On my way home from work in the rain today I went to "make a yellow" and when I hit the gas my tranny made noise like grinding gears. I couldnt believe what I was hearing so I went to try to get it to do it again and it felt like I was in nuetral. THe rest of the trip home I had to stay in 3rd. I didnt have the opportunity to jump to 5th, but there is obviously somethign FUBAR with 4th.

Any suggestions? Easy fixes? Donations? Im about to go and get the Haynes manual to see if I can find something. Im an overenthusiastic DIYer so I hope its something I can do.

Thanks
Dan

 

I don't think there is really an easy fix to tranny problems...
Good Luck!

 

Check the fluid level.. I think there was some issue with rubber plugs shrinking and letting it leak out.

 

How do I find out which tranny I have. I went by Advance Auto just now and asked, out of curiosity. We picked out one that might be it, for $1000. Id be heading to the junkyard.

Back to checking the fluid. I would think that I better change it out too now, check for missing teeth in the drained fluid also, correct?

 

If its fubar you will know.
The drain plug is magnetic and will have tons of metal shavings on it.

The first step I'd recommend is changing the fluid and seeing if there are alot of shavings
and how much fluid is actually in it.
Cost 2 quarts of atf? (i'm not sure how much it takes)

 

Ok Fluid is drained. Some shavings on the plug (hard to see in the pic) and I sifted through the drainage with a magnet and didnt come up with much.



Does ATF turn black over time? The previous owner had most of his service work done at a corner garage and I wonder if they know that its supposed to use ATF. The fluid seems more like regular oil to me. ATF is always red isnt it? I know, Im SOL anyway[IMG][/IMG]

 

Ok How do you get ATF back into the M'Fing tranny?

 

It looks like you did drain the oil. Auto tranny does not have a drain plug. You better check your oil ASAP and not drive or start the truck!

 

Is your tranny auto or manual? By your posts it looks like auto.

 

If it is a manual I don't think you use ATF.

 

i had the tranny rebuilt in my 93 mazda, only it was stuck in 2nd. lasted 12,000 miles then took a dump, be smart fix and then dump it.

 

Well Ive been shifting through 5 gears with this truck, and using the clutch. I sure hope its not an auto. (Sorry bad mood tonight)

Ive read here and on other forums that ATF is the fluid to use with these trucks. Didnt seem right to me either, but after a change it did shift a little smoother, the gears I can use that is

 

FMD That is NOT what I want to hear (may be the truth, but I still dont want to hear it) I just bought this truck about 1000 miles ago, and then last week put a cap on it (I wish I hadnt now, cap cost about what a tranny will cost)

 

that sucks!

 

I wrote these numbers down that are on my current tranny. They appear to be the tranny number, but I want to make sure

F57A
FA
C224692

Im guessing that the F57A is the main number that Im concerned with in my search. Are there other trannys that are known to just bolt right in? (ok I know not that simple) Im either going to R & R it with a used unit from a boneyard, myself or let a local tranny shop do it. Im going to bring it in Monday and see if they can make it worth my time for me to not spend (what Id expect to be) a 3 day weekend under my truck, which would cost me $ from taking off from the Home Depot for the weekend (p/t job)