Lost my Transmission Today!

[warmblood58]

Well, my new to me '94 IDI e350 did great driving from Phoenix to Vegas and and back to northern California - today, with no warning, I pulled off a highway and immediately lost the transmission - no power att the wheels in any gear and this was not preceeded by any slipping, etc. Weird! I did notice that it appeared to be way under capacity (e40) on the dipstick which makes me wonder if this truck left Phoenix with very little transmission fluid and consumed it along the way somehow (can they do this?) This trans has about 160,000 on it - any ideas about what happened? Dipstick did not smell like burnt over heated atf???? Very bummed as I am not in the mood to drop a bunch of money on a rebuilt trans . . . any educated thoughts on this?

 

[GOOSE]

I am sorry to hear your news. I am not versed well enough to offer you an idea of what happened to the innards of your trans but I can relate pretty good. My first diesel, 1992 F250 4x4 E4OD, I bought for $2000 and put a $2400 trans in it a mere 2 weeks later. My 2002 Excursion with 58,000 miles on it when bought spent 19 days at the Ford dealership undergoing trans work under their 30 warranty. Yeah, they weren't pleased with this, tech couldn't find anything with it using diagnostic tools but I could hear it shuttering. I insisted on an oil analysis that proved my point valid. I am certain the PO had a programmer in it and roasted the trans.

I'm not 100% sure yours isn't salvageable, but who knows for how long? 160,000 miles isn't too bad if it's the original trans. Good luck in fixing 'er.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

she won't go into reverse either?
when shifting into manual 1 or 2 you still get nothing?
what happened when you topped the trans back up? still nothing either? how much did it take to read full again?

 

[warmblood58]

she won't go into reverse either?
when shifting into manual 1 or 2 you still get nothing?
what happened when you topped the trans back up? still nothing either? how much did it take to read full again?

added 3/4 quart and barely got a reading! Indie said adding more would not make a difference - is this true? Now I am wondering if I drove a long distance with very little atf or am i consuming it somehow???

 

[DragRag]

Fill the trans till you are in the safe zone, go from there. I over heated my trans once, I puked 8 quarts. I added the fluid backin, added a cooler, and it had no further problems. You need fluid for It to work, go from there.....

 

[warmblood58]

Thanks, will add more atf but no gears are highly suspicious - wonder what happened and now wondering how full trans was when I took off from Phoenix to Northern California!

 

[icanfixall]

If any auto trans runs out of fluid it will make some in gear and out of gear feelings. You need enough fluid to the full mark too. There is no way the fluid could be sucked into the engine and burned off like a C6 trans can. The E4OD does not have any vacuum lines to make it operate. It has to leak out or if you have a rad cooler it can leak into the coolant thru that if there is a broken line in the bottom rad tank. Check you coolant overflow tank for atf..

 

[warmblood58]

If any auto trans runs out of fluid it will make some in gear and out of gear feelings. You need enough fluid to the full mark too. There is no way the fluid could be sucked into the engine and burned off like a C6 trans can. The E4OD does not have any vacuum lines to make it operate. It has to leak out or if you have a rad cooler it can leak into the coolant thru that if there is a broken line in the bottom rad tank. Check you coolant overflow tank for atf..

great response, thank you!

 

[trackspeeder]

Well, my new to me '94 IDI e350 did great driving from Phoenix to Vegas and and back to northern California - today, with no warning, I pulled off a highway and immediately lost the transmission - no power att the wheels in any gear and this was not preceeded by any slipping, etc. Weird! I did notice that it appeared to be way under capacity (e40) on the dipstick which makes me wonder if this truck left Phoenix with very little transmission fluid and consumed it along the way somehow (can they do this?) This trans has about 160,000 on it - any ideas about what happened? Dipstick did not smell like burnt over heated atf???? Very bummed as I am not in the mood to drop a bunch of money on a rebuilt trans . . . any educated thoughts on this?

Bad news, the tranny is done. You will need to open it up to find the carnage.

Any major fluid loss will be external. Failed seals, cooler or lines. If there is no sign of leakage the fluid was low to start with.

No reaction in any gear is either converter input shaft or pump failure.

 

[international]

I had a converter explode when starting out at a light. Truck wouldnt move in any gear. Couldn't tell it was bad by looking at it or draining it. You might want to try a used converter first. Could save you $2500.00.

 

[DragRag]

I can tell you that when I overheated my trans it dumped 8 quarts of fluid on the ground out the burp tub on the flex plate cover. There was no sign of any fluid on the bottom of my truck. There was fluid that I dumped on the road miles back though. I coasted down a long hill, when I hit the bottom and I have it throttle, no forward gears at all. Once I put the 8 quarts back in it, it worked like it did before. I put a trans cooler on it when I got home. You could have a bad trans, you could have a bad torque converter, or you could have low fluid. I know what's cheapest to check first though, and if there is no fluid on the stick I would be dumping in some ATF to find out. Just my .02.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

agreed.never condemn anything until fully inspected/tested with the cheap/free things first.

 

[chris142]

Plan on replacing any trans coolers including the Radiator. Often they can't be flushed and you don't want any stray pieces making it into your fresh trans.

yes it's more expensive but most likely the best choice.

 

[DragRag]

Avoid replacing the radiator by not running the trans cooler lines through it anymore if indeed you put a new trans in it.

 

[warmblood58]

Damn! Added 9 quarts of atf today . . . . no movement in any gears. There was no debris in pan other than the usual very fine particles. Van was parked with the nose down a few degrees, could this make a difference? Total capacity is supposed to be 24.6 pints or 12 quarts roughly . . . . . .