Transmission shop near Yakima? (or Puyallup)

[Cubey]

Ugh the kickdown lever on the IP is to tilted back for whatever reason vs my F250 that the adjustment screw has to be almost all of the way in. No wonder I never had kickdown on the old trans. Still didn't on the new. I think I have it adjusted for kickdown now but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see. At least it should be close to correct now, so maybe only a few stops to adjust will be required before I get out of town on the highway tomorrow.

Trans shop guy said the temp gauge should be on the return line after the cooler, not before. Stop and go with just the cooler, reading the hot line was 220ish max with stop and go.

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The shop basically doesn't want to flush the radiator, the RV would block everything inside the shop, they don't want to risk the radiator failing internally, etc. Insists that the aftermarket cooler is plenty. I guess we will see. I guess I'll move the temp sensor to the return line later on.

 

[Cubey]

Well, the pesky drain bolt on the aftermarket pan is seeping (again/still). First I tried snugging it up but then it began leaking badly. So then I tried putting a new nylon gasket, but it's still slowly seeping.

I think I know what the problem is though, the magnetic drain plug isn't flanged.

The one on the left is a standard drain plug and the one on the right is magnetic. It looks like, based on the old used nylon gasket that the trans shop didn't even replace, that it's getting smashed in around the hex head instead of sealing around the edge of the gasket, so I'll go get a regular drain bolt tomorrow morning ($3) and swap it out with another new gasket.

Oh and when I pulled the magnetic plug out to change the gasket earlier, it was filthy, like they didn't even clean it off!! Did they even clean the inside of the pan if they didn't clean the magnetic drain bolt?! I can't imagine that much crap was from "break in" from only ~20 miles so far. I hope that isn't foreshadowing shoddy workmanship and perhaps bad cooling advice ....

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I might grab some of these rubber + metal gaskets too:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NOE7041093

 

[Cubey]

Actually, I think I got it sealed up. I had an odd, slightly larger diameter and slightly thicker bright white nylon gasket that looks like the one in the aftermarket pan's stock photos. I swapped it out and I think that solved the seeping. I'll check it in the morning. I need to add back about 8-16oz of fluid for what got lost pulling the plug twice. I stuck in a gloved finger to stop the fluid while I swapped the washer so it was minimal loss. I will keep a close watch on the drain plug still just in case.

I think when I service it in about 2500-3000 miles (pan drain, pan dropped) I'll put on that $150 Summit Racing aluminum pan. Maybe it won't be so leak prone from it's drain bolt, and will also provide better cooling: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sme-1003

 

[gnathv]

You’re a DIY type. I’d rather know how hot my transmission got rather than the cooler output.
I think your air to air cooler alone will be problematic in stop and go as well as long slow grades.

KOOLER KLEEN Transmission Cooler & Line Flush with NEW 2-in-1 Fitting - Lubegard

www.lubegard.com

 

[gnathv]

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[Booyah45828]

You can try it, but it's not going to work. If you're hitting 220 stop and go, you'll be through the roof the first long grade. It's easier to fix it now, and fix it right, then it will be to find a case of atf along snoqualmie pass after you puke the trans contents along the interstate.

 

[Booyah45828]

Converter out/before the cooler is where I'd have it, as that will be the hottest point of your transmission. I wouldn't put it after the cooler, I really don't know why they'd tell you that, or what the point/benefit of seeing that would be. The only other place I'd consider would be a sender in the pan, as that will give you kind of the average temp of the transmission.

 

[Nero]

Yeah frankly I'm a little disappointed in how that trans shop treated this job. He's always been good on the other transmissions I've had him build, but he didn't want to flush the rad cooler without actually saying that. Plus he didn't want to adjust the kick down, but he's done it for me in the past.

 

[Cubey]

You’re a DIY type. I’d rather know how hot my transmission got rather than the cooler output.
I think your air to air cooler alone will be problematic in stop and go as well as long slow grades.

KOOLER KLEEN Transmission Cooler & Line Flush with NEW 2-in-1 Fitting - Lubegard

www.lubegard.com

That seems to only be for cooler lines, not coolers themselves. Yeah it says "cooler & line" but then it only talks about the lines. Hmm. My concern is if the trans dies in 300 miles, after I used that product and hook back the radiator, that he blames me for the failure and refuses to honor the warranty.

 

[Cubey]

You can try it, but it's not going to work. If you're hitting 220 stop and go, you'll be through the roof the first long grade. It's easier to fix it now, and fix it right, then it will be to find a case of atf along snoqualmie pass after you puke the trans contents along the interstate.

The problem is getting it done. Few people want to touch this RV because of it's size.

The plan is actually to go get storage stuff, then come back down here in a few weeks (~300 miles) for the shop to do whatever it is they wanna do. I'm guessing eyeball it and not actually touch it? So, if the trans does take a total dump, the shop would be on the hook for rebuilding it again... I guess anyway. The guy is so squirrely about it, it's worrisome.

The receipt says it must be returned in 30 days for inspection to have warranty, so I guess I'll return during the week of June 19-25 so they have a chance to look at it before the 30 days are up. The receipt is dated 5/25.

One thought I had about the high temp stop and go was the kickdown not being adjusted right at all before/not working. That controls line pressure also, from what I understand, so maybe it was making it run warmer. It was in motion that it as getting warmer, not idling. He said in no uncertain terms that not having that working will burn it up, then left it to me to adjust because he couldn't be bothered I guess.

 

[Cubey]

I sent the guy an email to get written confirmation that bypassing the radiator and only using the aftermarket cooler is fine. Who knows if he'll even reply though. I'm sure he knows I'm getting him in writing saying that because I'm covering my butt in case it burns up. I mean, if he means it and believes that to be true, he'll reply and say yes. I did also mention in the email that I have adjusted the kickdown, which I have, so he can't exactly blame me for that. I mean I guess he can even if that isn't the cause.

 

[Jesus Freak]

I've never had a positive experience with a "mechanic shop". I'll leave it at that, and your experience only confirms my thoughts/experience. I do everything myself, even tires and eventually injection pumps. But I had a thought about your tranny temp sensor, put one in front of and one behind the cooler. This would give you yet another gauge and a way to monitor how cool the cooler gets it and how hot the transmission makes it. It's genius!

 

[Booyah45828]

IDK. I'm a mechanic and what other guys/shops do sometimes is baffling. If cubey was complaining about costs and stuff while he was there, the guy is probably hesitant on flushing it because a possible radiator repair/replacement isn't cheap. And if stuff goes wrong, it's often times difficult to explain to the customer how they're 2k job is now 3k+, and it's not my fault that it happened. **** can hit the fan quick, especially on older vehicles and people with tight budgets.

That can stuff works for lines only I believe. You can run it through the cooler, and flush the loose stuff out, but if it's packed full of crap it won't do anything. I've never really tried it in a cooler, as we have a pressure machine that does that, but I don't imagine it will work very well in one, at least in a plate type unit. A tube and fin type unit it might work well in. Our local trans shop gives us a can of that with every rebuild. I've got em on the shelf from jobs we used the machine on and didn't use the can. The machine is really the only way to go as it flushes gallons and gallons of atf through it until it's clean. I'm pretty confident in the cooler's cleanliness after we're done with it.

 

[Nero]

What's odd is I've been at their shop and watch them flush the in-radiator coolant a bunch of times with no issues. I think it was just a cop out this time.
I did fill the cooler with brake clean at least four times and blew it out with my compressor. It may be fine as is now, but my concern would be the warranty. Hopefully Cubey gets a response soon so he can get to Tacoma before traffic gets super gross.

But as for the cooler thing, even at my shop if we have any doubts about any type of cooler, we either replace it or have the customer sign a waiver. Currently having that argument with a customer about a charge air cooler that's been sitting outside in the rain for the last two years... And he's getting a brand new engine.

 

[Cubey]

What's odd is I've been at their shop and watch them flush the in-radiator coolant a bunch of times with no issues. I think it was just a cop out this time.
I did fill the cooler with brake clean at least four times and blew it out with my compressor. It may be fine as is now, but my concern would be the warranty. Hopefully Cubey gets a response soon so he can get to Tacoma before traffic gets super gross.

But as for the cooler thing, even at my shop if we have any doubts about any type of cooler, we either replace it or have the customer sign a waiver. Currently having that argument with a customer about a charge air cooler that's been sitting outside in the rain for the last two years... And he's getting a brand new engine.

I wouldn't be going all the way to Tacoma today so it's fine. Gonna try to get to a cheap campground before Olympia either today or in the morning.

I bought a stock flanged drain plug a rubber/metal gasket. It's still very slightly seeping so maybe the pan is just crap. But maybe the ATF will swell that inner rubber part and might make it seal in a few days. It has a metal ring around the outside so it should contain everything if the seal swells up.

I put in about 8oz of fresh ATF to replace the lost from drain plug removal.

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