 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Ford / Ford Trucks / November 2007Explorer transmission leak
I have a 92 Ford Explorer 4 door 4x4. The problem is that every year I take a trip to upstate New York pulling a boat and on the way up the transmission leaks when it gets hot. There are 2 transmission coolers on this truck but whenever I get to the hilly part of the drive the transmission starts leaking. This year was the first time pulling the boat so that could be the cause but I think the cause could also be from pulling a camping trailer that is probably at or over the capacity of this truck. When I pulled that trailer was when I first noticed a leak near the front of the transmission so I was thinking that maybe the strain blew a seal in the transmission. Well this year when I was going upstate when I got to a hilly section the truck started smoking quite a bit. I pulled over thinking maybe I blew a head gasket but I noticed that there was a steady stream of fluid coming out the transmission. The fluid was getting on the exhaust and causing the smoking. Well I think that if I replace the seal the leak should stop but my dad thinks that the leak is because the fluid is boiling and that just replacing the seal would not fix the problem. So I was just wondering what everyone's opinion on this issue is. Thanks, James. if it only leaks when yout towing ,your dad may be right. http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm On Nov 1, 10:41 pm, ds...@webtv.net wrote: > if it only leaks when yout towing ,your dad may be right. > > http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm Yeah, I am beginning to think that my dad may be right as well. The transmission is perfect under normal driving and under light load, it doesn't leak a drop, not even on long trips. It only starts to leak when pulling the camping trailer and towing on long persistent hills. Also I forgot to mention that the transmission is fairly new, about 3 years. So you are probably right, then replacing the seal would just be a waste of time. So if that is the case do you have any suggestions on keeping the transmission cool? I already have 2 transmission coolers installed. Or when it starts to leak should I just pull over and let it cool off and be sure to carry an extra bottle of transmission fluid? Thanks, James. >On Nov 1, 10:41 pm, ds...@webtv.net wrote: >> if it only leaks when yout towing ,your dad may be right. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >just pull over and let it cool off and be sure to carry an extra >bottle of transmission fluid? Thanks, James. First, carrying extra fluid is not the solution because because tranny is aging quicker by getting hot. A couple of suggestions here. First increase cooling capacity in the form of better forced airflow thru radiator stack. Stock clutch fan settings tend to be pretty conservative to limit niose at the expense of cooling capacity and ram air alone is not enough to cool at times especially towing. You can adjust/tweak engagement temps of clutch if you want via info in link below. If you do not hear your cooling fan working hard before it starts dumping oil, this is likely your problem. Also with aux cooler, you are supposed to route it from tranny to radiator tank then from tank to aux cooler them back to tranny, make sure it is hooked up this way and you are not skipping radiator tank either. Finailly, you need to maybe look at your axle ratio (you may need to go deeper for your tires size/engine/load combo). Some are pretty tall and this forces the torque converter to ride the stall a lot when pulling hard and this is a very big heat generator. When you are pulling hard you want to be ABOVE 2500 RPM or so to be fully clear of stall and also do not use OD towing and do not be afraid to downshift and slow down a bit on hills and no need to WOT climbing hills as hill top will still be there when you get there and if you WOT a lot towing then you have final drive ratio issues mentioned above. If you have a tach, a good climbing speed when downshifting is 3000 to 3500 RPM. Set your RPM not road speed on really hard pulls. Fan adjustment link http://forum.snoman.com/viewtopic.php?t=79 ----------------- TheSnoMan.com > >On Nov 1, 10:41 pm, ds...@webtv.net wrote: > >> if it only leaks when yout towing ,your dad may be right. [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > ----------------- > TheSnoMan.com Thanks for your help. I checked my owners manual and the final drive ratio for the car is 3.27. I am not really sure of the ratios so I was wondering if this is a good ratio for towing? Also I was wondering if you knew how hard it is to install a transmission temperature guage because I was thinking of doing that just to keep an eye on things. James >Thanks for your help. I checked my owners manual and the final drive >ratio for the car is 3.27. I am not really sure of the ratios so I >was wondering if this is a good ratio for towing? Also I was >wondering if you knew how hard it is to install a transmission >temperature guage because I was thinking of doing that just to keep an >eye on things. James That is a poor axle ratio for towing any kind of weight regardless of OEM rating. a 3.55 would even be marginal but better. Realistically you want a 3.73 at least here. That tall ratio means that you are doing about 2200 RPM in drive and 1600 in OD at 65 MPH towing and really straining tranny. RPM may actaull show higher towing because of riding converter stall making heat that is frying tranny, Exapmle, if you had a 3.73 ratio, at 65 you would be turning about 2600 RPM in drive and clear of stall AND tranny would have to handle less torque to deleiver same effort to rear wheels which means more reserve power and cooler running tranny. In your current setup you need to down shift on noticable grade to second to cool tranny off by getting it off stall. On temp gage, You could install a tee in line outbound from tranny and insert a sensor in it for gage on remove pan and braze in a adaptor to install a probe there. You want 1800 to 200 normally with 220 bing limit on hills if you want long life. BTW, do change your fluid now because it has degraded from this heat. ----------------- TheSnoMan.com > >Thanks for your help. I checked my owners manual and the final drive > >ratio for the car is 3.27. I am not really sure of the ratios so I [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > ----------------- > TheSnoMan.com Thanks. But is it possible that since it is a different transmission the internal gear ratios are different? Or maybe the previous owner who installed the transmission coolers and the hitch changed the final drive gear? Today I did test and at 55 mph in overdrive without a trailer the rpms were 1700, and in drive the rpms were 2500. That's good, right? Also based on the way you were describing it I should be using the gear shifter to force downshifts if there is a big hill, right? When I went upstate I never shifted the transmission, I let it do all the shifting and maybe that's why it generated so much heat. So next time I pull a trailer I will keep an eye on my rpms and shift if necessary. I should keep the rpms over 2500 as much as possible to reduce stall, right? James >Thanks. But is it possible that since it is a different transmission >the internal gear ratios are different? Or maybe the previous owner [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >if necessary. I should keep the rpms over 2500 as much as possible to >reduce stall, right? James Actually, RPM is a factor of axle ratio, tranny ratio and tire size (below is a link to a online axle ratio and tire size calculator) and this determine actually RPM. It is easy to figure out drive ratio as in your tranny it is 1 to 1. Lock out OD when you tow and do not get into WOT hill climbs. Do not be afraid to downshift and reduce speed (top of hill will still be there when you get there) and this will reduce tranny strain and improve MPG a bit too. Find a speed that your vehicle likes to climb at (not the speed you want to climb at) and does not require a lot of throttle to do this. This will reduce heating and extend service life of you vehicle. Simply put, when you are having heating problem like you are, you are pulling it too hard for its current confirguration and you need to ease up on it a bit. ----------------- TheSnoMan.com on my econoline i run a size bigger than i need trans cooler that does not go thru the radiator , lines go directly to the cooler and back to the trans. cooler is about 12x12 inches . running the lines thru the radiator heats up the fluid to whatever your engine temp is. no problems shifting in winter either. i put the cooler out front of the radiator. i was taught that you should never drive under 2500 rpm with no load or you would be lugging the engine and trans and thats hard on em.. i have 351w hi output and a c6 trans. i pull a 37 ft boat in the summer. lucas http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm > on my econoline i run a size bigger than i need trans cooler >that does not go thru the radiator , lines go directly to the cooler and [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >em.. i have 351w hi output and a c6 trans. i pull a 37 ft boat in the >summer. lucas Though some do it, bypassing radiator cooler is a bad idea. Tank cooler has a lot of capacity since it is water cooled and you run it through tank and then aux cooler. I have seen a few factory setups where they run it through aux cooler then tank. Running it through tank helps stabilze oil temps which a aux only cooler will not. Ideally you want tranny around 180 to 200 degrees for best preformance and service life. Running it cooler can shortnen lfe and lead to more moisture build up in tranny fluid because it does not get hot enough to drive it out. In theory aux first then tank would be better in cold weather because it would warm fluid more in winter before it is returned to tranny. BTW, most radiaotr today have heater returns in radiator tank so they have warm water circulating in tank at all times stabilizing tranny temps. There is no thermo stat in tranny itself to stabile temps. ----------------- TheSnoMan.com > Though some do it, bypassing radiator cooler is [snip] This is a public service announcement. Archived examples of SnoMan's post below. Please take the time read these. They just may save you time, money, and your life in the future. SBJ: 4T65E http://tinyurl.com/2lcjkv (Confuses 4T65e with a 4L65e and won't admit it.) SBJ: Dumb brake question http://tinyurl.com/2ya3wo (Discribes wrong brakes and won't admit it.) SBJ: Front wheel bearings-2000 Blazer?? http://tinyurl.com/2j44zv (Claims torque specs are wrong when they are not.) SBJ: Snoball Defense System v1.01 http://tinyurl.com/2okyfx (Snoball breaks these out when he knows he's wrong but won't admit it.) >This is a public service announcement. Yes it is but it is worded wrong it should read that you are here to feed some secret desire to try to hide your insecurity and lack of knowledge and try to make others look bad. Maube your feloow trolls like it but you are only making yourself look bad and if you had any maturity at all you would see this but since you do not you cannot. Have fun and knock yourself out. I get a good laugh everytime you make a arse of yourself! ----------------- TheSnoMan.com > >This is a public service announcement. [snip] > a arse of yourself! > ----------------- > TheSnoMan.com Hahaha. What are you British now? You dont seem to get it, no one is going to stop posting the 'truth' about you. You cannot hide from your own stupidity anymore. If you don't like it, TOUGH. Those links contained stuff YOU wrote. If you don't like what you wrote then stop posting. >> Though some do it, bypassing radiator cooler is > [snip] > > This is a public service announcement. [snip] If you were really interested in "public service", you would save your "announcements" for times when Snowman is giving bad advice. In this case, he's spot on and your post gives the impression that he's *wrong again*. Since you had nothing relevant to add to the thread, I have to assume that you're not smart enough to know the difference. Dave > If you were really interested in "public service", you would save your > "announcements" for times when Snowman is giving bad advice. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Dave The truth is, Snojob is so often wrong, it's better to not take his advice, ever. He's like the boy who cried wolf. Spdloader >I have a 92 Ford Explorer 4 door 4x4. The problem is that every year > I take a trip to upstate New York pulling a boat and on the way up the [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > just replacing the seal would not fix the problem. So I was just > wondering what everyone's opinion on this issue is. Thanks, James. Question, Have you actually touched the transmission fluid that leaks out to see if it's hot? It is normal for one to assume heat is the cause when a transmission leaks, but it isn't always the case. The reason I ask is I had a similar problem with the bigger 4R100 trans. Every time I pulled my boat home, then backed it up the driveway, the transmission leaked out of the bottom of the bell housing while backing up. It leaked badly. I could put my hand in the fluid after the 230mile trip and it was the same temp as the air around it, nowhere near hot, so it wasn't a heat issue. It eventually got worse to where it would drip a little going forward too, then it finally started leaking almost as bad in forward as in reverse. Turns out it was a high pressure problem, especially in reverse. There was an orifice in the casting that was too small I was told, so it was drilled out, the a new front pump seal, new input shaft seal, and new output shaft seal were in order, and cured the problem. Spdloader was at our local trans shop . they said to check the transmission vent to make sure its open, i didnt think there was a vent. ,, and it is ok to bypass your radiator and go straight to the cooler to see if it helps .. lucas http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.