Topic: What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?

[Terry in Australia]

The 1998 Ford Exploder I bought in 2015's transmission is slipping bad. In the time I've had it, nothing's gone wrong with it, I paid the princely sum of $1600 for it, it was in minty condition with one lady owner for 15 years, and one big Kiwi (New Zealander) for 2, who hardly drove it. My son needed a car, so I loaned it to him, and he's done over 60,000 miles in the last 5 years, with pretty much no maintenance. (one or two oil and filter changes, perhaps)

Of course, the poor old Exploder is now parked in front of my house, and he's driving the spare Hyundai. I think I'll spend $26 and buy a bottle of Lucas Transmission Fix, and see if it lives up to the hype. I love that old truck, but I'm not sure if it's worth investing in a reconditioned transmission........  

[RAFster122s]

Flush the old fluid out of the transmission. Transmission fluid in auto transmission should be changed every 15k miles. If it is looking at 60k miles then fluid is likely black and smelling burnt. You may need to change it a couple times to work all the crud out of it. Neglect kills the tranny more than miles.

[bear]

When I pulled up in my driveway yesterday, I sat there with the motor idling for five minutes while I was on the phone.
I got out and all I could smell was diesel. Sure enough there was a pool of the stuff under the truck when I looked.
I swear to to God I'm gunna burn this truck!
At least that won't be to difficult at the moment.

[Terry in Australia]

Flush the old fluid out of the transmission. Transmission fluid in auto transmission should be changed every 15k miles. If it is looking at 60k miles then fluid is likely black and smelling burnt. You may need to change it a couple times to work all the crud out of it. Neglect kills the tranny more than miles.

Thanks David, is there a way of removing the old fluid without dropping the pan? (or shooting a hole in it with my gun) Can I suck it out the dipstick hole? That sounds rather vulgar when I read it back, but you're right, the old fluid is very dark, and it smokes when hot. My son (same one) has a 2002 Exploder that's been sitting in my back yard for 8 years, it has a low mileage engine and transmission in it, I might offer to trade him my '09 Mitsubishi Outlander for it, the Outlander is in much better condition, is registered and roadworthy but I need to keep him on the road, in the hope that he'll move out again soon..........    

[RAFster122s]

Transmission has a drain plug just like your oil pan normally but it is likely that you need to drop the pan the first time to change the transmission filter. Most of the Ford's after 2000 used a permanent gasket on the pan, as long as it isn't damaged. Might be good to have a shop do this job for you. Flange of pan normally get some light hammer work to ensure the bolts are not dumpling the flange face causing a leak. Some light blows with hammer to flatten the area where the bolts are.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks David, I’ll check it out, I don’t want to wait until after the lockdown (local tran shop is closed, not sure if it’s CV related) and I’m currently looking at vids on youtube how to flush the trans without dropping the pan. If new fluid and a bottle of Lucas transmission fix shows an improvement it’ll do until I can get it to a shop, post the zombie apocalypse. I can get the fluids delivered to my door, which suits me fine.

[RAFster122s]

When I did the V8 in my Crown Vic a couple years ago it took 13 quarts of fluid to refill. So, be sure you have enough. The cooler in the radiator or aux cooler need to be accounted for when buying your fluid.

[Don R]

 I had 6 tires dismounted and two put on. I'll still need two more for my dually truck put on the Alcoa mags.

[Terry in Australia]

When I did the V8 in my Crown Vic a couple years ago it took 13 quarts of fluid to refill. So, be sure you have enough. The cooler in the radiator or aux cooler need to be accounted for when buying your fluid.

Thanks mate, yep, the ATF flush is the way to go, watching all those vids I only realised that when a standard “Fluid and filter change” is done, they only replace the fluid in the pan, which only accounts for around on third of the fluid in the transmission, which is dumb. I’ll flush mine at the trans cooler end, replace all the fluid, and throw in a bottle or two of Lucas transmission fix. Hopefully that’ll get it going again.

[scottly]

My little '14 Chevy Sonic with a 6 speed auto trans has No dipstick, much less a drain plug on the pan. The dealer service is to put the trans on a "dialyses" machine to flush the fluid. They don't drop the pan or change the filter, even for the pick-ups...

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, Supercheap Auto here will sell me one of those "Transmission Dialysis Machines" for around 5 grand Scott, but I'll settle for a bucket and a couple of pieces of hose, and a funnel.

[mrbreeze]

It's a tough call Terry. Sometimes new fluid helps and sometimes it's the final nail in the coffin. Running new fluid through may help loosen up sticky valves but it won't do anything for missing clutch material . If the clutches have gone south you likely have a plugged or partially plugged filter. What I have always done without the aid of a flush machine is use an evacuator and get what you can out of the dip stick tube. Replace what came out and run it . After you do that 2 or 3 times then drop the pan and change the filter. It may seem like money down the drain but still way cheaper than a new tranny. Most vehicles don't have a drain plug on the pan but you can install your own being careful where you place it so not to interfere with anything inside. A lot of older cars even had a drain plug in the torque converter but I haven't seen one in like forever. Nowadays most don't even have a dipstick anymore which I think is ridiculous. If your fluid has a really bad burnt smell to it and doesn't smell anything at all like trans fluid you're probably too late to save it.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Fred, yep, I think mine might be on it’s last legs, but it’s like a faithful old dog, I would like to give it a chance before I take it around the back of the shed, with my rifle.....

[72 yellow]

2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee.  Trying to find where the water is leaking in to the passenger side foot well.  Just sealed around the antenna wire where it enters the firewall.  Tried to locate other spots where water might get in.  If I can be successful there, then I have to find which blend door is not working.

[Terry in Australia]

Not a leaking heater core mate? I suppose you’d have noticed coolant leaking though? It used to be common with older cars here, I still remember going to look at a Holden Monaro (Aussie V8 musclecar) and being repelled by the mouldy stench therein. Monaro’s are worth big money now, so I should have bought it anyway, but I would have had to replace the carpets and hopefully the floor wouldn’t have been rotted out.

[RAFster122s]

Heater core is generally in a box within passenger cabin and it has a small drain for condensation, if it is clogged, then you can get water leaks into the cabin. Spray on foot powder might help you isolate where the leak is at if you can get down to area where it isn't going to be running along wires and hoses under dash.

[FrankenFrankenstuff]

2003 Mini Cooper S starter....ridiculous.  I used about 3 feet of socket extensions so I didnt have to remove the exhaust manifold.  Yes. You read that correct.

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[Don R]

 I picked up a bunch of tires and wheels, four for the Firebird and two for my Dually truck. I'll go back next month for two more Dually tires. After the checkbook heals up a little.
 Then I mocked up the wheels on the firebird and measured to confirm the axle housing width and filled out the axle order form for new rear axles and bearings.

[Terry in Australia]

2003 Mini Cooper S starter....ridiculous.  I used about 3 feet of socket extensions so I didnt have to remove the exhaust manifold.  Yes. You read that correct.

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Welcome back Franky! Yep, the new Mini's are made by BMW, and anything BMW make is gonna be over engineered, fragile, and in the most counter intuitive place possible. Does it have a water cooled alternator? I sh1t you not, lots of BMW cars had water cooled alternators, which all failed very early in life. That's what happens when the engineers aren't reigned back by the bean counters.  

[FrankenFrankenstuff]

Ha! Thank Terry. Well....now I am psychologically prepared.

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[spotty]

All the electrical problems noted above have mysteriously disappeard and the windows and doors work fine
It has added a new trick to its game though, if you close the doors with the windows up it will lock itself some time later, windows down and it doesn't....
Fcuking thing is on drugs I tell you

[dave500]

little european cars are #$%* full stop,can we not mention them again?

[72 yellow]

Not a leaking heater core mate? I suppose you’d have noticed coolant leaking though? It used to be common with older cars here, I still remember going to look at a Holden Monaro (Aussie V8 musclecar) and being repelled by the mouldy stench therein. Monaro’s are worth big money now, so I should have bought it anyway, but I would have had to replace the carpets and hopefully the floor wouldn’t have been rotted out.

Jeep was just sitting in the driveway.  I ran a stream of water for quite a while over the windshield and passenger door and no leaks.  We had a heavy downpour yesterday and there was water on the floor.  Maybe rain water has smaller molecules than tap water ? 

[Terry in Australia]

little european cars are #$%* full stop,can we not mention them again?

Yep, I'm trying to think of one decent, almost bulletproof European car Dave, and all I can come up with is a really old air cooled Volkswagen beetle. Just about everything that's come out of Europe since the 70's is garbage. I used to work with a guy who boasted that he owned 3 Saab turbo's. I asked him why he drove a Camry to work, and he looked down at his feet and mumbled, "Because I own 3 Saab turbo's.........."  

[BenelliSEI]

72 Yellow. I had the same problem with my ‘03 Grand Cherokee. From memory (it was a while ago), there are one (or two?) rubber drain pipes from the well where the windshield wiper motor and mechanism sits. The passenger side pipe was plugged and in a long hard rain it would fill up and end up on the floor. I think the pip travelled up inside the back of the front fenders, so I may have blown compressed air up from the bottom? Have a look....... Good Luck.