Stranded in Des Moines with Transmission Prpblems

[cadillackid]

if they took the trans out what did they find? lots of clutch material in the pan? these things are worse than 4L60E's about a little tiny piece of dirt getting into a solenoid or a servo bleed and cause the trans to give you erratic shifting..



if they found snap-ring fragments or lots of clutch material then id believe it needs a full rebuild.. but if not and its not slipping in the lower gears but is never attempting to grab.. then id be inclined to think it needs a good high pressure flush out, re-seal and get it to new york where you csn then tear it apart and rebuild it...



when you saty it doesnt "grab in lower gears" is it just revving and slowly moving the bus? does reverse work but forward does not?



as for sleeping in the bus, the issue is that the engine needs supported while the trans is out... so they cannot roll the bus easily out to the back of the lot where you could stay in it.. it likely must stay in their garage..



for several reasons they cant let you stay in your vehicle in the garage.. liability, possibly laws, insurance, and also their level of trust.. after all if you are inside their garage all night they dont know if you might steal their stuff..



-Christopher

[cadillackid]

im going to be passing through I-80 late this week assukming the bus im driving doesnt die before it gets there.. on my way to Ohio from oregon... I dont leave till tomorrow(fly to portland or) then wont likely start east from portland till weds early AM.. not sure when i'll reach Iowa.. (ill be taking it real easy in the rockies with a 40 year old bus).. I also have zero sleeping provisions.. ill be staying in hotels each night of my trip back.. but its a possibility if you are still in need of motion when I get near that area on I-80.

-Christopher

[Huskerbus]

So my brother has a C6 mated to a 7.3. And the E40D is mated to a gasser 351W which won’t be compatible. So I am of no help.

[firebuild]

Sorry for my radio silence - I had no internet for a while. Thanks, everyone, for all the help. Just having people to calm me down and start me asking questions / looking for options helped more than I can say. I was freaking out.

If I am quoting them correctly, the shop said they put in 5 quarts of fluid, despite my having filled it about 100 miles ago, and when they put in the trans fluid they almost immediately saw black clutch fluid in it. They also did find clutch material. It seems there really is no saving it. I pursued a bunch of options but everything was far enough away that, with the expense of shipping, the costs were almost the same. It was clear that the best option was to go for the rebuild instead of taking a chance on something unknown. But I'm beyond broke. Luckily my brother is not and he agreed to pay for the transmission. But the shop 100 percent refused to let me sleep in the bus - liability issues.

I am at the Motel 6 for now. The shop said a week is the longest it could take and if it's quicker my funds may last long enough here for them to get the work done. If not... I guess I'll cross that bridge when/if it comes.

Again, thank you all for putting in such a heroic effort. I can't tell you how much that means to me.

[EastCoastCB]

E4OD Transmission Heavy Duty Diesel 2WD

Seems they want more to rebuild it than most professional tranny rebuild companies. You could probably get a beefed up version for what they are charging.

[cadillackid]

yeah if it was run low on fluid it was done.. that causes the line pressure to drop and slips the clutches till they burn up.. although shame on an electronic trans to burn up from low fluid.. they are supposed to go into limp mode and run only reverse and second gear or go into 'N' when the line pressure is low.. I guess ford is different than GM and allison..
glad to hear you are going to get it back on the road!!!

-Christopher

[firebuild]

I don't know how it could have been running on low fluid that did it, though; I checked the fluid and it was still in range, just on the lower side. So I added 2.5 quarts and it was full (and yes I was checking it while hot). This all happened 100 miles later. To me, it seems like the low fluid was a result of something being off, not the cause of the problem.

Also, the work IS being done by a professional rebuild shop, not the shop I was towed in to.

[cadillackid]

sorry, my point was simply the low fluid is what likely caused the clutches to go out the rest of the way.. reality is a transmission doesnt just get low without issues.. the fluid either is leaking into the cooling loops, on the ground, or perhaps another issue existed, ie lockup failed(common on E4OD).. causing the fluid to boil out the transmission vent..



I wasnt trying to imply that you simply ran it out of fluid and destroyed it.. point was thats why it probably finally stopped was the fluid was so low.. 2.5 qts is enough to drop line pressure.. but something was already wrong for it to be that low in the first place..



-Christopher

[Mr4btTahoe]

Id definitely be looking into why it was low on fluid. If it wasn't leaking externally, then it is likely that it could be leaking into the cooling system (if the trans cooler is still in the radiator). Check coolant and look for a milkshake.


Would hate for you to have the transmission rebuilt... hook it back up to a leaking cooler and have it fail again.

[firebuild]

Ah ok, that makes sense. Of course I'm going over everything in my mind, trying to figure out how exactly I broke it LOL. I'm generally great at blaming myself. And I did feel something was off before I left. The "overdrive off" light was flashing very sporadically, and when I turned the bus off then on again it would go out. I took it to 2 different transmission shops, who put it on the computer and both said nothing was wrong, though I know it's pretty hard to scan such an old vehicle. Both said they had the right equipment to do it, but something had to have been wrong. Googling around, doing to some research, and talking to a mechanically inclined friend, I made a guess that it was the sensor on the rear differential and replaced it. That actually did stop the flashing overdrive light, but I still felt like the shifting was off on the lower gears, that it seemed excessively noisy. Both transmission shops dismissed my concerns, telling me I just wasn't used to diesel, and diesel is noisy. Looking back, I think they were both just too busy to really check it thoroughly in the time frame I had available, and they both basically shined me on.

Hindsight being 20/20, I think I took the worst possible cross-country route. I wish map apps would give you more info on hazards and elevation and things like that. I did a little bit of checking ahead of time but they all seemed to have their steep parts. I just went with the fastest, and that pushed me to 12,000 foot elevation coming over Vail pass in Colorado. I still can't really figure out what route would have been best because you have to cross the Rockies either way, but there had to have been a better option for a 27 year old vehicle.

[firebuild]

Originally Posted by Mr4btTahoe

Id definitely be looking into why it was low on fluid. If it wasn't leaking externally, then it is likely that it could be leaking into the cooling system (if the trans cooler is still in the radiator). Check coolant and look for a milkshake.


Would hate for you to have the transmission rebuilt... hook it back up to a leaking cooler and have it fail again.

Thanks, I will check that for sure! It was not leaking externally at all.

[cadillackid]

you mustve went though rt 70? rt 80 I thought only takes you to about 7000 feet.. I remember going WAY up On I-70 ..



im about to be doing what you are doing, only im doing it in a 40 year old vehicle ive never even seen before..... im plaaning to run across I-80 as opposed to going down to 70.. parts of wyoming are the highest there...



-Christopher

[Mr4btTahoe]

What ever route you take, I would most definitely install a trans temp gauge this time. They are cheap and easy to install using a pressure test port extension.

[Robzdream]

i just saw this, but I do live in Des Moines. Perhaps you could send me a cell number and we could figure out if there is any way I can help...that would be along the lines of helping you get out of town when the tranny is done, things like dinner with my wife and me tomorrow or perhaps some thoughts on how to get you out of the motel.

[Gdog 5651]

E4od is the biggest pos since the 200r4 make sure repair shop knows why the trans went low on fluid it is imperative that they know or recurring failure is a surety make sure it is not a processor failure when Jasper Remans an E4OD they send you a processor and if you don't use it they void your warranty after using many local rebuilders over the years Jasper is the only E4OD builders I could use for a E4OD and give a warranty and at the price these things cost a Warranty is a must I have used local guys for every other trans project but the E4OD is a horse of a different color. Gene

[cabinover]

Not sure how adept your local Ford dealer is but any flashing OD light is a problem. Mine go straight to Ford. The one that always gives me problems is an F-550 with full sander and 10' plow. Can't afford to have that go down in the winter.

Not saying trans shops are bad but it seems you found a couple unfortunately.

Hope when all is said and done you're on the road again and smiling pal. Remember...this too shall pass.

[simplylivin]

We had a similar problem. We took a 94 7.3 short bus all around the US and Canada. We had similar
Problems in California, overdrive light was flashing. And Hard lower gear shifting. We clean all the electrical connections, replaced sensors and no solution. Ended up in a last ditch effort just getting it serviced and having the fluid flushed and haven’t had a problem since! I don’t know if that helps, sounds like yours might be more serious, but I was crazy surprised that replacing the fluid (which didn’t smell burnt or have bad coloring) and cleaning some electrical connections did the trick!

Good luck on your endeavors

[firebuild]

Originally Posted by simplylivin

We had a similar problem. We took a 94 7.3 short bus all around the US and Canada. We had similar
Problems in California, overdrive light was flashing. And Hard lower gear shifting. We clean all the electrical connections, replaced sensors and no solution. Ended up in a last ditch effort just getting it serviced and having the fluid flushed and haven’t had a problem since! I don’t know if that helps, sounds like yours might be more serious, but I was crazy surprised that replacing the fluid (which didn’t smell burnt or have bad coloring) and cleaning some electrical connections did the trick!

Thanks, but unfortunately I got well past that point .

[firebuild]

Well, I got the bus back a little early - Saturday instead of Monday - and hit the road right away. I pretty much drove straight through to a friend's house in NY, crashed for the night, then arrived in MA the next day. And here I am.

Thanks again, everyone, for the assistance. I wish I'd gotten a few of these posts before I left, because though the transmission has a good warranty on it, I'm never going to be able to collect on it now that I'm a thousand miles away. Hopefully it won't be necessary.

I had no problems of any kind after leaving Des Moines, after dealing with at least one major crisis per day prior to that. I wrote about the adventure throughout, so if you want to learn from my mistakes give my blog a read.

[magnakansas]

That you made it with out any more problems......

william