Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) transmission probs?

[J.Post]

I was driving down the highway to work the other day and the transmission shifted out of OD two or three times for no reason. I checked my transmission temp gauge and it was at 150*. When I arrived at work I checked the fluid and it was up to level but smelled burnt. It did not do it on the way home.

I did haul my toyhauler (aprox. 8500lbs. ) up a very steep and slow incline that brought the temps up to 210 the weekend before. I also did the same grade about a month before which I saw temps near 250. It seems that the coolent was getting hot and transferring heat to the transmission cooler. After the 250* pull I took it to my mechanic and we checked the fluid. It only had a slight burn smell to it so he called his transimission guy who stated that 250* was high but not to be very concerned about. The temp dummy light has never lit. The fluid had just been changed prior to all of this happening. I'm taking the truck to my mechanic today to have the transmission fluid changed again along w/ having the coolant flushed.



BTW I usually do all of my mechanic work. But after working on a lifted and very used, i. e. rockcrawling, Jeep over the last six years I'm just done turning wrenches for awhile. Otherwise I'd do it myself. I'm also not very familiar w/ auto trannys.

 

[J.Post]

Anybody? Could it be the electrical spike problem that I read elsewhere?

 

[DieselRam30]

I was driving down the highway to work the other day and the transmission shifted out of OD two or three times for no reason.

Mine did the same thing before I ended up having to replacing the transmission. The transmission would just randomly shift out of overdrive and kind of hunt for a gear. I also had metal in the pan. I don't know if you did or not when your mechanic looked at the trans. 250* is a lot of heat for the trans. It may not be anything in the short term if it happens once, but that kind of temperature could be an indication of an underlying problem. You might want to just make sure the transmission cooler is good and clean. When I got my new trans, my cooler had to be flushed multiple times to get all of the clutch material and other crap out of it.



It could be an electrical noise problem. To test this, clean the battery terminals, try disconnecting the batteries overnight and doing an APPS reset. If this does not cure it, a noise filter from DTT will.



This is all dependent on your mechanic being sure that there is nothing wrong with your trans first. Have somebody familiar with these transmissions check it to make sure nothing is wrong. Otherwise, a noise filter won't do much if there is something else wrong with the trans.

 

[TJany]

I had a similar problem about 3 months ago, the truck was not shifting out of overdrive per say, however the torque converter would randomly unlock. I tried resetting the APPS a couple times and it seemed the problem would clear up for about a week and than come back. i dropped the pan and changed the filter and fluid (not a full flush) and the truck has yet to do it since, even pulling.



However in dropping the pan i found a TON of metal flakes... Time for DTT?



I'd try resetting the APPS and see if that helps out. if the fluid is burnt you definitely need to change it ASAP



Tim

 

[DieselRam30]

However in dropping the pan i found a TON of metal flakes... Time for DTT?

Tim

Very possibly. Were there any other problems with the transmission? Were any of the adjustments out of spec? Since you haven't had a problem since, I wouldn't necessarily jump straight to a new transmission. Some metal in the pan could be normal wear, but a TON of metal is usually not a good sign.

 

[TJany]

aside from the metal flakes there are no other issues with the trans, however the metal build up on the magnet was at least 1/8 inch thick as well as flakes throughout the pan. in either case i figure its a pretty good excuse to upgrade :-laf