I brought my truck in for regular maint. I get a package where they do the oil and top off all the fluids along with tire rotation etc. While I had it in, I meantioned I was noticing a hesitation in the up and down shift when it's cold. I stop in to pick up my truck and they say that the trany fluid was 2 quarts low. They can't find a leak or anything.

do these trucks use trany fluid? to be completely honest I bring my truck in every 2.5k miles for this maint. service. I NEVER even open the hood on my truck (my bad) simply cuz I don't really expect to need to do so.

There is NO transmission fluid in my driveway or in the garage where I keep the truck. This leads me to believe that the fluid has just been low from the start and they have just been neglecting to check it.

How much transmission fluid does my truck even hold? I hope to god it never got below atlest 2/3rds full. Should I be worried about this? My truck's warranty is up in 6 or so months. I noticed a difference from the second I stepped on the accelerator. Much much better now. eitherway I'm alittle freaked out.

THey had to order a part (4x4 shift **** came off) so I'm bringing it back in in a couple weeks after the holidays to have that replaced. They put some black light reactive dye in the transmission fluid to see if it is infact leaking some where. Of course I'm going on a trip so I'll be putting about 1500-1600 miles on the truck over the holidays. Hopefully the thing wont **** itself in the middle of iowa

for those of you with signatures turned off its a 2002 4x4 4.6L V8 Automatic

 

My Ranger was sucking tranny fluid for a while. I couldn't find where it was leaking until I changed the oil in the truck. Had almost 8 quarts of fluid come out of the crankcase! Took the truck straight to the tranny shop and they said I had a bad vaccuum modulator. $100 and 2 hours later and I was on my way.

Pull one of the vaccuum lines off the vaccuum tree on the back of the intake and see if it's oily from tranny fluid. If so, change your oil TODAY.

 

Hey guys

The idea about a vacuum modulator is a good one but it applied to 94 and older rangers/explorers/aerostars and older F-series with a C-6 but does not apply to a 2002 F-150 with 4r70w.

hohlraum, when you take the truck back to check for the leak/dye test, have them check the transfer case fluid level, most likely it will be way overfull. If so you need to change the input seal on the transfer case. I have changed far too many input seals for this problem.

Cya

 

Xplorer, what exactly does that mean? Also, you think its gunna be ok for me to put that many miles on my truck in the mean time? How many quarts of transmission fluid does my truck hold anyway?

 

These transmission hold about 14 quarts of fluid on average. It is leaking or you would not be losing fluid. It may be blowing out the vent when it is hot. That is a sign that the transmission is about shot.
I would check the rear(output) seal first.
It does have the reusable pan gasket correct? Those gaskets that come in cheap filter kits are more trouble than they are worth. The factory gasket is the best.
Alan

 

hohlraum

What happens is fluid gets past the input seal on the transfer case causing the fluid level in your trans to go down and the transfer case to be overfull without any leak on the ground or undercarriage. This is a fairly slow process and if the fluid level in your trans is topped up now you should be ok.

Your trans holds 12L(14qts) like dirty dog says.

Dirtydog, his trans is 4wd version, so it doesn't have an output/extension housing seal on the trans like a 2wd(I think that's what you are refering to). The output seal would be on the transfer case and would not affect trans fluid level.

The fact that the trans performance came back after the fluid was topped up means it was going somewhere. Like I said I put a couple of these seals in a month for problems just like yours.

You may have a different cause for your low fluid level, this is just something to check out.

Hope this helps

 

I'll print off all your responses and bring them to the dealership with me when I bring it back to have the 4wd shift **** replaced. I'll also keep an eye on the level throughout my trip. You check transmission fluid while the engine is hot right?

 

I didn't notice it was 4x4 until you said something ,but still the seal between the trans and transfer case would be considered the transmission output seal. I have seen many cases where it leaked and overfilled the transfer case so we are still pointing in the same location, just with different names for it
Alan

 

That's cool dirtydog, I have just never heard anyone call it the trans output seal because it is mounted on the input shaft of the transfer case making it part of the transfer case.

Not trying to cause a problem, we just disagree about the seal description, which is no big deal

Yes hohlraum, check your trans fluid level once engine/trans are hot.

Cya

 

Xplorer, you were right. I'd taken it in in december and they added more transmission fluid and put some dye in it to see if they could find a leak. I hadn't been driving the truck much and finally brought it back in this week and mentioned the transfer case. They called me back and told me thats exactly what it was and are replacing the seal. Thanks again for the advice.

 

How much did it/does it cost to have that seal replaced? My 97 2WD (4.6) does the same thing. Looses fluid but doesn't leave puddles in the driveway.

 

My truck is still under warranty. It the factory warranty expires in a few days actually I did pick up a ford ESP premium extended warranty 6yrs 60k miles (I put very few miles on the truck) with a $0 deductible. It wasn't cheap but I haven't had the best track record with american vehicles in the past.