine) and with looking at 4 to 6,000 plus for the new trans, last thing I want is another catastrophe like previous threads.



And eliminating the stock trans cooler is another concern, going to one without the T-stat and one that will accept custom lines.



Thanks again guys.