Ok now that your all expecting something incredible to happen I'll tell ya' what I did today. I was in a pretty crappy mood because I had just gotten home from a funeral at the church for a very loved and respected man who was one of the pioneers and leaders when our church broke off from another one over 40 years ago. I didn't really feel like doing anything that involved interaction with other people but I remembered what someone (I think beaterk20 told me on Pirate) that I should try to change the filter and fluid on my transmission and that might be the cause of my problems that I've been having and the reason that it's been slipping so bad....
So I started as every other project with this truck seems to start, changed into some old clothes and crawled under the beast. I think that whoever put a pan on without a drain plug should be shot but I had no choice so I pulled off the bolts from one side of the pan then loosened the others so I could pry it open a little and let it drain, not to my surprise I wasn't a seasoned veteran as this was my first ATF, Filter and gasket change on the transmission so it went everywhere. Once I got it off I wasn't too pleased to find that the magnet looked like a chia-pet with an metal shaving fro. So I obviously have roasted something internally but I decided to move forward with the change...
The next thing I checked was the filter and not to my surprise it was not just dirty, it was gunked up beyond all belief. Although I had obviously roasted something I thought it might just be shavings and figured that a nice fluid/filter change might be one of the main sources of my problem....
I changed the filter and tried to wipe out all the old ATF (which was really really cloudy and gunky. It also had a funny burnt smell to it when I dipped my finger in and smelled it.) and cleaned off the remains of the old gasket. I was really surprised at how many wires were in the cover, what do they do?
After I got everything put back together and I let my dad torque the bolts up (I like having this new Haynes manual btw) I slowly filled it back up stopping after about 5 Qts. then checked the fluid level. It seemed close so I figured what the heck, I put it into R and backed out off of the lawn and put it into D and slowly went around the block a few times. I came back and checked the level again in P with the truck as level as I could get it, I topped it off and it was good to go. I called my buddy at his shop here in town and he said that he'd take the old ATF off my hands (which I appreciated) so we hopped in and went for a drive across town...
It still needs a gearing change, those 3.08's feel like I might have to get out and push from time to time but overall I did notice a difference. It feels more solid and stays in gear (at least on the flats) and doesn't hunt like it used to from time to time. I still (as always) have to let off for a split second for the tranny to shift but it shifts smoothly and firm. Once I get the correct gears (hopefully soon, I got a PM from a vendor on Pirate since CCOR won't PM me and a few other guys on here back, if your listening please PM me about that quote) I'll have a tranny shop set the TV cable so it'll shift correctly but otherwise I think this has been a well spent $40 on a band aid that will at least help until I can get things squared away. Thanks for reading!
Oh, I almost forgot...how do you all like the new Avatar? I color matched the outside shading to the color on the website so it doesn't have those harsh border lines. I think it came out pretty well except that the truck had so much shine it looks almost fake scaled down on an Avatar.
-Avery
So I started as every other project with this truck seems to start, changed into some old clothes and crawled under the beast. I think that whoever put a pan on without a drain plug should be shot but I had no choice so I pulled off the bolts from one side of the pan then loosened the others so I could pry it open a little and let it drain, not to my surprise I wasn't a seasoned veteran as this was my first ATF, Filter and gasket change on the transmission so it went everywhere. Once I got it off I wasn't too pleased to find that the magnet looked like a chia-pet with an metal shaving fro. So I obviously have roasted something internally but I decided to move forward with the change...
The next thing I checked was the filter and not to my surprise it was not just dirty, it was gunked up beyond all belief. Although I had obviously roasted something I thought it might just be shavings and figured that a nice fluid/filter change might be one of the main sources of my problem....
I changed the filter and tried to wipe out all the old ATF (which was really really cloudy and gunky. It also had a funny burnt smell to it when I dipped my finger in and smelled it.) and cleaned off the remains of the old gasket. I was really surprised at how many wires were in the cover, what do they do?
After I got everything put back together and I let my dad torque the bolts up (I like having this new Haynes manual btw) I slowly filled it back up stopping after about 5 Qts. then checked the fluid level. It seemed close so I figured what the heck, I put it into R and backed out off of the lawn and put it into D and slowly went around the block a few times. I came back and checked the level again in P with the truck as level as I could get it, I topped it off and it was good to go. I called my buddy at his shop here in town and he said that he'd take the old ATF off my hands (which I appreciated) so we hopped in and went for a drive across town...
It still needs a gearing change, those 3.08's feel like I might have to get out and push from time to time but overall I did notice a difference. It feels more solid and stays in gear (at least on the flats) and doesn't hunt like it used to from time to time. I still (as always) have to let off for a split second for the tranny to shift but it shifts smoothly and firm. Once I get the correct gears (hopefully soon, I got a PM from a vendor on Pirate since CCOR won't PM me and a few other guys on here back, if your listening please PM me about that quote) I'll have a tranny shop set the TV cable so it'll shift correctly but otherwise I think this has been a well spent $40 on a band aid that will at least help until I can get things squared away. Thanks for reading!
Oh, I almost forgot...how do you all like the new Avatar? I color matched the outside shading to the color on the website so it doesn't have those harsh border lines. I think it came out pretty well except that the truck had so much shine it looks almost fake scaled down on an Avatar.
-Avery
With a 4" lift, that thing STILL wouldn't even be near stock height...
