Transmission Question (2nd Question)update

[blume357]

So my 2008 work van has been very good to me... I bought it a few years ago used with 80,000 miles on it and had the transmission serviced then... recently at 150k I had the transmission serviced again... fluid and filter.... no problems... just past due. What I just discovered is that it now slips in reverse if I'm backing up a hill. Seems fine in forward but will not back up an incline. I'm planning to take it back to my mechanics tomorrow but would not mind advice from the experts here..... I'm hoping it is something simple. 2008 Ford Econoline 250.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

Sounds to me like you need a rebuild or new transmission.
I have never heard of a transmission that had an easy fix after it started to slip.
Sounds to me like the clutches are starting to slip. 

Depending on what's wrong , there are two ways to rebuild a transmission.
Change all the soft parts , gaskets , O rings and seals.
Change all the hard parts , if you have bad gears , bearings or clutches.
Either way it won't be cheap.

Years ago you could go to the junk yard and buy a used transmission and hope it was a good one.
Of course they always guaranteed it would work.
The problem was sometimes you had to change it more than once to get a good one.

 

[gunzo]

If this just started after a recent service I'd look there first.

Is the fluid level correct?

A talk with the service person might reveal clues.

I would want a FOMOCO filter in there as some aftermarket trans filters are know to have cause problems.

Just a place to ..... start.

 

[ronto]

If your mechanic says you need a new transmission, wait until it fails totally, you have nothing to loose. Slipping when backing uphill isn't that much of a big deal. In the meantime, try a highly rated additive. Getting a second opinion from another mechanic would be a good idea also.

 

[powder smoke]

RonT Is making a whole lotta sense IMO. Slips backing up hill, I never hit anything
going forward I try to eliminate backing up as much as possible! ymmv. If you must go up hill
go forward and back down! jmo ps

 

[Dan in MI]

For about ten years I was the engine guy in a transmission dynamometer lab. The standard answer to "should I get a trans service" from all of the trans mechanics was this. "Either do it all time every time from the start or not at all."

The thought was, as the soft parts wear (clutches, bands, etc) some of that material gets into the valves and worm trails (fluid lines in the valve body) They tend to stay there and fill in tiny wear spots and help seal where parts get a little worn. If you do a service at every recommended time they hard parts don't get time to wear and there is no place for this to occur. If you wait until 75k plus you risk having the new fluid clean out all of these tiny improvised seals and start having slip issue as valves, ports etc aren't sealed tight anymore.

Take it for what it's worth, but anecdotaly (is that a word?) in my 40 years in the automotive biz it seems to hold a lot of truth.

At 150K I doubt it is something simple. Maybe a simple soft part rebuild, but again 150k.

 

[caryc]

RonT Is making a whole lotta sense IMO. Slips backing up hill, I never hit anything
going forward I try to eliminate backing up as much as possible! ymmv. If you must go up hill
go forward and back down! jmo ps

If you do wait until reverse totally quits working on an even surface, you might be in a very inconvenient place when it happens. Fix it now or wait till that happens.

 

[ronto]

RonT Is making a whole lotta sense IMO. Slips backing up hill, I never hit anything
going forward I try to eliminate backing up as much as possible! ymmv. If you must go up hill
go forward and back down! jmo ps

If you do wait until reverse totally quits working on an even surface, you might be in a very inconvenient place when it happens. Fix it now or wait till that happens.

So what? He's not using the van to travel cross country.

 

[graygun]

I made an Aerostar worse buy doing a partial fluid/filter change. It went from a o/d slip to a 1-2 hard shift. :roll:

good luck

 

[bobski]

my 04 buick doesnt like shifting from 1st to 2nd smoothly under heavy acelleration from a dead stop. it clunks and fights. ya gotta softly gather speed for it to shift, then its ok. if you are coming to red light and the red light changes...and youre going 20mph, if you push on the peddle, it clunks unless you softly carefully push a little gas at a time. weird. fluids are good. filter is good. had one mech tell me its a computer sensor somewhere not sensing the time to shift. any idea?

 

[Dan in MI]

Don't know GM's but I am not aware of a "sensor" telling it when to shift. What tells it to shift is input speed (engine RPM) vehicle speed, vacuum (or throttle angle/load) and trans output speed. The computer mashes it up from there.

 

[blume357]

I think Dan in Mi tagged it..

First, I went out and worked yesterday... on the way home on a back road I drove past my turn and pulled over and then was going to just back up since there was no traffic behind or in front of me... nope... no reverse even on flat ground. I talked to a fellow sweep yesterday that has multiple vehicles and they had the same thing happen a year or so ago... did a service on a transmission and shortly after that it failed. I can't afford to drive around and only park where I don't have to back up that is not practical.... So, I'm going to send the van in for a rebuild.... just have to decide if I want to take it to the same place I have in the past. Also, just to be safe I need to unload the 20K worth of tools I carry around with me every day. Actually, now that I think about it I've been wanting to inventory the tools I have in this van anyway.... this is a good oportunatiy.. I've also been putting off working on a seminar I have to present next Wednesday via one of those on line zoomy things and it looks like this will force me to get that ready.

I actually have the money to pay for a rebuild and don't have that much work I will have to put off... I've changed my answering machine message that I'm only doing inspections for the summer.. (I never answer my work or home phone unless I just happen to see on caller ID it's someone I want to talk to) life is good... the down side is I won't be ordering that ghost gun I had on my list....

 

[Mobuck]

Not the first instance I've heard of a transmission problem shortly after getting new fluid. If a "flush" was part of the service, I'd strongly suggest there was a wear issue that surfaced after the old gunk and debris was flushed out OR the "solvent" used to flush killed some old gasket(s)/seals.
My experience with auto transmissions is distinctly yes/no. They either work exactly as they should or they don't--any gray area ends up in a failure.

 

[Johnnu2]

Blume..... don't forget to deduct the transmission rebuild as a business expense.....

J.

 

[Dan in MI]

If a "flush" was part of the service, I'd strongly suggest there was a wear issue that surfaced after the old gunk and debris was flushed out OR the "solvent" used to flush killed some old gasket(s)/seals.

It's just the new trans fluid. Line up twenty mechanics and you can ID the front end guy and the trans guys in seconds. Their hands are spotless. There's something about trans fluid.... (which is also PS fluid)

To make it gun related. What's 50% of "Ed's Red?" (hint ATF)

 

[blume357]

For a couple of years I had to go out and sweep and clean a suspended oil furnace in a transmission clinic.... even though the unit itself was not that dirty it was a pain to get to being suspended from the ceiling in the place.. and also it burned used transmission fluid.... the problem was just working in the shop... which was coated with transmission fluid... just walking in and out was dangerous... manager stopped calling me a couple years ago and I have not missed that job one bit.

just about everything I spend money on is a business expense... including 'van security' which I need to go remove along with the other tools....

 

[ronto]

I actually have the money to pay for a rebuild and don't have that much work I will have to put off... I've changed my answering machine message that I'm only doing inspections for the summer.. (I never answer my work or home phone unless I just happen to see on caller ID it's someone I want to talk to) life is good... the down side is I won't be ordering that ghost gun I had on my list....

No reverse. In that case get the rebuild. I had my transmission rebuilt a few years back and the torque converter went out a few months later. I suggest you replace the torque converter since the trans will be out anyway, they cost a couple hundred bucks...Good luck.

 

[RSIno1]

Some have an adjustment to tighten the band. You need to do it before it starts slipping bad and wears the friction material off the band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYhUGH-NWlI

 

[blume357]

.
just about everything I spend money on is a business expense... including 'van security' which I need to go remove along with the other tools....

had to throw this in for y'all... here is a picture of the security system in my work van...

 

[blume357]

So, one more question:

Once I have the transmission rebuilt, how often should I have it serviced?

Seems from what I've learned... the failure after having a service is fairly common on automatic transmission that have gone too long with out a service, mine had gone 70,000 miles since the last one....

 

[Rick Courtright]

Once I have the transmission rebuilt, how often should I have it serviced?

Hi,

A couple of old shooting buddies owned a transmission shop. One could always find a trapshooter or two hanging out at the shop. When asked about servicing, they both adhered to the "Do it by the book, or don't do it at all" school of thought already discussed here. One of them said after the rebuild is a good time to start "doing it by the book."

And I've always been told to watch for "normal" and "severe" service intervals in the book. "Normal" almost means you never drive the vehicle. "Severe" is most of us, most of the time. Choose from there.

Rick C

 

[Dan in MI]

This ^

 

[Mobuck]

"Once I have the transmission rebuilt, how often should I have it serviced?"
Ask the guy who does the "rebuild" and hopefully get him to sign his statement.
As far as how things go after changing fluid in a neglected transmission, I bought a 1/2 ton Chevy pickup with 74K on it that had never had the trans fluid changed. Changed fluid and filter and it's perfect after another 50K but is scheduled for another change. A friend bought a new 3/4 ton Chevy and ran it 80K before changing fluid and filter. Within a couple of months, the trans started acting odd and then went poop. The difference?? My 1/2 ton's trans oil still looked good and the pickup hadn't been used hard. His 3/4 ton had been used like a truck pulling heavy livestock trailers and grain wagons and the fluid was very dark and obviously well beyond when it needed changed.
If your primary issue is a sticky valve or a bit of debris in the works, the fluid isn't the problem but dirty, dark, or clotty fluid is an indicator of other issues.

 

[blume357]

latest update.... I've put off getting it to my transmission place (I've had them work on three other vehicles in the past) wife and I went to a late lunch and I decided to drive by and give them the heads up & remind them I'm a previous customer and let them know I'd be dropping it off first thing Monday morning... my expectation if they were really busy was a week to get the van back. since monday is my 64th birthday and work has slowed down... I was planning to take most of the week off....

Well, the lady at the counter then informed me that it would take 3 days before they could diagnose the problem ..... then most likely 6-8 WEEKS to do the repair... no parts.

I took a breath and then said, "Well it's too hot to work anyway."

Just another message.

 

[graygun]

Can you buy a rblt one and use the bad as a core? Can u or a friend r/r a transmission ?

 

[blume357]

I probably could... could even call around or take it to the Ford place... but I'm set in my ways....

Actually at my point in this life and my work I've taken this as a message.... if y'all will recall, technically I'm an invalid with congestive heart failure.... and so should not be working in this heat anyway. I decided yesterday to just clean everything out of the van... this will allow me to inventory all the tools and when I get it back re-evaluate what goes in it as well as do a super cleaning.

The bad new is you might see even more post from me here on this forum.

 

[graygun]

Let us know how it goes. I'll pray for your health situation.

 

[blume357]

Actually health wise I think i'm pretty good for 64 (today actually) and someone who has been rode hard and put up wet way too many times...

there was many a night that I came home, into my office down stairs, and then had to crawl up the stairs to our main floor and often end up laying on the living room floor with cramps in both legs and not able to get up.

Delivered the Van to my transmission place today... was going to drop it off first thing and then call an Uber to take me home... wife sleeps in... but she offered to follow me if I waited until 10:00, I guess it was a birthday present. they will do a diagnostic on it in a few days and give me an estimate.... which I think is kind of strange since twice I've told them what it needs.... newly rebuilt transmission.

But then I told the lady at the counter this morning that for about 30 years it would bother me when I went to someones house to look at their chimney and they then proceeded to tell me what they needed.... now it doesn't.

I have good friends in this chimney business that follow the industry standard of doing what is called a level 2 inspection on just about any chimney they look at... this includes running a camera up inside the chimney as well as going into any easily accessible areas... like attic and crawl space and of course up on the roof. One of the main reasons given for this specifically with a masonry / brick chimney is to determine if the clay flue liners were installed properly.... here's the dirty little secret ... in 38 years I have never seen a chimney where the clay flue liners were installed properly....

I guess the other way to look at the diagnostic thing is they are going to charge me some minimum amount for that and they could discover I only need a $28 widget to fix the transmission.... yeah right.....

I'm pretty sure I'm looking at 3 grand give or take a thousand.