YELLAHEEP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Littleton, Colorado
I've got an '89 Ford F350 U-haul van with the IDI 7.3 diesel. I bought it with a severe trans fluid leak at the trans cooler line. The previous owner sold it cheap thinking the trans was "shot". It would not go into gear without revving up the engine a bit, then it would engage and do so rather solidly. It would stay in gear until you let off the throttle and you'd have to rev it up again to get it to engage. He said he'd been driving it that way for about a month anywhere from 1 to 3 days in a week, but probably a few hundred miles in that month, and said he'd always added several quarts before driving it anywhere.
I believe the transmission is a C-6. I filled the transmission at idle in neutral like the dipstick says. I had 4 quarts with me when I bought it and after adding this fluid, it would engage better and with less RPM than before, so I drove it home - about 10 miles. It would shift from 1st to 2nd, but never into 3rd. Figured it just needed more fluid.
Got it home and the next day I filled the transmission with another 5 quarts of fluid. It now drives fine, immediately goes into gear and when it shifts into gears, (1st, 2nd and reverse) it's solid.
But.... when driving on the road, it won't go into 3rd at all, no matter the RPM's or speed. It's not like it tries to find 3rd, is simply acts like a 2 speed transmission. It will barely do 50mph and I don't want to push the engine into those RPM's to go faster.
So, with all that said....... Since all of the gears engage nice and solid, no slipping, no burnt smell in the fluid..... Is there something mechanically wrong keeping it from shifting into the final drive gear? I'm not well versed on transmissions, especially Fords so any advice/info would be great!
I believe the transmission is a C-6. I filled the transmission at idle in neutral like the dipstick says. I had 4 quarts with me when I bought it and after adding this fluid, it would engage better and with less RPM than before, so I drove it home - about 10 miles. It would shift from 1st to 2nd, but never into 3rd. Figured it just needed more fluid.
Got it home and the next day I filled the transmission with another 5 quarts of fluid. It now drives fine, immediately goes into gear and when it shifts into gears, (1st, 2nd and reverse) it's solid.
But.... when driving on the road, it won't go into 3rd at all, no matter the RPM's or speed. It's not like it tries to find 3rd, is simply acts like a 2 speed transmission. It will barely do 50mph and I don't want to push the engine into those RPM's to go faster.
So, with all that said....... Since all of the gears engage nice and solid, no slipping, no burnt smell in the fluid..... Is there something mechanically wrong keeping it from shifting into the final drive gear? I'm not well versed on transmissions, especially Fords so any advice/info would be great!
