Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Transmission-How far can I go ?

[R C Cola]

:{ Had a bad noise and popped out of gear on a slight hill in 5th at about 55 .

Stopped and went to put in low (grinding and would not go in). Flashers on and let roll back about a foot, played with the stick and in about 30 seconds got it back in gear and eased off, then into 2nd, and 3rd ran the next 10 miles at about 30 mph then tried 4th no problem. Dropped the trailer at the dealer and eased out. Ran fine went into 5th no problem. Drove 350 miles no prob. or noise. Now the only symtom I notice is sitting still, in neutral,

"with the clutch out" it seems to try to catch and move. I can actually feel the truck jump slightly, so far it has not gone all the way into gear by itself, but that is what it feels like. I did not push hard on the 350 home but not totally sure what the problem might be. 95 NV 4500 w/150k on the clock half of those miles were loaded w/RV's weighing between 5k and 11k some 14k .

Syncros are fine, shifts fine, pulls fine without load. How long should these 4500's last pulling RV's ? Ideas ? My next move is to drain oil and look inside one of the coolers. I don't want to buy a rebuild if it is a simple problem.

 

[BLeary]

In order to find out whats going on you need to drain the trans and see if there is anything on the drain plug and go from there. Otherwise you have no idea whats going on or if you dropped anything, and pull one of the coolers like you said and take a look inside.

 

[Grey Wolf]

You didn't mention anything about the clutch, but it doesn't sound like it's not fully disengaging? Popping out of gear sounds more like syncros... .

 

[GAmes]

RC, my 4500 started popping out of 5th when the exhaust brake was on. Then it started making a very faint pinging sound while climbing hills in 4th gear, loaded. That was in TX. Had to get to WA so told myself it would hang long enough to get back to OK City (Blumenthals). Coming back it started clicking in in 5th, still quiet in 4th. South of Mountain Home 5th let go and even driving in 4th was making noise. Had to stop at the light going into the Jerome Flying J and it was making noise in nuetral with the clutch out. 1st, 2nd and 3rd was painful. I've been here for a week because of the long holiday. The rebuild from Standard arrived yesterday morn (cost less than a local rebuild), pulled it and found the clutch plate center was damaged. Don't know which failure came first, but am now waiting on a SBC out of Idaho Falls. If you are home I'd say replace your transmission now. I've never got 150k out of one. It is the weak link in my drivetrain but I know it wasn't designed for over 600 lbs of tq to the wheels and continuous hard use.

 

[R C Cola]

Clutch ?

Clutch is smooth and easy no symtoms I can tell. When the problem first showed up I pushed the clutch in and it made a terrible racket, let the clutch back out and it was OK . Once I got it back into gear and running clutch pushes in fine with no noises. Driving it around town the clutch seems to work fine, full disengagement. R C

 

[R C Cola]

transmission and Clutch

G Ames... ... It amazes me that the transmission went that far for you from the first sign of trouble. On my previous one (Getrag), fifth went out going down the road and the rest lunched completely about 80 miles further on and I had to be towed 11 miles ( $ 400 ) I have to ask why did you pass by Blumenthals when they have everything on the shelf, were they closed for the holidays. ? Why did you buy from standard, price ? warranty ? quality ? other ? Speaking of weak links I am seriously considering going to a 6 speed for the extra strength and bearing size. More research to do on that. R C

 

[GAmes]

G Ames... ... It amazes me that the transmission went that far for you from the first sign of trouble. On my previous one (Getrag), fifth went out going down the road and the rest lunched completely about 80 miles further on and I had to be towed 11 miles ( $ 400 ) I have to ask why did you pass by Blumenthals when they have everything on the shelf, were they closed for the holidays. ? Why did you buy from standard, price ? warranty ? quality ? other ? Speaking of weak links I am seriously considering going to a 6 speed for the extra strength and bearing size. More research to do on that. R C

I was pulling my own 5er on the way to Seattle, had non refundable tickets to fly to Okinawa, Japan to see my new twin grandchildren, so couldn't take the time to stop, plus my route to the NW takes me thru Lubbock. That was in June, am on my way home now. I got a price break on this rebuild because I only had 30k on the last one. Standard has been very good to me. I was only going to Blumenthals because they have their own shop, have had good service from them too. I did the research on going to a 5600 also. Biggest drawback is New Venture is out of business and 5600s are at a premium. Then there is the conversion cost, used to be about $4k,is prolly higher now. Then there was the problem of rigging a speedo since the 5600 doesn't have a tailshaft gear like the 4500.

 

[CSnyder]

RC, It kinda sounds like my problems I had last fall when my original transmission crapped out on me at 185,000 miles. Mine had the exact same symptoms as yours with popping out of gear and trying to walk itself in neutral. At the same time frame I slipped my clutch bad and dropped the transmission to install a new clutch and took the covers off the transmission to inspect. I found some small particals of metal and figured it was synchros and I would limp it until my reman showed up within 2 weeks. I think I got along for 3 days before it went POP. It turned out being the shift fork in the rear housing of all things. I have in the last year now replaced the "reman" transmission 5 times because the rebuilder messed them up. I also looked into swapping to the 6 speed but after learning they dont build them anymore and the cost of the swap and no parts availability I decided no way to do it. I know the 6 speeds are better built but they also have their own troubles and I dont feel like being down for monthes at a time looking for a rebuild or parts. I would say if you've lost interest in your 5 speed to have an auto built and do that conversion instead.



On a side note: was that you who left me a voice message about trailers this week on my phone? My phone doesnt record numbers when people leave a voicemail so I havent returned the call. If it was you... feel free to call me at home at 563-546-7772.



Chris in Iowa

 

[R C Cola]

transmission woes !

Chris ... ... 5 Remans wow. How did your supplier warranty attitude impress you with service etc. ? Who was the rebuilder of those transmission's and were they all done by the same rebuilder ? If you know what caused them to go bad ? All for the same problem or ? My first rebuild went bad in about 3 months and when I pulled into the shop at blumenthals they were very nice and asked if it would be OK to replace it today, no charge. I have been inquiring into buying a 2 or 3 car

trailer for cars. Trying to find out the exact empty weights to help decide which

one to buy. R C

 

[CSnyder]

RC, I bought my reman through my dealer and the rebuilder is out of Zumbrota MN. Each time my rebuild has went bad again was for different reasons. I now have about 225,000 miles on so since 185,000 the remans have lasted between a few thousand miles and some less than an engine oil change. The rebuilder claimed I was running too much HP but I know thats not the issue. The last time my transmission went out I got the address for the rebuilder and personally delivered their crap back to them and warned them if they sent me another "reman" transmission that only had what was broke repaired again that I would go postal on them. After my transmission came back to me I opened it up to find all kinds of new parts installed so hopefully this time it will last. I think they like to fix only whats broke and call it a reman since most trannies they sell go to dealers who install them in stock trucks that will most likely make it out of their one year warranty period and then they are free and clear and can screw the guy again when it goes bad. I highly doubt the rebuilder will ever sell me a reman again but Im thinking next time it goes out Im gonna do an auto swap because I know Goerands has great customer service and they are only a very short drive away.



As for the trailer question... . I only have one 3 car wedge I used to haul cars for my car lot and Ive never had it weighed. All of my hotshotting is done with low profile gooseneck flatdecks. Ive recently cancelled all my contracts for hauling and decided to farm the 500 plus acres I own as well as rent some extra land so I can be closer to home for my kids since I cant find a decent nanny.



Chris

 

[R C Cola]

Trannys

I may also look into an auto transmission later. Maybe I can look up or call for the weights. What brand and length is the wedge and if you also are selling a flatbed same question as I am trying to decide based mostly on weight. From what I hear from other drivers, about 100k to 120k is all the commercial rigs are getting from these trannys. I am easy on mine as possible and do not feel that it should go out that often. R C

 

[R C Cola]

transmission update

Pulled the drain plugs on transmission and transfer case today. transmission oil very dark

almost black at 66k since change. No large particals. Very slight bronze traces in the oil and quite a bit of silver color traces. No particals I could feel with my fingers. Transfer case slight trace of silver in the oil, no particals I could feel.

Have about 750 non loaded miles with smooth shifts. Still only symptoms

is in Neutral w/clutch engaged idling truck will do slight jump like it wants to go into gear (never actually moves the truck) 2. On a slight slope with truck in low gear and clutch on the floor easing backwards using brake to slow goes about 8 feet and stops by itself as if I had let out the clutch. Weird ! transmission ships tomorrow. ??

 

[R C Cola]

Update on transmission

Went to a heavy duty transmission shop in Ogden Ut today and had them drive around and listen to it etc. THEY ARE STUMPED evan after calling their Salt Lake Reman. center. Hmmmm now they got me wondering. R C

 

[R C Cola]

transmission Update

Rebuilt is in and problem solved. Gears and shafts and synchros all good. Bearings shot especially the front. 165k seems too soon to have this problem will do lots of thinking before next time. Thanks for the input guys. RC

 

[RHARVEY]

So far my transmission has 251k on it... . How long will it last?????



Rick

 

[GAmes]

Glad you found the problem. I think the bearings are what failed in mine each time, but I'd drive till every thing broke.



Now get back to work! :-laf

 

[R C Cola]

Yeah...Back to work !

Dropped two loads so far and have to keep going, need the dough. R C

 

[R C Cola]

How far ?

Rick, do you tow commercial ? All the time, part time, none? Do you tow a lot ? What percentage of the time/miles ? You been lookin at the numbers in this thread and go from there. R C