Stuck in Ponderay, ID

ghickey

ghickey

Member
Jun 12, 2019
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Good evening to everyone.

I am on my way from Seattle to Florida and stopped off to see a friend in Ponderay, ID (just north of Sandpoint, ID). Once I got off I-90 on to US-95 in Coeur d'Alene the RV was having a harder time to shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. I got up to my friends house and talked to another friend that was thinking about the transmission fluid level. In checking that, I found the fluid very dark. Yesterday I drained the transmission fluid and put new fluid in. The maintenance manual states that it should take 4 quarts and that is what I put in.

I left a little while ago and made it about 4 miles when I had problems starting from a stoplight. High RPMs and but RV was not moving very fast. Got in the breakdown lane and found that really could not move the RV any further. Contacted friend #2 again and he thought that 4 quarts was not enough. Got more fluid and put another 2 quarts in to have it register in the hot zone on the dip stick. I had it registered on the dip stick yesterday, but as I learned from friend #2 I should have been reading it with the engine running. After the 2 additional quarts, I got a very slight amount of movement, but at high RPM (around 3000).

So now I am stuck, have to find a shop to (probably) get the transmission rebuilt either up here in Sandpoint or down in Coeur d'Alene. If there an anyone that has a good knowledge of this area and have any recommendations, I would greatly appreciate it. Or if anyone has any thoughts on what is going on in the transmission, I would love to hear them.

Gerard
425-395-4554
 
As for the transmission, you likely let all the smoke out and burned it up. (been there, done that)

We lost our transmission on a cross country trip from VA to Yellowstone about 6 years ago. Luckily the community had a spare and we were able to get it replaced pretty quickly all things considered. We got "lucky" though and broke down where there were a lot of people (outside Chicago). You unfortunately are pretty much in the middle of nowhere in comarison. But GMCers will never not surprise me.
 
werewilfs said:
GMCers within 2 hours from where you are currently. (This is from the BlackList)


Hensley, Joe
Spokane, WA 99203
509-838-1206
c 509-979-5966
jojehensley@yahoo.com
2/9/2015

Jitkov, Vadim
Pullman, WA 99163
509-432-4881
vadim.jitkov@gmail.com
New to GMC Motorhomes,
but have lots of mechanical
experience and willing to lend a
hand. 11/10/2016
Click to expand...
Yep, I have already started calling the blacklist to see if there are any recommendations for shops or what resources are available in the area. Thanks for the thought.
 
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Gerard,
What you describe is just about exactly how my transmission failed.
As it turned out, missinstalled seals in the final drive that I had installed that spring allowed my transmission to go low on fluid through the final drive. Unfortunately, the one thing our relatively bulletproof transmissions do not tolerate is low fluid.
Oddly enough, I still had reverse gear and was able to back into a safe place until I was towed. The Black List is your friend here. Larry Weidner came to our rescue in most amazing ways. Good luck, don't give up, and keep us informed on your progress.
 
Gerard, I replied to a post on FB (maybe your wife).

I am about 135 miles from Ponderay, in Eastern WA.

I have a fresh 'Manny Tranny' that was bought as part of a group buy some years ago.
It's still in the crate, never installed. I bought it from a fellow near Olympia named Nobel Warrant, you may be familiar with the name.

It looks like I am selling my GMC, and no longer have a need for a spare transmission. I would be happy to sell it for what I paid for it, which is what Nobel told me he paid for it in the group buy. $1600.

I can deliver it to Ponderay on Sunday (or most days after that) for $100 in fuel money.

If interested, Message, text, or E-Mail.

kbeefy1@gmail.com
509 919-1112

Ken
 
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kbeefy said:
Gerard, I replied to a post on FB (maybe your wife).

I am about 135 miles from Ponderay, in Eastern WA.

I have a fresh 'Manny Tranny' that was bought as part of a group buy some years ago.
It's still in the crate, never installed. I bought it from a fellow near Olympia named Nobel Warrant, you may be familiar with the name.

It looks like I am selling my GMC, and no longer have a need for a spare transmission. I would be happy to sell it for what I paid for it, which is what Nobel told me he paid for it in the group buy. $1600.

I can deliver it to Ponderay on Sunday (or most days after that) for $100 in fuel money.

If interested, Message, text, or E-Mail.

kbeefy1@gmail.com
509 919-1112

Ken
Click to expand...
That sounds great! I have a bunch of calls to make in the morning to look for a shop to do the work and I will talk to the shops about putting in the transmission. I will be in touch tomorrow mid-morning or early afternoon as I find a shop that can do the work to work out the logistics.

Thank you, thank you.
 
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ghickey said:
That sounds great! I have a bunch of calls to make in the morning to look for a shop to do the work and I will talk to the shops about putting in the transmission. I will be in touch tomorrow mid-morning or early afternoon as I find a shop that can do the work to work out the logistics.

Thank you, thank you.
Click to expand...
Have them install a tru-cooler 40,000 gvw tranny cooler. You probably do not want to reuse the cooler you have as it might be contaminated now.

Hopefully you find a shop. This seems like a good plan to get on the road quickly as possible. The tranny change in these is really not that difficult. I have seem people have even done a swap on side of road in extreme need. The worst is getting jacked up high enough to get the old tranny out from underneath and the new one back under. But if they have a lift to hoist the gmc in the air…. No big deal.

Good luck.
 
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IF you have a way of leaving the old trans with a GMC'r in the area, please do so. if nothing else it could be rebuilt or used as a parts transmission. Parts for the 425 are becoming scarce and I'd hate to see this trans end up crushed in some junk yard. Jon's suggestion of getting a new cooler is right on. Do NOT try to flush out the cooler in the radiator or any aux cooler. It is almost impossible to adequately clear out the debris caught in the cracks and crevices of the coolers, and they will come loose and circulate in your new trans, possibly causing wear and damage. IMO, use only Mobile 1 synthetic ATF. If your journey takes you across country on I90/I94, and you come through Wisconsin, you are welcome to stop at our place in Menomonie WI for a night or longer. We are about 10mi off of I94 on a dead end country road. We have 30amp and water, and access to a city dump station. Call us the day before to make sure we are home. Safe travels.
 
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LarryW said:
IF you have a way of leaving the old trans with a GMC'r in the area, please do so. if nothing else it could be rebuilt or used as a parts transmission. Parts for the 425 are becoming scarce and I'd hate to see this trans end up crushed in some junk yard. Jon's suggestion of getting a new cooler is right on. Do NOT try to flush out the cooler in the radiator or any aux cooler. It is almost impossible to adequately clear out the debris caught in the cracks and crevices of the coolers, and they will come loose and circulate in your new trans, possibly causing wear and damage. IMO, use only Mobile 1 synthetic ATF. If your journey takes you across country on I90/I94, and you come through Wisconsin, you are welcome to stop at our place in Menomonie WI for a night or longer. We are about 10mi off of I94 on a dead end country road. We have 30amp and water, and access to a city dump station. Call us the day before to make sure we are home. Safe travels.
Click to expand...
Well I am hoping that I will be able to transport the old transmission in the GMC back to Florida. I would not mind having it rebuilt to have a spare or help someone else in the future. At least that is my hope--just not sure how practical that is at the moment.

Thank you and Jon for the suggestion of having a new cooler installed. That is one thing I would not have thought of.

Yes, my planned route is to take I-90 through to Chicago and then catch I-75 down to Florida. With a small side trip into Ohio to visit the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. So yes, it would be wonderful to make a side trip to visit you. I see your contact information on the blacklist and will make contact with you as I start to make it out that way.

Thanks.

Gerard.
 
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I was just talking to Bob Dunahue(SP?) and he asked if I traveled with a bottle of TransX in the coach. He swears by it for those times when a GMC tranny stops working. It's a last chance miracle cure , what do you have to lose?


He said, put it in and idle it for a while (15min?) , shut it off and wait 2 hours. Start it up and try the gears, if you see some improvement, shut it off and wait another hour or two. Repeat. You might be surprised and you'll only be out a few bucks in 'miracle oil' / snake oil.

I'd say it's worth a try.
 
Last edited:
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I would be curious what a line pressure test would show. It's possible you were low on fluid, aerated what fluid there was because the pump was sucking air, and started burning up friction materials due to low line pressures allowing for all the slippage. Adding more fluid may have allowed the line pressure to go back up, but it could be too late due to the previous damage to friction linings.

Or, there's another scenario:
Your line pressure is still low, even after adding fluid. The friction linings aren't happy due to all the slippage, but maybe they'd start grabbing again if line pressure were adequate. It's possible the low line pressure is due to an internal seal leak, and it's also possible that TransX could help here.

Either way, Ken's offer sounds like a real blessing. I'd take him up on that in a heartbeat. If TransX did get your coach moving again, you've got a long ways to go. I wouldn't leave without having Ken's transmission in hand.
 
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kbeefy said:
Gerard, I replied to a post on FB (maybe your wife).

I am about 135 miles from Ponderay, in Eastern WA.

I have a fresh 'Manny Tranny' that was bought as part of a group buy some years ago.
It's still in the crate, never installed. I bought it from a fellow near Olympia named Nobel Warrant, you may be familiar with the name.

It looks like I am selling my GMC, and no longer have a need for a spare transmission. I would be happy to sell it for what I paid for it, which is what Nobel told me he paid for it in the group buy. $1600.

I can deliver it to Ponderay on Sunday (or most days after that) for $100 in fuel money.

If interested, Message, text, or E-Mail.

kbeefy1@gmail.com
509 919-1112

Ken
Click to expand...
This right here. I love it.
 
ghickey said:
Well I am hoping that I will be able to transport the old transmission in the GMC back to Florida. I would not mind having it rebuilt to have a spare or help someone else in the future. At least that is my hope--just not sure how practical that is at the moment.

Thank you and Jon for the suggestion of having a new cooler installed. That is one thing I would not have thought of.

Yes, my planned route is to take I-90 through to Chicago and then catch I-75 down to Florida. With a small side trip into Ohio to visit the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. So yes, it would be wonderful to make a side trip to visit you. I see your contact information on the blacklist and will make contact with you as I start to make it out that way.

Thanks.

Gerard.
Click to expand...
Well plans have changed a bit. The GMC is making it in to the repair shop the second week of September and I am going to go back to Florida with a bunch of stuff from the GMC. I expect that I will be back out toward the end of September to pick up the RV and continue the journey to Florida with it. As I start out with the GMC again, I will make contact to see if you will be around as I come through Minnesota. Maybe I will take the northern route through North Dakota (it will be another state I have not been to).
 
tmsnyder said:
I was just talking to Bob Dunahue(SP?) and he asked if I traveled with a bottle of TransX in the coach. He swears by it for those times when a GMC tranny stops working. It's a last chance miracle cure , what do you have to lose?


He said, put it in and idle it for a while (15min?) , shut it off and wait 2 hours. Start it up and try the gears, if you see some improvement, shut it off and wait another hour or two. Repeat. You might be surprised and you'll only be out a few bucks in 'miracle oil' / snake oil.

I'd say it's worth a try.
Click to expand...
In the future I will be traveling with TransX, but everything got ironed out today to get the repair done and I don't want to tamper with all the good fortune that I have had in the past 24 hours.

Gosh, I have not talked to Bob in a couple of years. I should try to find his number and give him a call to see I can swing by and say hello (I have only talked on the phone with him). I think that he is close to my intended route. Thanks for reminding me about him.
 
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pvfjr said:
I would be curious what a line pressure test would show. It's possible you were low on fluid, aerated what fluid there was because the pump was sucking air, and started burning up friction materials due to low line pressures allowing for all the slippage. Adding more fluid may have allowed the line pressure to go back up, but it could be too late due to the previous damage to friction linings.

Or, there's another scenario:
Your line pressure is still low, even after adding fluid. The friction linings aren't happy due to all the slippage, but maybe they'd start grabbing again if line pressure were adequate. It's possible the low line pressure is due to an internal seal leak, and it's also possible that TransX could help here.

Either way, Ken's offer sounds like a real blessing. I'd take him up on that in a heartbeat. If TransX did get your coach moving again, you've got a long ways to go. I wouldn't leave without having Ken's transmission in hand.
Click to expand...
Later last night I visited the GMC again and put another quart of fluid in just to see if there would be any effect. Nothing. Still no movement at all.

Yes, Ken's offer was a saving grace and I was in communication with him this morning. Everything is now worked out and he will be delivering the transmission to the repair shop later this week or early next week. I will be gone and will return for the GMC toward the end of September after the repairs are complete.
 
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I would like to thank everybody that has had thoughts and opinions. In the past 24 hours I have learned a lot about the GMC transmission and how helpful everybody is.

Two years ago or so when the mail list portion went away I had planned on working to get the mail interface working again to stay connected to all the wonderful help and very knowledgeable people on this forum. But then life got in the way of doing fun things as it so often does.

When I posted about the current events last night I realized how much I missed seeing the daily messages from the GMC list and learning from the many years of experience out there. I can assure everyone out there that I will be shortly working on getting the email list component working again so that everyone can participate in this wonderful community again.
 
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I'm along I80/I90 (2.5 hours East of Chicago) and if you need place to park or some simple maintenance reach out as well. I'm just a few miles off of I80 (Howe, IN exit) and have tools, power hookup, etc too.
 
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