So I picked up my 45' 5er yesterday, poke along at 50 or so for the first 500 miles. As I was going along at some point this morning, I heard a pop. Didn't feel anything, just heard it.

Stopped at the next rest area and walked around the trailer and truck. All tires good, all hitch bolts good. Nothing seems wrong.

I continue on, and now, when I'm applying power to go up a hill, I hear/feel a REAL deep vibrating hum (I don't know how else to describe it). Can you feel/hear when clutches are slipping? If so, what do they feel/sound like? Now I hit the 500 mile mark, and puch it up to the speed limit (65), and it seems to have a lot of trouble getting there.

I stop at a rest area, and check the transmision fluid. It's right at the top of the hatch mark area for cold, and the transmission is less than 150F. I look under the truck to see if anything is amiss, and see a half dollar sized puddle of Dextron III under the tailshaft.

I'm guessing that the transfer case is isolated from the transmission, so any fluid coming from the tailshaft would be coming from the transfer case (I thought of this later). is it possible clutches in my transfer case are toast? I'm going to pop the plug this weekend and check the level and color of what's in the transfer case.

In the meantime, any ideas?

Thanks... I still need to get the truck and trailer (5000 lbs heavier) 1100 miles back to Missouri...

Someone will pipe in if I am jacked up... but in these temperatures, with my cardboard ghetto coldfront I have in front of my radiator, I still only see the tranny temp even MOVE the needle to 120, max.

You shouldn't be using cold unless you haven't been running it at all, you should be using hot if you have been running it... last I recall.

Couger 281

Imho I think the Ally overflow burped. Usually you will see this coming down the left side of the Ally behind the NSBU switch. The breather on the Ally is located on the top of the case at the rear, just in front of the tail housing. When they do this burping, fluid always trails down the left side near the switch. If I am correct, then you are over full on fluid. Won't hurt nuthin, just makes a mess.

mike

The fluid is definately coming from the back. the spot is righ under the tailshaft seal, and there is a collection of fluid (drop) in the casing under the seal. I would crawl uder the truck tomorrow and take a pic, but my servers are in Missouri, and I'm in NY, and don't have a way to get pice onto my server in MO with my curent setup.

To add, when I went to dinner tonight, I shifted into drive... Truck doesn't move. Shift inhibited.... DOH! Shift to park, then back to drive, off I go.

Someone will pipe in if I am jacked up... but in these temperatures, with my cardboard ghetto coldfront I have in front of my radiator, I still only see the tranny temp even MOVE the needle to 120, max.

You shouldn't be using cold unless you haven't been running it at all, you should be using hot if you have been running it... last I recall.
Whn I have the winter cover (just the grille) I have noticed that the transmission does get to about 200 degrees. I Assume that the winter front blocks airflow to the trans cooler, and thus it doesn't cool down from engine temps after going through the radiator.

Also, For the beginning of the trip, the trans temp needle never moved off 100 while I was towing. After whatever it is happend (If anything did happen) the transmission began running arounf 125-150. Could it be that I was traveling about 15mph faster? Maybe, but in thory, as long as nothing is slipping, an automatic transmission shouldn't generate too much heat..

Maybe you do have a leak. Shift Inhibited signal on info center will cause all kinds of Ally inhibitions. Check fluid right away and top off if needed. Any kind of atf will get you by without damage till you get to your service center of choice.
mike

About the leak... I was just thinking... isn't the Transfer case isolated from the tranmission (fluid wise)? If so, wouldn't the fluid coming from the tailshaft be coming from the transfer case? Or am I just crazy?

The transfer case has its own front seal to keep its fluid in and not mix with trans. The Ally does not have a rear seal( 4X4) so it depends on the gasket (between trans extension housing and transfer case) to hold fluid in. Generaly if you see a leak there it is the gasket.

mike

Maybe, but in thory, as long as nothing is slipping, an automatic transmission shouldn't generate too much heat..


I see trans temp go up to 200 all day long when in the field and sometimes even higher. It's a lot of stop and go, 4x4 driving in loose sand. When out on road I see it run around 150 or so. Fluid is clean.

So am I hurting the tranny by letting it get that hot? How do I keep it cool?

When in stop and go driving, it's normal for the fluid to get hot. The reason is the torque converter is not locked, and that generates a LOT of heat. The reason why (in theory) it shouldn't generate much heat while towing down the highway s the torque converter is locked, so that can't cenerate heat, and the clutches should all be lockes and thus unable to generate heat.

My car sometimes gets over 200 in stop and go traffic, but when cruising along, it cools off.

I don't think you need to worry about the temps unless they get to 240 or higher. Then what you have to worry about is fluid breakdown. It's probably less of a concern when running a synthetic such as transynd.