Truck goes BOOM - What happened??

[WCPoe]

Truck goes BOOM - What happened?? Input shaft??

I was headed home this afternoon and decided to press the go pedal a little hard coming down the home stretch. As I pulled away from a stop sign I gradually rolled into the throttle, it's pulling hard and I figure about the time it gets to third I get a loud Boom. I let off and realize I lost power steering and brakes. I coast down my side street trying to figure out what just happended. The engines running fine, no check engine light but no power steering assisted stuff. It's about that time I also realize I that maybe my trans is defunct.

I pull over shut it off and check under the hood and see the shredded serpentine belt. I figure OK I got one in the truck and could probably get it installed but it's getting dark. But this doesn't explain the no go when I try moving the column shifter through the gears.

Anyway, I'm only about 1/4 mile from the house and one of the neighbors near me offers to help. We go get my John Deere and tow my truck home. I was able to push it in my shop but that's where it sits. I didn't feel like investigating any further tonight because I'm kinda stressed thinking my this might be an expensive fix because my ATS trans is just now a couple of months out of warranty.

Now here's the question??-----> I'm thinking input shaft, anyone have any thoughts???



PS - (See signature) - I didn't think a 2wd would be that hard on a billet shaft would you? It usually justs spins in the lower gears but since I rolled into it I wouldn't see that killing the input shaft.

(Less than 50,000 total miles on the truck and only about 27,000 on the transmission because I retired 3 years ago)

 

[JLandry]

Maybe the serpentine belt took out some wiring when it broke???



John L.

 

[Scrappy]

could also be that since the alt wasn't turning that the ECM wouldn't allow the trans to shift? replace the belt and see what happens.

 

[WCPoe]

Good points guys. If I have time tomorrow I'll put the belt on and give it a try. I was just too discouraged :{ this evening to go back out to the shop and face it, plus I needed to meet the wife for dinner when she got off work.

Thank you for your input.

 

[rbattelle]

Check the intercooler hoses too. If the belt knocked one off that would explain the BOOM!

Ryan

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

You wouldn't want to run the engine for more than a minute or so without a belt because you're not getting any coolant circulation.

 

[JBallou]

Fix the obvious stuff first, then try again.

 

[SierraRam]

If you snapped the input shaft under heavy load it is possible to throw the serpentine belt from the sudden engine load change.

 

[WCPoe]

If you snapped the input shaft under heavy load it is possible to throw the serpentine belt from the sudden engine load change.

----->I thinking the same thing. ----->

I didn't get back until late this afternoon to jump back on the truck's problem. I also found the plastic tensioner pully to be destroyed. (Geno's stocks the tensioner pulley, so I drove up and picked one up). Came back, pulled the tensioner assembly and replaced the pulley only to have a senior moment and not be able to figure out how the belt goes on.

Logged on to the TDR just now and got the diagram but family duties take first place and I won't be able to get back on the truck until Sunday afternoon.

I did put the code reader on the truck to be sure I didn't set one. No codes, it starts and runs fine just no movement when shifting through the gears. I checked underneath and cannot find any belt slinging damage and the trans/linkage appears normal.

I'll post back if something turns up. Again thanks for your input. PS - here's the belt diagram for reference. I'll think I'll print one out and put it in the truck.

 

[WCPoe]

What transmission parts could be the culprits????

Well, I got the new tensioner pulley put on and finally figured out the serpentine belt routing and installed the belt easy enough. Engine starts right up, no codes, seems to run perfect.

I still don't have a clue as to what exactly happened when the "boom" happened. Nothing happens when I move the shift level through the gears, nothing, no clunks, sounds or anything.



I originally thought the input shaft snapped, but I'm not completely sure because I think it's pumping fluid through the trans when I checked it. My input shaft is supposed to be a hardened unit but the output isn't, (I don't think they make a hardened 2WD output). I don't have enough auto trans experience to formulate any other conclusions at this point.

----->Any of you transmission guys comment on the possibilities???? ----- I'll be calling around tomorrow trying to figure out my next move.

 

[RACE427]

Auto Trans

The only way to diagnose this problem is to install an oil pressure gauge into the tapped ports on the side of the case and test fluid pressures. It sounds like you have snapped a shaft in your trans. They fatigue with all of the torque which is applied to them through the mileage years. It just happens.



With no oil pressure gauges, you will need to pull the trans and checked it with good old manual labor. I know this is not what you want to hear ! Sorry



Good luck !!

 

[Grizzly]

Your 04. 5 truck with less then 50K on the clock. That seems too soon for the serpentine belt to go out.

 

[RACE427]

Auto Trans

Does the trans. hold the truck stationary while in the Park position? If it rolls then the output shaft is broken. Probably a broken input shaft. How hard have you been on this truck, trans. ? Any tire smoking burnouts? Brake stalling the trans. ? Any of the above is considered severe abuse and will rip an auto trans to shreds !!!!

 

[WCPoe]

Does the trans. hold the truck stationary while in the Park position? If it rolls then the output shaft is broken. Probably a broken input shaft. How hard have you been on this truck, trans. ? Any tire smoking burnouts? Brake stalling the trans. ? Any of the above is considered severe abuse and will rip an auto trans to shreds !!!!

Park holds it fine, (still thinking input shaft). I don't think I've been very hard on the truck, since I retired it's mostly a garage queen. I'm a fanatic about my truck. My wife thinks I'm crazy about warm-ups, cool-downs and the maintainence. It's mostly around town driving here near Atlanta because the traffic sucks. I usually like the high power roll-ons and not burnouts. The truck will be 5 years old next month and only has 49500 miles right now with the original tires although I'm about due for new rubber. My two wheel drive truck with the stock hard Michelins won't exactly produce the drivetrain loading that many of you 4WD guys do. I only tow a pontoon boat, (maybe 5000lbs), a couple of times a year. That being said, I do mash the go pedal down hard usually once rolling because from a stop it usually just lights the tires up. It's more fun catching the unsuspecting Mustang or other performance cars on the highway.



Anyway, the truck goes to Garmon's Performance Diesel in Griffin, GA, tomorrow on ATS's suggestion. Oo. In my limited travels I've heard great things about Jeff Garmon and his dedication to the diesel family and I'm looking forward to working with him.

The folks at ATS are working with me on this even though the trans is several months out of their warannty period. I can't say I happy it broke but I believe everything will work out fine. Heck, while it's at Jeff's, maybe I can talk the wife into some head studs, valve springs and a set of twins to make it even more reliable.

Thanks for you guys commenting, I'll keep you posted.

Bill

 

[231jasonS]

Cant go wrong at Garmon's... ... . Ive never heard anything but the best for his shop.

 

[WCPoe]

Update on transmission

------------>Sorry I've been busy lately but I wanted to update this thread and thank all those that posted.

It was the Input Shaft, snapped clean right where it went into the hub. It didn't really hurt anything else, but Jeff Garmon went through the whole trans and converter to be on the safe side.

However, it turns out that my input shaft wasn't a billet shaft and thus with my mods and the 5 Star Converter it just was a matter of time. (Somehow when ATS sent my replacement trans, little over 3 years ago, it got out of their facility without the billet shaft. )

The good news was that ATS reviewed the paperwork, reconciled the mistake and overnighted the billet shaft and other parts straight to Jeff Garmon's place and I was back on the road in short order. I gotta hand it to Jeff, he kept me informed to whole time and gave me a detailed shop tour when I picked up the truck. Jeff even schooled me on the inner workings of a 48RE. I could've stayed all day but the wife shuttled me down to his shop and was anxious to return home. (Can't understand women can you?)

On another note, Jeff's shop is first class, clean, organized and I definitely reccommend his work to anyone on this board. Jeff "tuned" the shift qualities of the trans a bit and it took some of the 1-2 shift harshness out and aleviated the 1-2-1-2 shift hunt that happened on occassions.

Once again, Kudos to Jeff Garmon and thanks to those that posted on this thread and by the way if you're near Atlanta, (Jeff's in Griffin, GA. ) and need some Dodge or Cummins expertise be sure to call Jeff.

I'm all grins again. Oo.