Bill Stoneberg Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 In my daily driver (2000 Dodge Truck w 60 K miles) I have lost 2 torque converters in the past 2 years. Both out of warrenty too.Never in any of my other cars have I had a problem like this. What could be going wrong ? I keep my fluid changed per recommendation and while I drive a lot, Its a lot of freeway miles. I am too old to do much street racing (plus I would loose) so I dont drive hard. Any ideas ? I know this is not related to old cars but it has me puzzled why I keep having these problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave@Moon Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 Assuming you're not overloading this Mopar with well made Buick parts , I had a problem with my Spirit's 3.0 that could cause this. (Albeit that car was a front wheel drive.) What happened to me is either the rear main seal failed or some engine piece came loose or cracked, allowing crankcase oil to leak into the transmission. When that happened my valve body got gunked up and the car froze in second gear, but that car was mostly used in city driving. A highway driven car in the same circumstance might fry converters instead. I don't know exactly how long it was happening, the oil had 1500 miles on it when the tranny failed. By that time 1.5 quarts had made its way into the tranny pan.Check your fluids next time this happens. If you're gaining tranny fluid somehow, this could be it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John N. Packard Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 Bill, I use the Mopar 7176 transmission fluid exclusively. The ALLPAR website has a great deal of useful information about MOPAR transmission failures. I have a Dodge Dakota with 192,000 miles, a '94 Town & Country with 160,000 miles and ran a '69 Coronet wagon for 218,000! Have heard many sad stories from folks who used aftermarket brands of transmission fluid. I've had excellent service with mine.jnp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave@Moon Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 I forgot about the 7176 fluid that Mopar requires. When I bought my Spirit it had 26K miles on it, and the fluid had just been changed (I didn't know). With the wrong fluid (Type A) that tranny wouldn't shift properly, and it was noticable right away.The fluid will foam up if it is incorrect. Check your dipstick for bubbles (and a too high reading) when the truck is running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave@Moon Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 By the way, Pennzoil and few other major brands make 7176, so you're not completely tied to the dealer for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 (not trans realated but..) check your front-to-rear wheel alignment too!! Let me know how far off it is. It can be easily checked using about an 80inch piece of string. I have an '01 Ram 1500 full size short bed 1/2 ton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 Hi, My modern day repair shop serivced 3900 cars last year. I see low milage transmission failures on dodge products every week. It's commonly known that all chrysler cars and trucks have more than their share of transmission failures. I have no idea why. But it is one of several reasons I do not own a Chrysler. Several years ago I was in Indiana across from the Chrysler transmission assembly plant wating in a burger joint. I asked a state police officer info on how to get to a car museum, then as a joke asked why all the transmissions made in the town went bad. He told me " Hey buddy we get a lot of problems from people saying things like that to the locals in the bars around here" so I guess even the guys that build them know of the quailty problems. ( By the way... Ford and GM arn't much better). Ok Dodge boys..... tell me why I am wrong. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 is there some SPECIFIC part of the trans that fails???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2003 Share Posted January 4, 2003 I have heard from a rebuilder {who shall remain nameless as I cultivate many machine shops for my oddball stuff} that the matter involves lack of precision in balancing and assembling the torus and stator units, not to mention the electronic control units notorious for their failures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted January 4, 2003 Author Share Posted January 4, 2003 Yes, There is something specific that goes wrong.Both times the Torque converter just fell apart and took the front pump with it. I have only had Dodge service the transmission as part of the service packages and have never gained or lost any fluid.I also have a 98 Dodge that my wife drives that has given us no transmission problems, so I dont know why it is only mine.I am just happy it decided to fail while I was in Houston as opposed to Monday when I was out in Central Texas. That could have been a large towing bill from there cause I was out in the middle of nowhere most of the day junkyard shopping. I guess I should have looked for a transmission too. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Albert Posted January 4, 2003 Share Posted January 4, 2003 I guess it all depends on how the guy felt on that day as to how your tranni turned out... my 88 Pontiac Tempest with only a 4cyl & no extra oil cooler pulled a 54 Packard back through Ma to Toronto (500mi) and the auto tranni is still going strong with now over 250,000km on it...and the original owner... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DeSoto Frank Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 My best friend, who works as a claims adjuster for a large used-car warranty provider insists that NO ONE (certainly no U.S. mfr.)makes a quality auto tranny these days...especially Chrysler (which hurts me, as a die-hard MoPar nut!)He also says that in general, most cars are not preventatively maintained with respect to maintenance and fluid changes, so that further shortens the life span of "lighly-built" driveline components.I fairly trust my buddy's asessment, since he's the guy who hears about everything that goes wrong late-model cars.Of course, there are exceptions... my father has gotten 300,000+ miles out of two early '90's Chrysler Corp mini-vans with the so-called "hand-grenade motor V-6" and "junky" auto-tranny...I know that the tranny shops had work in "the good ol' days" too; but you could usually rebuild a Power-Glide or Torque-flite at least a couple of times.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted January 14, 2003 Author Share Posted January 14, 2003 Hi Frank,They are not the same as the old Powerglides but they are better then the Dynaflows :-)As far as I am concerned, I am a fanatic about service on my trucks. I drive them too much and too long (usually 300 K + miles) before trading for a new one. So I stick to what they say, Oil 3k miles, tranny & rear end 15 K. That schedule has served me well so far, even on Dodges so I just have top assume that I got a bad Torque converter or two. Now if it keeps happening in another 20 -25 K mils, then I will wonder and start thinking about options. But everything but the case is new, so I shouldn't have problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DeSoto Frank Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Bill,Hope it holds together for you...I'm hoping to get to at least 200,000 with my '93 Escort (the daily driver <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />); have made it to 156k, thus far...As for Dynaflows, my favorite was the 'Twin-Turbine Dynaflow' in my '63 Wildcat: I used to stare at the cross section photo in my MoToR's manual and just say out loud: "Man.. what a contraption!".Sure was a smooth tranny though; and if you put it "low range", she'd smoke the tires (Yes, I was a teenager when I had the car....).Personally, I am grateful to have escaped "Fluid-Drive-dom" in my '41 De Soto; being the lower-priced De Luxe series, it came with a regular clutch and manual 3-speed- none of that semi-automatic witchcraft!Happy Motoring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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