Major transmission leak......Need help!

7

78gmcroyale

New member
Apr 2, 2015
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Update:

My severe transmission leak continues. On my last trip of 350 miles I used 3 pints of transmission fluid. It's STILL blowing it out of the dipstick
tube.

Vent is clear, new filter with double O-Rings, new aluminum radiator, auxiliary trans cooler per Manny, new fan clutch per Ken Burton. Transmission
oil temp runs around 160 at the pan.

In mid-October I'll be pulling the transmission and bringing it to Steve Turnquist in Minneapolis for a complete rebuild. After talking with Steve he
said it was either a worn pump part or a specific seal/O-Ring that has failed.

Can't handle the stress of this any longer so it's time to get the problem resolved.

Thanks for everyone's help, I sure would have loved to find the silver bullet or an easy solution, but no luck.

Ray
 
Well nobody can say you diddnt try.

Sully
77 eleganza 2
Seattle

> Update:
>
> My severe transmission leak continues. On my last trip of 350 miles I
> used 3 pints of transmission fluid. It's STILL blowing it out of the
> dipstick
> tube.
>
> Vent is clear, new filter with double O-Rings, new aluminum radiator,
> auxiliary trans cooler per Manny, new fan clutch per Ken Burton.
> Transmission
> oil temp runs around 160 at the pan.
>
> In mid-October I'll be pulling the transmission and bringing it to Steve
> Turnquist in Minneapolis for a complete rebuild. After talking with Steve he
> said it was either a worn pump part or a specific seal/O-Ring that has
> failed.
>
> Can't handle the stress of this any longer so it's time to get the problem
> resolved.
>
> Thanks for everyone's help, I sure would have loved to find the silver
> bullet or an easy solution, but no luck.
>
> Ray
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
Thought I would give everyone an update on this 4 year PITA that I've been dealing with. On my last long trip on September 2nd the transmission
burped 2 quarts of fluid out of the dipstick tube in 350 miles, pretty much a normal trip!

I've been preparing to pull the transmission out at the end of October to have it rebuilt.

Well, STILL hoping to avoid that and find a "silver bullet" I changed the filter again 2 weeks ago, the 2nd time this season, I always use a WIX5882
filter with double O-Rings. This time I did something different, when I installed this current filter, after I seated it into the transmission with
the double O-Rings, I held the seated end in place and I pulled down on the opposite intake end which made the seat end deform the filter metal just a
tad. That way the tube with the O-Rings went straight into the transmission and the intake pipe on the other end would be against the bottom of the
ragusa pan (I took measurements first). I did this thinking that if the intake end could drop a tad, the tube and O-Rings could be at a slight angle
making the O-Rings not seat properly. Again before refilling the transmission with fluid I made sure the vent was clear by blowing into the vent and
into the fill tube.

Then I put a hose on my transmission fill tube and a hose back on the vent fitting. I ran both the vent hose and the fill tube hose through the lid
of a large jar secured to the frame.

Drove up to a campground Friday night, drove it hard, 70-75 the wholễ way. Trans oil temp got to about 150, normal is 150-170. Get this.....NOT
ONE DROP OF TRANS FLUID IN THE JAR!! As always, the Transmission shifts perfect and pulls hard in all gears.

On the way home on Sunday, it was a warmer day, drove it hard, 70-75 the whole way home, trans oil temp reached 170. Again, NOT ONE DROP OF TRANS
FLUID IN THE JAR!!!

I've told people that this problem started a few years back when I changed "something"; final drive, trans filter, who knows what else. I find it
hard to believe that I could have done 3 or more transmission filter changes and created a problem after the first change and then repeated it on the
changes after that until this last one. This thing is really messing with my mind!

I have two more trips planned this season, what I think I'll do it drive to the campground with the fill tube hose on, and back home with it off, just
to see if that makes a difference. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, sure would be nice to avoid an $1800 rebuild !

Any thoughts or input to this mind boggling issue? Thanks again for everyone's help on this. Hope those of you that are at the rally are having a
great time.

Ray & Lisa
414-484-9431
 
I think your problem is the extra depth of the Ragusa pan and it allowed the filter to drop like you said and violate the o-ring seal. Probably all
started shortly after you installed that pan.
--
Terry Kelpien

ASE Master Technician

73 Glacier 260

Smithfield, Va.
 
If that filter mod fixed the problem then u certainly are entitled to
$1800!!!!!

Sully
77 eleganza 2
Seattle

> Thought I would give everyone an update on this 4 year PITA that I've been
> dealing with. On my last long trip on September 2nd the transmission
> burped 2 quarts of fluid out of the dipstick tube in 350 miles, pretty
> much a normal trip!
>
> I've been preparing to pull the transmission out at the end of October to
> have it rebuilt.
>
> Well, STILL hoping to avoid that and find a "silver bullet" I changed the
> filter again 2 weeks ago, the 2nd time this season, I always use a WIX5882
> filter with double O-Rings. This time I did something different, when I
> installed this current filter, after I seated it into the transmission with
> the double O-Rings, I held the seated end in place and I pulled down on
> the opposite intake end which made the seat end deform the filter metal
> just a
> tad. That way the tube with the O-Rings went straight into the
> transmission and the intake pipe on the other end would be against the
> bottom of the
> ragusa pan (I took measurements first). I did this thinking that if the
> intake end could drop a tad, the tube and O-Rings could be at a slight angle
> making the O-Rings not seat properly. Again before refilling the
> transmission with fluid I made sure the vent was clear by blowing into the
> vent and
> into the fill tube.
>
> Then I put a hose on my transmission fill tube and a hose back on the vent
> fitting. I ran both the vent hose and the fill tube hose through the lid
> of a large jar secured to the frame.
>
> Drove up to a campground Friday night, drove it hard, 70-75 the wholễ
> way. Trans oil temp got to about 150, normal is 150-170. Get this.....NOT
> ONE DROP OF TRANS FLUID IN THE JAR!! As always, the Transmission shifts
> perfect and pulls hard in all gears.
>
> On the way home on Sunday, it was a warmer day, drove it hard, 70-75 the
> whole way home, trans oil temp reached 170. Again, NOT ONE DROP OF TRANS
> FLUID IN THE JAR!!!
>
> I've told people that this problem started a few years back when I changed
> "something"; final drive, trans filter, who knows what else. I find it
> hard to believe that I could have done 3 or more transmission filter
> changes and created a problem after the first change and then repeated it
> on the
> changes after that until this last one. This thing is really messing with
> my mind!
>
> I have two more trips planned this season, what I think I'll do it drive
> to the campground with the fill tube hose on, and back home with it off,
> just
> to see if that makes a difference. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed,
> sure would be nice to avoid an $1800 rebuild !
>
> Any thoughts or input to this mind boggling issue? Thanks again for
> everyone's help on this. Hope those of you that are at the rally are
> having a
> great time.
>
> Ray & Lisa
> 414-484-9431
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
My coach has always had the Ragusa pan. But this may have started when I did my 1st or 2nd filter change. 1st one was done in 2008 and 2nd in 201
which is about the time this all started. In 2008 I installed a Fram FT1019A, since then I've used the WIX58882 which I've measured diameters, etc
and them are to spec.

I'll see how my next two trips go before I claim a victory on this.

Thanks.
 
Maybe keeping the hose on the dipstick tube going to the "catch can" will keep Murphy at bay and his law won't apply to your transmission anymore! :d
So now you can be ready for the next gremlin...
--
Terry Kelpien

ASE Master Technician

73 Glacier 260

Smithfield, Va.
 
This is a story from a long time ago when I was a teenager. I was traveling in a Pontiac with my scoutmaster which happened to hold a PHD in
chemistry and worked for Standard Oil Research which we now known as BP. We were headed to the Boundry waters canoe area in Northern Wisconsin.

We stopped at a toll booth along the way in Illinois and when we tried to pull out the car would not move. It was also blowing trans fluid out the
vent all over the place. He said "I knew we should have changed the trans fluid." He explained that trans fluid had anti-foaming agents in it that
wear out over time or dissipate much more rapidly when the oil has been heated up.

We all got out and pushed the car over to the side of the road and sat there for about an hour to let it cool. Then he started it and we drove away.
He eventually went looking for a particular brand of trans fluid and had it changed on the spot. We did not have any more problems on that trip. I
asked him a couple of years later about that trans problem. He still had the same car with no additional trans problems. I can not tell you the
brand he used and also that was 65 years ago or more.

Have you considered changing trans fluid to another brand?
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
 
Well here's another update......GEEZ!

As in my last post things were going great.

For my first 3 trips I had a hoses on the vent and on the transmission dipstick fill tube. Both hoses went into a jar with a loose fit. Not one drop
of transmission oil in the jar after those 3 trips.

Yesterday on my 225 mile trip back from the campground I decided to remove the tube from the dipstick tube and put the dipstick back in. Well, the
dam thing burped out 1 quart of transmission fluid out of the dipstick tube on the way home.

I'm totally baffled. WHY would it burp out fluid when the dipstick is in, and not when the hose is connected. The dipstick has notches in the rubber
at the top so it is well vented. Transmission rear vent is also clear. I don't get it, would someone just shoot me!

Ray
 
Well here's another update......GEEZ!

As in my last post things were going great.

For my first 3 trips I had a hoses on the vent and on the transmission dipstick fill tube. Both hoses went into a jar with a loose fit. Not one drop
of transmission oil in the jar after those 3 trips.

Yesterday on my 225 mile trip back from the campground I decided to remove the tube from the dipstick tube and put the dipstick back in. Well, the dam
thing burped out 1 quart of transmission fluid out of the dipstick tube on the way home.

I'm totally baffled. WHY would it burp out fluid when the dipstick is in, and not when the hose is connected. The dipstick has notches in the rubber
at the top so it is well vented. Transmission rear vent is also clear. I don't get it, would someone just shoot me!

Ray
 
Ray, the trick is to vent ONLY the pressure, and not FLUID. What is
different about your setup, compared to how it came from the factory?
Somewhere therein lies your solution. Without being there and actually
having hands on the problem, it is a difficult thing to assess. But the
same can be said for being too close to the problem. Hope you are able to
solve this. It would drive me nuts.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

> Well here's another update......GEEZ!
>
> As in my last post things were going great.
>
> For my first 3 trips I had a hoses on the vent and on the transmission
> dipstick fill tube. Both hoses went into a jar with a loose fit. Not one
> drop
> of transmission oil in the jar after those 3 trips.
>
> Yesterday on my 225 mile trip back from the campground I decided to remove
> the tube from the dipstick tube and put the dipstick back in. Well, the dam
> thing burped out 1 quart of transmission fluid out of the dipstick tube on
> the way home.
>
> I'm totally baffled. WHY would it burp out fluid when the dipstick is in,
> and not when the hose is connected. The dipstick has notches in the rubber
> at the top so it is well vented. Transmission rear vent is also clear. I
> don't get it, would someone just shoot me!
>
> Ray
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
Leave the dipstick out of the tube except to check level???

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________________________________
From: Gmclist on behalf of Ray Erspamer
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2016 09:09
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Major transmission leak......Need help!

Well here's another update......GEEZ!

As in my last post things were going great.

For my first 3 trips I had a hoses on the vent and on the transmission dipstick fill tube. Both hoses went into a jar with a loose fit. Not one drop
of transmission oil in the jar after those 3 trips.

Yesterday on my 225 mile trip back from the campground I decided to remove the tube from the dipstick tube and put the dipstick back in. Well, the dam
thing burped out 1 quart of transmission fluid out of the dipstick tube on the way home.

I'm totally baffled. WHY would it burp out fluid when the dipstick is in, and not when the hose is connected. The dipstick has notches in the rubber
at the top so it is well vented. Transmission rear vent is also clear. I don't get it, would someone just shoot me!

Ray

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I'm past the point of this driving me nuts. For the first 5-6 years I never even thought about transmission fluid, now every single trip I fear being
stranded. This is not much fun.
 
Put the hose back on and only put the stick in when you need to check the
fluid and move on.

My 2c

Sully
77 eleganza 2
Seattle

> I'm past the point of this driving me nuts. For the first 5-6 years I
> never even thought about transmission fluid, now every single trip I fear
> being
> stranded. This is not much fun.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
Ken Burton had mentioned that some fluids have better anti foaming capabilities.

Could it be the brand of fluid I'm using. I've tried both standard and synthetic, but I usually always buy Valvoline Max Life.

Anyone have any bad experiences with that brand or recommend a better brand??
 
Here is my latest update.

Yesterday we removed the transmission from the GMC, only took 4 hours, much easier job than I anticipated. It goes in for a complete rebuild on
Monday to Steve Turnquist, Transformation Performance Transmission Inc. in Minneapolis. This firm comes highly recommended by other GMC owners in the
area.

Upon removal we checked the final drive and transmission for any obvious problems, didn't find anything. I'm really hoping that during the rebuild
they can find and define the problem on why it was blowing out so much fluid. The past several trips we were going through 1 qt every 75-100 miles.

I will keep the group posted.

Ray
 
Transmission Fluid Leak Update 11-7-16

Due to the stress this subject was causing me for the last several years, the past 10 days I've done the following:
1. Removed the transmission and final drive from the coach.
2. Delivered the transmission to Steve Turnquist in Minneapolis for a complete inspection and rebuild.
3. As long as the final drive was out I delivered it to John Biwersi in St. Paul for a complete inspection.

On the transmission, Steve found many worn parts, hard seals, bad bearings etc. He rebuilt it with many upgraded heavy duty parts, plates, clutches,
torque converter, etc.

I want to add a note that I know Manny also does incredible work on transmissions, I elected to go this route on my rebuild to save the shipping costs
between California and Wisconsin and Steve was able to give me a 3 days turn around time. Per other GMC'ers on the net both Steve & Manny do very
comparable & excellent work.

On the final drive, John Biwersi is extremely knowledgeable of final drives and has literally every tool and bench fixture needed to work on them. He
did the following:
1. The large outer pinion bearing was questionable with a series of small chips in the race, he replaced both pinion bearings and races.
2. He replaced both pinion seals.
3. As long as it was out of the coach and on the bench, at my request he also replaced both drive shaft seals.
4. He checked the backlash and made adjustments accordingly disassembling and reassembling major components MANY times until things were perfect.

Both Steve Turnquist and John Biwersi are incredible meticulous people to work with and they bent over backwards to give me outstanding quality work
with quick turn around times. Transmission rebuild was 3 days, final drive was 2 days. Costs from each were fair and competitive.

CONCLUSION:
After getting the rebuilt transmission and final drive reinstalled into the coach we went on a 250 mile test run yesterday.
Before the transmission rebuild I'd lose close to 1 quart of transmission fluid every 100 miles, on the test run yesterday there was NO LOSS of fluid
and not a drop of fluid anywhere under the coach. Transmission temperatures were also down significantly after the rebuild.

My problem has been solved and now I can get back to relaxing and enjoyable GMC traveling.

I want to thank all of you for your great support on this, you've all been awesome.

Have a great day!

Ray
 
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