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Possible precarious trans situation: Seeking logical opinions:

vandelay industries

vandelay industries

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i'll try to be as concise as possible, but i may have a transmission problem:

1) It all started as i was in the process of flushing the cooling system----this took about a week as i really wanted to get it clean---so i drove with the prestone super flush for about a week.

2) Upon draining and refilling with water, i discovered one of the trans cooler lines leaking--- lots of water onto the front crossmember. i originally thought it was the lower radiator hose, but no, it's the line on the bottom, closest to the tie rod, which is i believe, the outlet/ trans-to-radiator line?

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btw, it's a 4.3 v-6 and i'm using an electric fan. This is why there is a mile of space between the engine and radiator. And more on that later.

3) i do not know how long water has been getting into the trans or if it HAS been getting into the trans? But apparently the trans cooler is leaking? i believe the trans line leak is recent, but have no idea how long the trans cooler has been leaking.

4) But the trans still seems to work just fine.

5) So, i'm thinking, since the trans is 34 years old and could probably use a freshening up/replacement anyways. (never been rebuilt as far as i know) IF i were to just change the fluid/flush the transmission (could use one of these as well), then if i keep driving it, then i wouldn't really mess it up anymore, if in fact the transmission is already screwed?

6) If the transmission, IS NOT hosed, then i should just keep driving it after flushing and changing fluid?

What do you think is the best course of action?
 
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First, clean up your spaghetti wire.
Second, you have a bent pulley.
Sorry, no help on the tranny.
That is all. :D
 
Friendly advice and smartass remarks? Yes, that's part of the service provided. Gotta take the good with the bad. :deal:
 
I think it all comes down to how much money do you want to put into it?

If it were mine and I was keeping it,
1) I would run the transmission as is after changing the fluid and seeing if there is in fact any water/coolant in it.
2) Replace/repair the radiator, since you will have to do this regardless if you are keeping the rig.

If you are seeing coolant on the outside, I bet it's just where the line goes in has cracked on the radiator and the line itself for the transmission fluid isn't cracked. Otherwise you would see trans fluid in your radiator fluid when you changed it, or trans fluid on the cross member as well.

Just my 2 cents.
 
What does the transmission oil look like?
Post a picture of it.
Water will make it look like strawberry milkshake. It just depends on the color of the oil as to what shade of red or brown.

If it has gotten coolant in it, then you can make a decision then. No sense in jumping to a decision until you know what the oil is/was like...


And yes, we love to be smart-ass around here, but I have found that most do it in a friendly mindset, even if it is showing our own shortcomings.....

Quite a brotherhood here!!
 
Hold on I'm confused. You make it sound like the trans cooler line is leaking water? And you also talk about not knowing how long water has been getting into the trans.
 
He stated that he's minute if it has been getting water in it.
That's why I said show us the oil.
The radiator can leak coolant at the cooler without putting it into the trans.
 
In my experience when coolant or water from the radiator enters the transmission via a ruptured cooler,(or being submerged off road!)--you know it almost immediately...one symptom is steam belching out of the transmission breather and the dipstick tube,and there will likely be some immediately noticed shifting issues,slippage,etc..also as noted fluid will be milky pink and past the full mark in most cases..

Usually since the cooler inside the radiator is under more pressure than the radiator and coolant has,its not easy for the coolant to get into the transmission all that easily or quickly--it has to be driven that way awhile...
I've seen a few transmissions that were in flood cars that survived after being driven a ways before they got flushed out and fresh fluid installed..anti-freeze does a number on clutches and seals in short order unfortunately though..
 
If the trans has been operating with water in the fluid it is not long for the world. You can try a flush and keep your fingers crossed but if you are keeping the truck start saving for a trans.
 
Almost no way the trans line is leaking water. You're just reading the drip trail wrong or that line isnt actually the trans cooler line. A little water will mess up the oil, but it will still clearly be oil. If the ATF has so much water it looks like water, the trans stopped working long before. Plus, that much water would have displaced so much oil, the ATF mess would be clearly visible somewhere.
 
rampage said:
First, clean up your spaghetti wire.
Second, you have a bent pulley.
Sorry, no help on the tranny.
That is all. :D
Click to expand...

vandelay industries said:
i paid $25 for this?
Click to expand...

rampage said:
Friendly advice and smartass remarks? Yes, that's part of the service provided. Gotta take the good with the bad. :deal:
Click to expand...

:D:D

If you have water coming from a trans line.....You have a problem.
Are you sure it's not leaking from the water pump and landing on the trans line/ cross member?
 
Gotcha, I'm assuming water leak running down trans cooler line and dripping off of it. You will know very soon whether trans has some water in it or not.
 
You can tell the condition of the oil by just pulling the dipstick out.
Easier than dropping the pan just to check the oil condition.

But.....
 
Well, Prestone super flush is a moderately weak acid. Basically Citric acid I think. It works by eating away deposits and other things that acid can eat.
Since the instructions say run the engine for 10 minutes after it reaches operating temp, then drain it out, and you left the stuff in for week and 10 minutes.........

Its possible it ate something important, like part of the radiator.
The stuff they sell these days is not like it used to be. Some of the cleaners I used to use would not have stayed in there a day, let alone a week. After a few hours, your radiator would have been a pile of green sludge.
After using some of the older cleaners, you had to flush the cleaner out and run some neutralizing chemical in there for a while to stop the cleaning.
With the radiator cool, you might take a finger and gently thump some of the fins and tank if its metal. If water starts dripping, then its time for a new radiator.
BTW, the transmission cooler inside the radiator has fittings that come out of the tank. At that point, there are two seals. The flare or whatever that seals the line to the cooler, and the washer or O-ring that seals the fitting to the radiator tank to keep the coolant from coming out around the transmission line fitting.
There is a nut that holds the cooler fitting tight to the tank, and I suspect that it is either loose, or the gasket/O-ring under that nut is bad. That nut is between the transmission line fitting and the radiator tank.
Look close with a light, and you will see it. The upper one is probably easier to see.
 
if you have water leaking out of your trans lines you have some pretty serious issues. I concur with some of the other assesments given, you need to check the trans fluid and the rad condition.
 
In my experience, even a small amount of water will take the faces of the clutch packs off in a fairly immediate fashion. So when you drop that pan, if there is coolant in there, you might be hosed. If it were mine, I would empty the pan, put it back on, fill with fluid, run the engine a minute or so and dump the fluid again. Maybe do that a couple times to really flush the transmission. Maybe even use the transmission cooling lines to pump the old fluid out while sucking in fresh fluid. Then try it. If the transmission works as it should, then you dodged a bullet. If it doesn't, well, you were pulling that transmission out anyways, it didn't hurt anything to try.
 
I'm with Furdum. If it was in the system so long it ate away seals and other soft parts, the minimum is going to be a radiator and a full transmission flush. Hopefully the engine didn't get anything seal wise ate away as well.
 
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