2006 CTD 4x4 auto

Last week I started noticing some shifting hesitation and just awkward behavior in rig. I don't tow or haul, its just my daily highway driver like many of the rigs on this board. Friday night I pull out of a restaurant parking lot and notice the spot my truck was in was decorated with spots that weren't there when I arrived. I pull out of the parking lot and it does not want to pull out of first gear so i pull over to a gas station and the whole underside of the rig is shiny. I manage to limp back home and finally had a chance to look at it today.

I read in other threads it might be recall issue with one of the hoses that fail when it gets cold. We have had steady 20 degree weather in Houston for the past month so I figured that could be the case. I check the transmission fluid and sure enough it barely reads on the dipstick so I fill it up. I wipe down the transmission with a shop rag to get a better idea of the source and fire up my truck. I find fluid pooling up on a bolt I on the transmission pan but after several wipes I realized it was not the gasket up a source above the pan. After several wipes, denial and many many many many choice words I accepted there was a crack transmission housing.

I have very (read none) limited experience with transmissions so my question-

1)Does this require replacement of the transmission?
2)How much risk do I put on the transmission by refilling it as it leaks out while I figure out my best approach?
3)What are your suggested next steps?

 

Your gonna have to drop the trans and get it fixed. The leak cna get worse and you rung the risk of toasting the rest of the trans if it happens on the road, not to mention what happens if it breaks and and stresses the case.

Check your drive shafts, front and rear, for stiff or frozen u-joints. Common cause is the cardan joint binding and stessing things. Adapter mounts can break and allow the TQ to twist things too much. These things don't normally break and almost always there is a contributory factor. Good luck.

 

Thanks man, define "get fixed." Can they pull everything out of the housing assuming it is in good condition and just replace the housing? This is helpful.

 

Yep, if its all good its a simple swap. You might want to have things gone thru, seals updated, clutch packs redone, and the sloppy stock tolerances tightened to make a better trans out of it.

If your not buying a bunch of billet parts and doing exotic things the rebuild kits are less than $500 and a good sigle disk TC is around $600. Depending on what the builder wants for labor you can have a solid trans built for less than $2000.

 

Thanks again, turns out the vibrations i was experiencing was the U-joints going out which caused the crack. I took it to a family friend who is a transmission wiz who ordered a new housing and rebuilt the tranny for me and tightened her up for me like you said. he also replace the u joints and and such. she runs like new now!!!

 

have it welded, i do it all the time, call Jerry @ 817-480-0910 he can weld anything....no joke