amsoil and a 4r100

[tcorns]

a buddy of mine who is selling amsoil, changed the tranny fluid in my superduty and now i have a problem. he drained it, flushed it out and replaced the pan filter (drained the converter also). refilled using amsoil fluid and found no leaks. i picked it up last friday night and drove from hillsboro to lawrenceburg with no problems, and a few times to work and back. all total of less then 300 miles. friday night i left a restaurant and when i started it up it sounded like rocks in a can. drove it home and then to work that night.
after researching some powerstroke sites i have come to the conclusion that the converter may be toast. anyway to check for sure? if it is do i need to go through the tranny (remaned 4 years ago and about 30-40,000 miles ago)? anybody heard of amsoil doing this?

thanks
trev

[Goldenpony]

As long as you put the right amount of the right type of fluid in, I doubt it was the Amsoil that was the problem.

[tcorns]

any idea what the issue could be? perfectly good tranny until the fluid was changed. less then 1 week and less then 300 miles and i have junk now. the guy who did the fluid change is supposed to come by tonight and look at it and let me know what he thinks.

trev

[Black Horse]

Did you re-check the level after you got it up to temperature?

[PonymanfiveO]

Call Travis at 2L Motorsports, he specializes in Power Strokes and 4r100's

(859) 991-8337

[beefcake]

the 4r100 in general is a great tranny, thats what comes in the lightnings.

my last L i put a factory tech monster box in and it had 700hp and 900 ft/lbs and held up great

[tcorns]

i'll try to call in the morning.
fluid level is fine. the guy who did the work stopped by today and we talked about it for a bit. he seperated the converter from the flywheel and checked for cracks. best he could tell there were none. he tried a stethoscope setup and could not diferentiate between forward or aft of the converter. the only other thing he could come up with is a bad injector. doing some research shows it as a posibility but i have nothing to check it with... i guess this is a good reason to but the autoenginuity program.
if it is a rod... i can see that being a cheap fix!!! i am just glad that the truck is not a primary vehicle.

thanks for the help so far

trev

[Black Horse]

How did you drain the converter?

[craigels]

A bad injector wouldn't sound like "rocks in a can" That sound is almost always associated with the torque converter going bad. You can check for burnt fluid, material in the pan etc. Most likely tore a stator up or something. Best way to check is to take it out and roll it across the floor. Do like Matt said above and call Travis, he's the expert on 4R100s and PSDs.


Craig

[craigels]

How did you drain the converter?

Most of the super duty converters have a drain plug in them and a hole in the bell housing to get to it. How did he fill it is the question...??


Craig

[Black Horse]

Exactley!

[tcorns]

not sure about how he filled the converter. it has plenty of fluid and moves fine in gear. he did say he drained the converter, so i thought the plug may have come loose but that is not the case. i talked to travis today. what a great guy to take some time out of his day to help a person who he has never met! i would give the beer smiley but i am not that talented! he seems to beleive that the converter has gone out of it and he offered to help me locate a new one. he said that i should just change that if the fluid is clean and free of debris. i will be submitting an oil sample to amsoil just in case they find something and i will have an independent test done also. at least i have some vacation coming up and i can get the front half in the garage. any recommendations on doing the tranny in a superduty 4x4?
i did find an early 99 engine for sale that needs rebuilt. the guy said one cylander has been scored but that can be resleeved. 400 shipped to me and the worst is i have a spare on the stand. thinking about doing it just in case it isn't the converter and it realy is a bearing. any suggestions?
mods sorry about the original post location. i was just looking mainly for generic info and this starting to get a bit more into it then i thought it would.

thanks to all
trev

[Black Horse]

Make sure the drain plug is not hitting the Case.

[RACEME]

Is it a deisel? I just did my 01 f350 PSD a few months ago and it was easy except for the fact that the trans is a heavy sucker. I made a special bracket out of wood and used my standard floor jack.

[Dirtyd0g]

OEM converters aren't that great until the 05+ model years. I prefer to run john deere hygard in these.
Alan

[tcorns]

yeah it is a diesel, and when it was out last time i remember it being a heavy sob (thank god i paid someone else to do it). i barly clear the top of the door on the garage and won't fit inside enough to close the door. i am curious to know if this thing will come out from under the truck. my 99 has a small lift on the front and larger tires.
i heard from my buddy and he said amsoil is sending the info for warranty work. so hopefully i won't have to worry about it. does anybody know of any transmission shops in blue ash. they did the work last time and i need to try and get a receipt from them if possible. if i remember right the shop was not to far off of 275 then right off of the exit (i was coming from batavia) then down a few blocks then left. i remeber the guy had a ton of classic cars in the shop.

thanks
trev

[Black Horse]

You might also want to check and make sure the flex-plate isn't cracked. I have heard weird noises due to this as well.

[tcorns]

we seperated the converter and didn't see any evidence of cracking but then we could not see the entire thing. you would think that it would continue the noise throughtout the rpm rage, but mine stops just off of idle.

i got the sample kit today and siphoned off about 3 oz of fluid. god does that stuff stink. i have never smelled anything that bad before (and i have dealt with some funky smelling dead people!!!). it will be going out with ups tomorrow to indianapolis for lab work. no heavy prticulates and it was red around the edge of the jar but the fluid was almost black. oh well worst they will say is that everything is fine and the problem is something else with my luck! should know sometime in the next week. god i miss my truck...

trev

[Rick93coupe]

OEM converters aren't that great until the 05+ model years. I prefer to run john deere hygard in these.
Alan

Lots of guys switching to Hyguard in there race transmissions too. Just a dab of atf for color on the dip stick. I think that's what I'll run in my TH400.

[tcorns]

well it's done! i finally picked it up today. there is a performance diesel shop 2 miles from my house and he took care of me. torque converter was shot so i now have a brand new suncoast single disc billet converter. he also replaced the flexplate bolts and changed out the rear main while he was in there. nothing found in the pan and the fluid looked good. so back together it went and it runs good. we'll see when i hook the camper up in a few weeks.
thanks for all of the help and ideas guys.

trev

[Dirtyd0g]

well it's done! i finally picked it up today. there is a performance diesel shop 2 miles from my house and he took care of me. torque converter was shot so i now have a brand new suncoast single disc billet converter. he also replaced the flexplate bolts and changed out the rear main while he was in there. nothing found in the pan and the fluid looked good. so back together it went and it runs good. we'll see when i hook the camper up in a few weeks.
thanks for all of the help and ideas guys.

trev


Suncoast single disc in place of a triple disk that your had from the factory. Ouch is all I can say. Making me think I quoted you too low so you went and spent way more on a lesser unit. I have been through those suncoast single disk converters quite a few times. I would sooner use an OEM unit than that reworked cummins diesel converter from suncoast. They don't last long in the cummins diesels either. The only advantage is that they are larger and very thick cased. They weigh allot most people that use heavy converters like that (ATS is a quality example) have to run the expensive billet flexplate or the pump bushing will be wiped out in no time.
When it starts leaking out the front just have a new pump on hand before you pull it out.
Alan

[tcorns]

not that i know much about converters... i was not aware that the factory one is a triple disc unit. the shop that i used builds nothing but diesel trucks for street/towing, street/pulling, and full blown pulling rigs. i spent tons of time talking to him about what i wanted and the route to go. as for price of parts... yours was a good bit better, but he was just around the corner and if something happened i would have no problem getting it to his shop.

trev

[beefcake]

the stock unit is a good piece, on both lightnings i had i cut cut 1.6 60's

use to amaze me how well the truck did

good luck with that setup