Questions about a automatic tranny in a 2002 F-350

bfeller

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Location
Durham
My dad called me - from a hotel in Ohio. He lives in New Bern and is traveling with his 5th wheel trailer. He ran into a problem with his tow rig. It's 2002 Ford F350 - 7.3 Litre - Transmission 4R100 (model# 1C3Z7000EBRM). The tranny puked on him a few years ago and was replaced. I don't know how many miles are on this one. On that one - the tranny seal went south - and puked the fluid on the ground before he noticed a problem.

Here is the situation - he backed the truck up - about the length of the 5th wheel travel trailer/truck combo - saw tranny fluid on the ground - drove 2 miles to find a safe place to park. Checked the dipstick - no fluid showing on the dip stick - two hours later after the cool down - there is at least a little fluid on the dip stick - and no apperant leaks. He doesn't know for sure that the fluid is has a burnt smell to it - but he never noticed the tranny temp guage showing an overheating situation. We're thinking the seal puked again.

The current question is - If the seal has puked - would you expect that the rest of the tranny is good to go? He's trying to avoid being the pigeon when he rolls into a service center.
 
My 99 F350 PSD did the same thing. I caught mine before the fluid wouldn't touch the dipstick. My fluid smelled/ looked fine. I filled it, and drove it about 15 miles to my local service center. Which by the way, only works on super duties up to heavy duty trucks. I took mine to Tripoint Ford. According to Tripoint, long story short the 4r100 tranny has a puking problem that shows itself through the front seal. The mechanic told me they can't trouble shoot why it occurs, or even guarentee the repair. He said it was my gamble. They said it may happen again before I get it home. That was 4 years ago and no more signs of it. The mechanic blamed it on solenoids overpressurizing the tranny. The only solution if it puked again was a rebuild! I really don't know why the mechanics can't isolate that problem. I think it is fairly common. Does your father run a chip or anything like that? That's a dead give away to a mechanic.
 
I had that happen to a work truck a few years ago. I called our mechanic. He said let it cool, top off the fluid and bring it in (5 hours away). Truck had 150K on it, weighed 18K lbs daily. After I got it back and asked what he did, he said he just changed the fluid and filter and added a cooler, mostly for fluid volume than cooling incase it happened again. It lasted another 40K miles of hard abuse before it finally gave out.

I guess point is, you take a gamble and it may pay off. Either way, I think a rebuild is inevitible if its now or later. And from what I hear, BTS is who to go to
 
Benjie said:
Does your father run a chip or anything like that? That's a dead give away to a mechanic.
Click to expand...

He doesn't run any chips.

He called the dealer usually works with - Brock Ford in Trenton NC. (as an aside - They have been good dealer for us. Between me and him we've purchased 4 vehicles in the last 10 years from them - we go back for the prices, support and service.) They are family owned and staffed dealer - from the showroom the shop. Their feedback was to top the fluid - and either run it - or replace the front seal. Their price to replace the front seal was 300. The dealer in Ohio is getting 600 for the job. This is the second tranny in the truck -this one has 50,000 on the odometer with a warranty that ran out after 36,000. I don't remember how many miles the first one went - but it was past the drivetrain warranty.
 
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