I have a '93 Auto Cummins 4wd with 288,000 miles.

So I drove my truck about 25 miles from home to pick up a buddy's broken down car on a trailer and I pulled up to a stop sign and the truck wouldn't move after I tried to go. It just acted like it was in neutral. I fidgeted with the 4wd lever since I had just shifted into 2wd as I just got off of a snowy side road but found that it was definitely in gear. Shut off the truck and let sit for about ten seconds and restarted and it was just fine. Drove the 3 miles back into town from the friend's place and pulled up to a light and it did it again. Once more and I pulled over and popped the hood, tranny fluid looked full but was black as some used oil and smelled like burning...well tranny fluid. I let it cool down, and drove it a few blocks having to shut it off several times to get it off of the main road and to a friend's house where I could leave it for the night. Every time I started it it was about a half block before it would kinda shudder like it was going in and out of gear and give out and just rev like in neutral. Im gonna try to get my boss to let me take our company truck and trailer and go bring it back tomorrow, and then it can wait a bit because I have other trucks to drive till I get it fixed.

What I wanna know I guess is: is my tranny screwed? I dropped by napa and just mentioned it to the guys and they thought it could be a torque converter. Any suggestions on where to get a replacement or rebuild? Im a college student at a community college in the middle of Wyoming so A) I have......a very limited budget, and B) Its in the negatives every day outside and it will be till june or so so... I do have a shop I can use on the weekends though (my work) so if there's something I can do in less than 2 days straight I can probably do that.

All of the other possibly relevant things I can think of:

Had the TPS and Kickdown cable replaced about 600 miles ago at which time the tranny fluid was in perfect condition.

It was like -6 or 7 degrees outside.

According to the previous owner (I have owned it since february of this year and put about 11,000 miles on it) the tranny was rebuilt 75,000 before I bought it, but the previous owner seemed to be a little less than trustworthy on some other things so I don't really know...

I think thats about it...

 

Misadjusted kickdown cable could have lowered apply pressures letting things slip under load. Could have probably gotten away with a fluid flush and band adjustment but the starting/stopping when a trans screws up almost never ends up good for the internals. Speaking from a tight budget, drop the pan, adjust the bands and replace the fluid/filter. About $100 and the truck MIGHT still be ok.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The torque converters in our truck don't really have any components to fail (like the clutch in a later truck's lock-up converter). If our converters "fail" it's usually a catastrophic failure (as in KaBOOM, with parts flying and is VERY rare at that).

Not slighting tower_ofpower's advice, but I personally wouldn't waste the money or time with fluid or band adjustments as the condition of the fluid your describe, coupled with the way the trans is acting, is evidence enough the the trans is most likely toast.
The debris from the clutch(s) burning in the fluid is/has most likely causing the spool-valves in the valve-body to bind and stick in their bores hence, the erratic operation.

 

Torque Convertor won't cause burnt transmission fluid.

 

Yeah, I thought the torque converter deal sounded a bit optimistic for the symptoms. I dropped it off to the dealer that "fixed" it two weeks ago to see what they say and try to get them to hold to their service warranty of 4,000 miles or 3 months or whatever it is since it hasn't been nearly either. Also if there is any other evidence that improper installation of the kickdown cable or the TPS could be the culprit, that might be very helpful. They've been good to me in the past to Im keeping my hopes up...

Realistically it has to have had something to do with what they did because Ive put 11,000 miles of mild to hard towing on it since February when I bought it (over south pass and down to Utah for those of you that might know the area) with cars on trailers and boats, and the fluid has always been so perfect you could make someone eat it on ice cream if you told them it was cherry syrup. For it to go so terribly bad within 500 miles of them touching it, during which I haven't towed more than 10 miles of light towing, sounds a little off to me.

 

Just trying to be optimistic, I'm right along with ya that 8 chances out of 10 it's toast. Or even if the $100 and a little extra time in the fluid change/band adjustment works; it probably wouldnt be 100% or wouldn't be long before the trans did go, in a more catastrophic manner


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I had a similar issue a few years back after my rebuild and come to find out it was the accumulator piston. i had used the 2 steel rings kind and it would only hold about 70 psi at wot. as soon as i let off, the pressure dropped.and it would act real strange. I then went with the blue anodized one with 4 rubber o-rings and know it stays around 90 to 110psi much better now.

 

Sounds like the TV cable was too loose causing low pressure which in turn roasted some trans innards, especially being you stated you just had it replaced and the trans fluid was not blackened prior to this. Good luck and if the repair shop is liable I hope it works out for ya.