Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Truck goes up in a ball of fire...........

[ndurbin]

... ... not really... ... ... but I was about to do it earlier today. Coming home from Christmas at my grandparents one of the hose patches I had put on my transmission lines for a temporary band-aid until it could be fixed properly, spilt apart. All the fluid drained out in a matter of a few seconds and the trans. went all to hell. Well I put a new hose patch on (thank god O'Riellys was open) filled it full of fluid and started out again. No such luck, wouldn't shift past 2nd. So it's sitting at a relatives house right now until I deciede wether or not to throw some gas on it and watch it burn, get another auto rebuild, or convert it to a 6 spd.



Nathan



PS: you may send condolenses and a small monatary gift towards the resurection if you so wish.

 

[bmoeller]

That sucks.



I vote for a 6spd.

 

[RBratby]

i say go with a dtt trans. im kinda bias though. i dont have any regrets going with dtt. you would spend less going with another auto. i priced going from an auto to a 5sp and it was $5000 with a stock clutch. i paid less than that for my auto. the conversion would cost more all together because to make it look right you would have to change the steering colum out for a standard and the gauge cluster to get rid of the auto markings just to name a few. not only that you have to find a 6sp to put in and they are lots o $$$.

 

[ddillman]

Part it out . . I have a 94 reg cab.

 

[WBusa]

Quite a few of us need to do emergency repairs on our transmission lines, so it would be helpful if you described what you did, and why/how it failed... if nothing else, we can learn from your mistake. Inquiring minds want to know... .

 

[Joe G.]

If you need to repair your trans lines, don't put it off. The quick disconnect stock fittings can blow completely off and quickly drain the trans. If yours is leaking and it starts to act strange pull over and pour some ATF in it right away.

 

[ndurbin]

Well from what I can tell some yahoo decieded it would be easier to cut the lines where they cross under the rear of the trans. to go upto the cooler up on the block. Whoever did it put just hoses back in, which allowed the corners, where it turns to go back forward to the cooler on the block from the rear of the trans. , to rub together. So that caused both lines to get holes right in the corners, patched them at a friends house and it was one of those patches that split open the other day. It didn't look like it had rubbed against anything that I could see, just spilt open from the tension put on them or something I don't know.



I'm going to go over later today and see if I can fiddle with it somemore to atleast try to get it going to bring it home, but who knows if that well happen since its 2 hours away. I was really ticked off yesterday about it so now that my heads cooled off some I'll try and check things twice and make sure that the fluid is at the correct level (it's rather picky about that for some reason). Maybe I'll have better news, but I doubt it.



I am kicking myself right now for just not bearing the cold (the warmest it ever got was the upper 40s once you figure in the wind) and fixing the damned things right now.



Nathan



Edit: I didn't go very far once I noticed the RPMs to start jumping around, maybe a 3/4 of a mile to a place to safely pull over and I had let off the go pedal and was pretty much just coasting. And then I went another 1/4 mile to the relatives house where I worked on it. The temp. gauge was also reading normal (right around 120-130*).

 

[Joe G.]

You may be ok if the clutches didn't slip too much. My fitting started leaking in '96 on a Sunday in Carson City, NV. I noticed ATF all over the place. Nothing open to fix it so I got a case of ATF and a funnel. Headed home to Eureka. Everytime it started to act funny I poured some more in it. I was on the last bottle when I got home. No damage as far as I could tell when I pulled the pan. The truck was a mess with all the dirt and ATF all over the place.

 

[ndurbin]

Well I got it home under its own power, so I think she'll live to see another day. I'm going to pull the pan and replace the lines w/ steel braided hydraulic hose tomorrow. And then start saving pennies for a 6 speed swap, this well be my first and last auto.



The odd thing was it took alil over 8 quarts to fill it up, it usually only takes about 4-5 on a fluid change. Guess the cooler and lines hold quite a bit. I did notice some black fluid on the dipstick, I'll give it a good inspection tomorrow and a BATH.



Nathan

 

[chriscumminsdiesel]

Could have pumped the fluid from the converter.

 

[ndurbin]

Well my quest for using steel braided hydraulic hose was a bust, along with using any other kind of hose the local NAPA store had. I did drop the pan and filter to check what I could see and everything seemed ok. Wasn't any chunks of clutch material or anything in the pan or filter. The magnet in the pan did have some stuff on it but it wasn't alot.



Is there any lines out there somebody has come up with that are an improvement over the stock DC lines? Other than wrapping the stock DC lines in reg. hose.



Nathan

 

[DavidGardner]

:{ Call Bill or Stephan at DTT. Even if your not buying anything from them they are great guys and tell you what to use and where to get it. Good luck with the repair. By the way when I change fluid on mine it takes about 15 or 16 qts. Of course I have a drain plug on my torque converter and I drain it too. They hold lots of fluid.

 

[ndurbin]

I talked to a DTT installer I know ("Floor It" on here) he said they didn't offer any kind of updated lines other than the one for the trans temp. He did mention he had put steel braided lines on one of his trucks but it was major $$$. And he even called DTT to make sure they didn't have anything.



The problem with the damned NAPA hoses where that the steel braided hydraulic hose can't be used with hose clamps. Whereas the other hoses couldn't be crimped with the connectors. I'm not statisfied going back to the DC lines. There has to be a better option out there, I just have to find it.



Nathan

 

[Lsfarm]

Nothing wrong with stock lines

Nathan there are tens of thousands of automatic trucks with hundreds of thousands of miles on them with the stock steel cooler lines. See if Floor It has a stock line or two that he has changed out when doing a conversion to the temp sender line. The other two lines only cost about $30 each from the dealer. I'd just go with stock lines and make sure they are installed so they don't rub on each other or parts of the truck. Use the factory plastic spacer-clips. Or use split lengths of rubber tubing to wrap the steel lines and use tie-wraps to keep the lines from chaffing.



When you first refilled the trans after the leak was temporarily fixed, did you drive it around the block and recheck the ATF level again?? getting all the passagways refilled with ATF takes a few runs through the gears usually.



If you didn't find a lot of burnt clutch material in the filter on on the bottom of the pan, you might have saved the trans for a while.



As far as stick vs Auto, once you pay for a 6 speed, buy a good clutch to hold power upgrades, do the swap and make the truck look like it always was a stick you will have in excess of two thousand dollars more than an upgraded auto trans will cost. Unless you can find another truck who's owner wants to convert from stick to Auto.



Good luck with which ever way you decide.



Greg L

 

[tp0d]

Friend of mine here in PA had about the same issue. . He went to the local Peterbuilt dealership, and they offer a high pressure oil and fuel rated 1/2" hose that will support the transmission cooler lines. I may have to go this way myself, as I dont trust these steel lines at all. Sorry but i dont have a make or pn on the hose at all, but I`m sure the peterbuilt guys can refer you to the right stuff. .



lsfarm: just for an insight, as i plan on changing mine. . Whats the max pressure I can expect on the transmission cooler output/input? I`m thinkin of going all rubber hoses, as I have all factory steel. .



thanks



-jerry

 

[ndurbin]

Lsfarm: I realize there are alotta of other trucks running around that don't have a problem with the lines. It was suppose to be fixed so it wouldn't rub when the Blumenthal transmission was installed, I'm just sick of dealing with the transmission (this is number 3 since I bought it). If it costs me 2,000 more than an upgraded transmission, I don't care it's still getting a 6 spd. And the trucks just going to end up being a toy anyway so if the gauges, steering column, and other stuff doesn't look exactly factory that doesn't bother me.



tp0d: I will check with the Peterbuilt dealer and some other big truck shops. Thanks



Nathan