Friend of mine has a Eurovan-based RV that routinely lost drive power after 5 minutes of operation.
I figured the transmission was just dead, being a well-known weak link in the drivetrain for a variety of reasons.
We decided to do a pan-drop as a total Hail Mary pass, since a rebuilt transmission goes for something around $3500.
These transmissions are a little weird, and a little genius. The transmission pan drain is not a drain. It leads to the top of a standpipe that stick right up to the level the transmission fluid is supposed to be at. So you leave the "drain" open while filling, the excess will begin draining out, and you know it's filled to the proper level.
For a stupid "filled for life" (not really) dipstickless transmission, this is pretty convenient.
The moment I opened the drain, I knew what the problem was. Too many years working on boats has given me a keen olfactory instinct for when an oil is contaminated with water. Just smells a little "different".
Once I had dropped the pan, I had a Joe Kenda moment:
"My, my, my!"
Yeah. Corpus Delicti.
We ended up cleaning out and wire brushing the entire Interior of the pan, changing the filter, and filling with Maxlife. I know it's not the super-appropriate fluid for this transmission, but we weren't going to waste the time getting Pentosin whatever for a transmission that was likely dead.
Results? Transmission is behaving normally for now. If it lasts the next 100 miles, we are going to do a complete fluid exchange, run it another 1000 miles, and then exchange for the Pentosin stuff if it's still alive then.
And no, it did not get water from the cooling system. He wisely converted to a large air/liquid transmission cooler years ago. The stock cooler is worthless.
Where did it get the water? Good question. Best guess is just condensation from a whole lot of sitting.
I figured the transmission was just dead, being a well-known weak link in the drivetrain for a variety of reasons.
We decided to do a pan-drop as a total Hail Mary pass, since a rebuilt transmission goes for something around $3500.
These transmissions are a little weird, and a little genius. The transmission pan drain is not a drain. It leads to the top of a standpipe that stick right up to the level the transmission fluid is supposed to be at. So you leave the "drain" open while filling, the excess will begin draining out, and you know it's filled to the proper level.
For a stupid "filled for life" (not really) dipstickless transmission, this is pretty convenient.
The moment I opened the drain, I knew what the problem was. Too many years working on boats has given me a keen olfactory instinct for when an oil is contaminated with water. Just smells a little "different".
Once I had dropped the pan, I had a Joe Kenda moment:
"My, my, my!"
Yeah. Corpus Delicti.
We ended up cleaning out and wire brushing the entire Interior of the pan, changing the filter, and filling with Maxlife. I know it's not the super-appropriate fluid for this transmission, but we weren't going to waste the time getting Pentosin whatever for a transmission that was likely dead.
Results? Transmission is behaving normally for now. If it lasts the next 100 miles, we are going to do a complete fluid exchange, run it another 1000 miles, and then exchange for the Pentosin stuff if it's still alive then.
And no, it did not get water from the cooling system. He wisely converted to a large air/liquid transmission cooler years ago. The stock cooler is worthless.
Where did it get the water? Good question. Best guess is just condensation from a whole lot of sitting.
