# Transmission woes



## secret_weapon (Jan 24, 2007)

It's 5:15 am and I'm on here instead of plowing. Why? Because about an hour and a half ago I was plowing, making a nice long pass when I here a 'pop' and the truck stops moving. Trans fluid is full. Trans was replaced late '09 first time out plowing for losing reverse. 

No Forward, No reverse, nothing but a little noise. I went to put it in park and I could here the park pawl clicking. So something is moving inside. Calling trans shop @ 8am. :realmad:


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## NICHOLS LANDSCA (Sep 15, 2007)

Converter, pump,....... Whatever it is that SUCKS I feel for ya


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## kashman (Jan 13, 2004)

secret_weapon;1186244 said:


> It's 5:15 am and I'm on here instead of plowing. Why? Because about an hour and a half ago I was plowing, making a nice long pass when I here a 'pop' and the truck stops moving. Trans fluid is full. Trans was replaced late '09 first time out plowing for losing reverse.
> 
> No Forward, No reverse, nothing but a little noise. I went to put it in park and I could here the park pawl clicking. So something is moving inside. Calling trans shop @ 8am. :realmad:


had that happen 2 me last year lost rev i just went with a new trans no rebuild it was only 300 more for the new one out the door on the truck 1200.00


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

hey if the park paw is clicking the tranny is still movin. means no broken pump. 

and if your not movin then only thing left in the system is the transfercase. somthing might have broken in there or i have seen this a lot. the shifter rod dosnt get cliped all the way in on the tcase and bam under load/shock it will pop out of gear. 

might wana check this.


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## secret_weapon (Jan 24, 2007)

Update from trans shop. $1600. Rplace trans, cooler lines and 1 u-joint. :realmad::crying:
Hopefully I'll get it back today.


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## secret_weapon (Jan 24, 2007)

I think this is the last year for this truck, I wanna get out from under it. This thing is killing my wallet. I wont put it up for sale on here, I'd feel bad selling it to a fellow PS'er.


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## kashman (Jan 13, 2004)

secret_weapon;1186643 said:


> Update from trans shop. $1600. Rplace trans, cooler lines and 1 u-joint. :realmad::crying:
> Hopefully I'll get it back today.


y are you paying for a tran you just put in


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## secret_weapon (Jan 24, 2007)

Last time it was put in they gave a 6 month, 12k miles warranty for being a commercial vehicle. If the truck didn't have a plow on it they would've given a 3yr 50k warr. Another reason I'm really pissed


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## JFinch (Dec 20, 2010)

Damn, mine cost 1600 for a rebuild with an aux cooler. They didn't run the lines through the radiator first only the cooler, they leaked, and about 3k miles later the pan gasket is starting to fail. they gave me 12 mo. warranty which is now expired. I didn't have a plow on it then and have only plowed with it twice ever. It reminds me that I need to get on BBB and write up something.


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

sounds to me like the shop is not looking out for your best intrests.

recent reman job and 1600 again . plus did the cooler line rust out or the tipical cut and rubber hose and clamp job blow off like LOTS of low life mechanics do ? ?

and the ujoint was missed or thay didnt care to tell you.

all this info is good unless you drive the crap out of it and or do lots of miles on it.

also bypassing the factory radiator cooler not good ida read this http://www.tciauto.com/Products/TechInfo/trans_life_expectancy.asp


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## JFinch (Dec 20, 2010)

Yep. They just did the cut and hose clamp deal. I don't mind that as long as it doesn't leak. Power steering hose does the job just fine. The truck has 198k, which isn't crazy. One piece drive shaft so no worry there...(not that they would have checked). I installed a temp sensor in line recently and I don't know if the probe is in to far or what, but it seems to be 3-4 shifting funny. Once it settles into 4 the rpms are so low. I think its probably the converter, but who knows. Doesn't get up past 140 degrees though, so I assume its alright. Thanks for letting me vent.


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## secret_weapon (Jan 24, 2007)

Got my truck back! The lady I talked to on the phone said they were passing around the part that broke because they've never seen a failure like that before. I asked her what it was but she didn't know the name of it. I'll have to find out. 
Good news! Winter storm warning this weekend, that money will pay for the trans. and I'll just eat crackers for a little while.


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## joshg (Nov 12, 2009)

secret_weapon;1186652 said:


> I think this is the last year for this truck, I wanna get out from under it. This thing is killing my wallet. I wont put it up for sale on here, I'd feel bad selling it to a fellow PS'er.


Great...keep it in Ohio.


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

my point on cut and hose of the lines is thay are ****** lazzy people. the dealer repair shops dont do it. so why should thay. 

i would love to see them try that with the newer allision trannys. i have heard thay run a around 100 psi on them ? i know a shop here in town tryed to use a inline flush machine on one. had to jerry rig the hose ends to fit. thay blew the machine up when thay fired up the truck. 

if that had been my truck and thay cut the lines thay would have been buyin me new ones. how many miles did you put on it from reman to now ? 

lots of socalled tranny shops i have seen over the years wow :laughing: thay way thay reman a tranny its a wounder thay make it out the door.


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## JFinch (Dec 20, 2010)

I agee. People are lazier today than ever. I like to do things right once. If I knew then what I know now...different story. I've only put about 4k on it if that. I try to drive the rice burner when I can. Now that its gone I drive the truck daily. Now there is a front diff wine only in 4wd. Leaking diff seals/bearing. I've never done those before, but looking forward to it.


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

idont care if its 6 month warrenty 4k miles and burnt tranny  thay should of fixed it or at least gave you 1/2 off the price. and i would have been there lookin at it as thay took it apart to see what was wrong. 

thats bull crap. big waste of your time and money going there. 

send me a pm and i will give you my address to send the extra cash you have to me . i will put it to good use. 

i watched a guy 1 time reman a tranny for a cust . charged full price on the thing. thay never cleaned the case out/off. then only swaped out the burnt clutches reused the steels. and worst part NEVER soaked the new clutches in atf fluid. installed them dead dry right out of the pack. i asked him why do that and no pre soak. he said its o.k. the fluid filles up fast when thay fire it up. 

i have seen other guys pre soak them. almost 1 hr later thay finaly stop bubbling up in the atf and have soaked up all thay need for assembly. 

hay its your truck and your money but wow not a good deal by the sounds of this thread .


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## secret_weapon (Jan 24, 2007)

If I had time I would've gotten a used one and put in myself, but I need it this weekend and would have lost more money not getting it fixed this quickly. I'm pissed at the tranny shop and I'm pissed at my truck. I've never had so many costly problems until I bought this truck. I fix it and think its good, and something else goes wrong. Time to cut my losses, I'll finish this winter with it, then buh bye.


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## acornish (Dec 21, 2003)

wow - u guys have some sh***y trans shops , i had mine rebuilt 2yrs ago with a 1yr-12k mile warr. and recently with 24k on it felt like wasnt shifting into high went down to see them, guy said it was a stuck valve, and needed to be flushed, said ok how much , said pay for the flush-- and this is 2yrs later, got it back feels like new again, guess thats why hes beenn in buisness for 30 yrs


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## BigLou80 (Feb 25, 2008)

secret_weapon;1186943 said:


> Got my truck back! The lady I talked to on the phone said they were passing around the part that broke because they've never seen a failure like that before. I asked her what it was but she didn't know the name of it. I'll have to find out.
> Good news! Winter storm warning this weekend, that money will pay for the trans. and I'll just eat crackers for a little while.


This is just me but I would ask for that part. Then I would ask " if you have never seen (this part) break before then how can you blame it on this being a commercial truck and why are you not doing this for free"?

My head would be exploding if a tranny shop only wanted to give me a 6 month 12K warranty on a new or rebuilt transmission and it let go less then a year later. GM gave it a 3 year 36K right out of the door in 1998 if their rebuild was as good as new why not the same warranty ? GM didn't put a commercial truck exclusion on it. I know for my 2002 2500HD a GM re-man comes with a 100K warranty for only $1200 cash and carry.

I think you have a very crappy transmission on your hands at the very least they should have split the cost with you or had you pay for any new parts that were not replaced on the rebuild with them providing the labor for free. I feel comfortable saying what ever part failed wasn't replaced during the rebuild and should have been and how is that your fault ?


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## Brandon29 (Jan 17, 2010)

I took reverse out of my 90 the first storm we had this year. Cost me 1400 to get it rebuilt. Put upgraded clutches, converter, and a shift kit. Sucks it happened in a storm but after having it back Im glad its done.


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## CAT 245ME (Sep 10, 2006)

sweetk30;1186950 said:


> lots of socalled tranny shops i have seen over the years wow :laughing: thay way thay reman a tranny its a wounder thay make it out the door.


SweetK30 we have a tranny shop here that has gotten very big over the last 30 years (three local outlets) mainly because they do poor work and the customers are to stupid to go to a different shop. When they rebuilt a tranny, half of what they took out went right back in and a week later the same tranny would be back in there shop for repair. They had one mechanic there years ago that was damn good at tranny's, he quit and went on his own cause it bothered him that the company was fixing tranny's just enough to get them out the door. I have a neighbor that worked at the shop back years ago and said him self that the problems were only getting fixed enough to get them out the door only to be back a week later.


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

you sure your story wasnt in my town ? :laughing: so close . 

there is only 1 tranny guy in my town that i know and trust. i will tell you who he is. . . . ME . if i got a burnt tranny i get a tested good used but dont like that. been bit 1-2 times. but if i have my choice its brand new crate tranny or nationwide comp that has good products and warrenty. 

there use to be 2 guys here that did them. 1 moved and got diffrent line of work. the other opened his own shop. but i dont knowwhat he is doing as when i need somthin he never answers the phone. so screw it. i now just do it my self.


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## Detroitdan (Aug 15, 2005)

a few years ago I lost OD in my 4l80e, well, it wasn't totally lost, but it would go out after it warmed up. So I took it to the ONLY reliable, respected tranny shop in my state, who everybody swears by. Test drove my truck and told me that "4th gear is blown". I questioned how it could be "blown", as I didn't see how a mechanical failure could work sometimes and not others. They told me I needed a enw transmission, rebuilt w/1yr warranty for $2200, or a new GM w/3yr for $3000. Instead I did some research and learned the problem was an internal hydraulic leak, which I repaired myself with a kit. Even after replacing all my shift solenoids and torque converter clutch solenoid, I was only into the whole job for $440. And I'm not a professional mechanic by any stretch.
So, that story doesn't relate to your in any way, so I'm not sure why I just told it. But whatever. Don't believe everything the tranny shop says. It's not always in their best interest to be honest with you. In my case I don't think the guy was dishonest or trying to (intentionally) sell me something I didn't need. I just think he didn't have enough familiarity with the 4l80es problems. Funny thing is, if I'd had them rebuild it, it most likely wouldn't have found and corrected the problem.


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## bow2no1 (Oct 6, 2008)

secret_weapon;1186244 said:


> Trans was replaced late '09 first time out plowing for losing reverse.
> 
> No Forward, No reverse, nothing but a little noise. I went to put it in park and I could here the park pawl clicking. So something is moving inside. Calling trans shop @ 8am. :realmad:


why change the fluid?
i have 140mi on my trans, i tow a 20' trailer, i plow and sand and still no problembs.
bever changed my fluid. the tranny shop said not to. so i don't and it work just fine


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## bow2no1 (Oct 6, 2008)

Detroitdan;1188855 said:


> a few years ago I lost OD in my 4l80e.


i lost mine once, in the column the wire for the over drive cut out chafed on a clip that holds it. a trans. shop said i blew out my over drive and needed to replace my trans.
after a Internet search. i found these trucks are notorious for having that wire chafe.
10 min fix and i was up and goin.


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## secret_weapon (Jan 24, 2007)

bow2no1;1188935 said:


> why change the fluid?
> i have 140mi on my trans, i tow a 20' trailer, i plow and sand and still no problembs.
> bever changed my fluid. the tranny shop said not to. so i don't and it work just fine


I didn't change the fluid, I just checked the level.


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## kashman (Jan 13, 2004)

secret_weapon;1190950 said:


> I didn't change the fluid, I just checked the level.


where in ohio are you


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## secret_weapon (Jan 24, 2007)

kashman;1190960 said:


> where in ohio are you


Live in Hudson, plow in Solon and Orange


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## Detroitdan (Aug 15, 2005)

bow2no1;1188935 said:


> why change the fluid?
> i have 140mi on my trans, i tow a 20' trailer, i plow and sand and still no problembs.
> bever changed my fluid. the tranny shop said not to. so i don't and it work just fine


Are you serious? You never change your fluid? I suspect the tranny shop probably says that either because they want to sell you a tranny as soon as you break that one. Or, if they told you that recently it was probably because at this point you shouldn't change it because fresh fluid will loosen up all the varnish and deposits that are holding it together.

Not changing your fluid is crazy IMO. I don't think you need to do it as often as the tranny service retailers tell you to, but I think it's best to do it if you want to go high mileage and not have it fail suddenly when you can least afford it to, like during a storm. 140k is pretty darn good for an unmaintained trans, I wouldn't have given it more than 100k-120k. I guess one way of looking at it is to run the component into the ground, if it's going to last that long without maintenance, why bother spending money to make it last longer. Lots of people do that, and when it comes time to invest a couple grand for a tranny or motor into an older work truck, they jsut bail on it and buy something else. But you should at least know that you're on borrowed time with that tranny. Good luck to you.


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## damian (Jan 29, 2009)

success at the local trans shop depends largely on how the trans failed in the first place.automatics fail in many ways,some failures like broken bands and geartrain items are very repairable and usually caused by overload,shockload etc,the trans didnt over heat, contamination is minimal or non existant.some failures, like burned clutches and severely overheated and contaminated units are tough to overhaul properly.pump halves and cases are warped,valve bodies leak past valves and crossleak,springs lose there tension,geartrains need rebushing,parts need upgrades to newest designs,local trans shops just cant economically do it the best way. these trans need to be remanufactured at a place that has valve body machines to check calibration and crossleaks,dynos to test units before shipping,machine shops that bush and bore geartrains and remachine pump halves etc,r&d departments to implement upgrade parts and warranty depts to stand behind them.i hate to sound like a commercial but ive overhauled tranys my whole life and stopped about 5 years ago i just couldnt serve my customers properly,if a trans can be repaired ,we do. if a trans needs an overhaul it gets a jasper unit 3year 100 mi warranty.too many of my plow guys have paid 1800 to 3600 twice instead of 3300 once. just one experienced mechanics opinion.


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## BigLou80 (Feb 25, 2008)

bow2no1;1188935 said:


> why change the fluid?
> i have 140mi on my trans, i tow a 20' trailer, i plow and sand and still no problembs.
> bever changed my fluid. the tranny shop said not to. so i don't and it work just fine


Just promise us all not to complain or bash GM when your transmission sh!ts the bed when you really need to tow or plow. $2,000 for an installed reman transmission buys a whole lot of dex3 and several filters.

I change my fluid and filter every spring and my fluid every fall. Its no harder to change the transmission fluid then it is to change the engine oil no excuse for poor maintenance. What I do may be overkill but I consider it cheap insurance.


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