I rolled my truck into a ditch onto it's side. It sat on its side over night in -25* celsius winter. Tranny fluid leaked out of the filler tube. It was all frozen the next day. When I got it onto the road there was no apparant damage. When started and put in gear the transmission would not engage. Put in a litre of tranny fluid and then it worked. Now everything is settled and when the truck is not warmed up the engine must be revved to start it slowly moving. Could there be ice in the fluid? I think it may also now have too much tranny fluid. Plus there is a rattle from below the transfer case shifter and it won't go into 4h unless it is stopped in nuetral. It used to go in only when moving in gear. What is happening?

 

that sucks sorry to hear that, i dont know what to tell ya bout the auto.

 

First thing I would do is a fluid and filter change on the tranny. There is a slight chance this will cure the hesitation going into gear. Also when you have the tranny pan off you can do a better job of inspecting and you can also get to the reverse band? for adjusting it, the other band adj. is on the outside of the tranny. Use the service manual specs for the adjustment, don't just crank them down until thier tight. Not sure what to tell you on the t-case, maybe the linkage got bent and is trying to engage 4x and it's grinding a little it might have broken the mounts kicking everything out of line too. Any way good luck let us know if you make any progress.

 

If you are not doing this already, after starting your truck, slide it into neutral right away to fill the torque converter, they won't fill in park. This cold weather changes fluid viscosity and any pumps efficiency.
If all things were fine prior to your sliding in the ditch, I would say unless you did some damage trying to get it moving the first time, the trans should still be the same. Check the trans fluid, hot in neutral, and adjust accordingly. As flake said, do a visual check your t/case linkages, fluid etc.

 

Thanks alot gang, will do tomorrow, there is also a hissing sound coming from behind the heater a/c controls now. I thought maybe cuz it was on it's side for so long it is like a fridge being on it's side which apparantley can screw up a fridge or my air conditioning system. I am no expert thats why I'm here.
BTW I don't post much cuz my questions usually get answered just by reading the forum...which is awesome of course
thanks

 

Had the exact same thing happen except mine was only on it's side for a couple hours and temps were right at freezing. Short version of a long story ... logging truck and a sharp blind curve ... head on or ditch.

I had to add fluid and let it run in neutral for a little while. Been fine ever since. That was over 2 years ago. No experience witht he transfer case so can't help there. As for the hiss, check for a broken vacuum fitting. Might have accidently kicked it a broke when you went on the adventure ride.

ON mine, I climbed out the drivers window onto the tire and stepped 2 feet up onto the road. Not a ride I want to repeat. Luckily, I stoped where I did cause the ground was about 6 feet below my passneger door.

Carl

 

Sounds like trans fluid is still low. Checking in neutral will usually read about 3/4 quart lower than in park. (on the older mopar transmissions I'm used to) The fluid reading should be about at the add mark cold. For a minute I thought you might have gotten water in the trans but at -25 there probably wasn't much water around. You could easilly have broken a trans or motor mount causing the t-case problems. Hissing noise would most likely be a vacuum line off one of the vent or heater doors. Sounds like you got lucky you didn't do more damage.

 

thats a TOUGH **** TRUCK!!!

snap some pics of if you can...

 

Well I finally found out the problem with the hissing sound. I had punctured the radiator. Something, maybe a branch, poked a hole and I didn't notice till it got big, spraying coolant causing the belt to slip and screwing with the voltage gauge then temp gauge. Took it in and $150 cdn later...fixed. They charged me $45 for 3 jugs of coolant, $60 for labor and $40 "to fix the hole" whatever that means. At least they did it quick and I still got to go atv'n with my buddies.

 

Oh yeah, the tranny fixed itself........???