[VAC] Re: Transmission Oil Temp and Use of OD

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim,
 I find it very hard to believe that there are no parts for your
friend's transmission. In fact, I think it's Federal law that
manufacturers must make parts available for a minimum of 10 years. At
worst, he should be able to get the soft parts in a kit and rebuild a
tranny from a salvage yard if he's smoked some of the hard parts in his
own unit.

Unfortunately, most P/U transmissions aren't much more than automobile
units, perhaps beefed up just a bit. I'm told that the tranny in my
Dodge is basically an old Chrysler TorqueFlite with a compounder
(overdrive) housing tacked onto the rear of the thing.  My Dodge manual
covers all the automatic transmissions used in 1994 pickups, and there's
really not much difference between the ones in a 1/2-ton and the units
running behind the V-10 gas engine in a 3/4-ton truck. An extra clutch
plate here, stronger spring there, etc., but basically the same darn
thing to the untrained eye. Most rebuild steps are common to all of 'em.

Many transmission shops will tell you that automatics used in towing
service should be overhauled at 100,000 miles or before. Yes, I know
that many/most of 'em go much longer than that, but that's what the
'Pros' will say. The clutch disks in my transmission were worn quite a
bit, most noticable when checking clearances in the clutch packs. Yeah,
they looked like new, but the clearances were much larger with the old
than after installing the replacements, especially in the OD unit.

It makes sense to me that driving habits will affect transmission life
also. A lead foot while accellerating, especially with a heavy load or
trailer puts a helluva strain on things during shifting. If I need to
get 'er up to speed in a hurry, I'll generally allow it to upshift to
3rd, then jam my foot into the injection pump. Once up to 50 or 60 MPH,
I lift my foot and allow the upshift to 4th, then TCC lock under a much
lighter load. Dunno if it helps, but I've SEEN those shitty little parts
that are carrying the torque of that big ol' engine. My reason for using
that description is because I've also been inside of old tractor
transmissions that were meant to carry less than 50 HP. They have HUGE
gears by comparison, but are meant to carry full load for hours on end,
year after year.

                                            <<Jim>>