Hello all ... long time, no see!

Okay, the truck is up to no good. I haven't driven her for a while, so I didn't give it any attention, but I drove her this weekend and she needs fixed!

From a stop, accelerating hard, uphill, just prior to spool up, the front end feels like it's jumping off the ground ... very fast pulsating/bouncing feeling. I was thinking engine mount or maybe transmission. If I back off the skinny pedal, and ease into it, she does fine. On the flat roadway, I can sink the boot into it, make plenty of black smoke and she runs like a raped ape! Could it still be tranny? Or might it be something that I am completely missing? Input please!

 

Hey Andrew, welcome back Bud. Typical engine mount problem is described as pulling to one side and if you raise the hood and give it some gas you should be able to see the engine roll over so to speak.

To check the easy stuff first I would crawl under it and check all the U joints for excessive play. Take it in and have the codes checked. Other then that I'm rusty on Automatics but sounds like a torque converter issue to me. I'm assumin you've already checked the fluid levels.

Wait till Doc see's this post, he's gonna say it's that damn 53 block causin it.

 

Dennis, I think you just hit it right on the head ... the shear weight of that 53 on the side of the block is causing the problem. Shane should add that to his list ... before long we'll be hearing that's what's causing the crack ...

How have you been Dennis? Doctor ... ... hello to you, too!

She's been parked for a month or two, since I don't drive her and my son has lost rights. I am spending a day on her this weekend, so I'll get around to checking the levels, etc, then. I don't want to dump too much into her, since the wife's new car is going to be a new one ... but that's 18 months down the road. She's quite the sport, didn't take much talking her into it!

 

i agree, i think its a tranny slipping, had that problem in my old 98.5 auto.

 

Why only when climbing an incline? On level roadway, with heavy pedal, she's fine. Will a fluid exchange buy me some time? I'm going to take her out this weekend and keep my eye on the tach to see if there's any fluctuation. This is not good!

I have a boat sitting with no engines (may be repowering her with a couple of diesels soon) and now the farging truck is on the fritz ... never ends!

 

Hey bro....only come see us when ya got troubles?? j/k


Ok heres your problem....

 

I knew it, I knew, I knew it.

If my guess is right it's the extra torque it takes to push that big ole monster up those hills locking and unlocking the torque converter. Ya it may just be that your fluid is burnt and not workin right. I was hopin somebody would jump in here that knows more about these auto's.

 

Damn, I knew it!

Hello Shane, how are things?

Okay, you caught me with my pants down this time; I really have no excuses for not visiting ... I'll try to be better in the future.

Well Dennis, I'll give the fluid a swap and see what happens. I hope it'll get me by, cause I sure don't want to dish out the dough on a new tranny ... especially in these times!

Does anyone have a step by step to replace the tranny fluid? I don't just want to do the 4 quarts in the pan; I want to get as much out as possible.

 

doc, its not the damn 53 on the side god, j/k

anyway man, best way to completely flush the fluid is to go to a parts store like napa or autozone and get the tranny fluid flush cans, then go home and then drain and remove the pan. after that remove the filter and disconnect one of the lines and hook the cans up to the line and spray away until you see the clear liquid dripping from the tranny, may take 4 cans or more, once youve done that, let it drip its way out for awhile or you can use an air gun with low pressure and blow it out. then put a new filter and reinstall the pan. Fill with a good quaility ATF fluid, not the napa or walmart brand, but something like castrol or mobil one, but substitute a quart of the ATF with a quart of lucas oil tranny additive and start the truck, let it warm it up for 10 minutes or so and take it for a short drive. wwe done this on my friends truck back last year, its still running on the same tranny now for 20k miles. hopefully this'll fix your truck. also counting the 4-5 quarts in the converter(which you wont get out very easily unless you drop the tranny), the tranny holds 17 quarts according to the owners manual. the filter kit runs i think around 15 bucks from autozone provided they havent raised their prices any since last year(yeah right) hope this helps

 

How do you turn the converter to access the hole to drain it? I noticed that the line flush is intended to be run through the lines and cooler; is it safe to use through the tranny, too? I was contemplating adding an external cooler, since I've heard that the radiator/cooler combination has proved to be a problem in the past. I guess the coolant can bleed into the tranny cooler and cause the clutch discs to deteriorate ... BS?

Any input would be appreciated!