Well, everyone out there that has a truck with a working transmission, enjoy the plethora of fishing/turkey hunting opportunities out there...
You wont be competing with the Rooster for about 3 days.
20,000 miles and second gear is laying somewhere on I 90.
I get a Mitsubishi (bright Red) matchbax car to drive around in. I tried mounting a trialer hitch last night but the bumper fell off. Guess those guys at Enterprise have some work to do.....

Thats sucks rooster.I am sorry to say this ,it does break my heart, but AMERICAN QUALITY SUCKS.

My wife and I bought a mercury cougar last year and have had nothing but problems with it.

I am not going to go into all the details but a good one was when the transmission was installed with only one of the six bolts that hold it to the frame.Went to pass somebody and that lucky bolt broke and scared the begesios out of me.The dealer ship thought that was funny when my wife brought it into them.I went down and had a serrios talk with them on how funny I thought it was.

We are going to trade it in next year on a Subaru.

The torque that a diesel puts out was never meant to be coupled with a light duty tranny. Hopefully Ford and Dodge will figure that out some day. Chevy may have been the wise one on this "weak link" issue with the Allison contract.

Hope you get back up soon enough.

T

Cute little car there, Rooster. Did Dana pick that out for you?

Dayna likes the truck much better. Its hard to load 4 labradors into a comact car.. (but i did it!!)
I am headed your way in about 30 minutes, as soon as I finish my homemade cinnamon roll.
On another note, FORD says they are replacing the tranny with a stepped up version that is standard gear on the 02's. Mine is an '01.

Hey is that a manual?
My 95 has a auto in it and I blew it on Queen Charrolette (sp) Island towing the big boat at about 90,000! The Prince Rupuert Ford dealer had a Techcumse (sp) commercial shipped up and had me rollin in 8 hours. They even launched my boat for me with there tow truck so I could fish that day around the Skeena mouth! That was after I got it too the main land! While on the Island the Natives lent us a truck to finish our vaca with.
Anyway just curious if its a manual. My friends broke his twice! My auto's got 60 on it now and still pullin hard!

Bob D

That's what I've been hearing about the Ford diesels. They've had to de-tune the Powerstroke engine cause it twists up the trannys. I looked at the Chevy's and they have an Allison transmission that is used in delivery trucks and is built to take it. The Duramax diesel is built by Isuzu who builds more diesels than any manufacturer in the world. (So they tell me)

This probably isn't much help to you though.

Hey lil Cleo, I owned a Subaru Legacy for about 2 years and it was the biggest POS I have ever owned, I bought it for my wife thinking that Subaru was real reliable. That thing was suckin us dry. 250 bucks here, a grand there, clunkin noise here, tickin there, pisses me off just thinking about it. We traded that in for a Ranger, thing has 90k on it and we havent put one cent into any problems with it. Good luck if you buy a Subaru!

gotta say I'm at 85K on my jeep GC and its third tranny. Had the tranny rebuilt by a good shop and will by japanese later this year. If Det-riot, wants us to buy their cars start making them last like many of the euros and japanese cars.

That's why they put that button on the end of the shifter for. Take it out of overdrive when towing anything, or driving in town. Buddy of mine does it religously 180+k and still going strong. As for the duromax, trannys good, but they are having problems with the alum. heads.

Fishhead5

we have a newer ranger, and i guess ford ran out of the ranger oil filter mounts and put a bigger one on the truck.. the first few oil changes pissed us off not being able to find the right one we needed according to the books.... stupid @ss fords anyways.... the truck is leased but we've had nothing but problems with it... it will be going back to ford next year..

I have a '92 Chevy 1/2 ton with 197K on the original motor and tranny. I commute and pull my boat with it and it does awesome. I think I will trade it in when I reach a 1/4 million.

Bob, my ex-truck, 97 Ford F250 diesel, developed automatic tranny probs at 70K and I traded it for a Chevy. The Ford automatics melt down just fine - got that Allison in my Chev and no more worries.

Well this is my gripe about Chevy
I have a 1991 three speed and I have spent more time under it then I have driving it latley and I am about to go try to fix the damn thing again so I can go fishing this weekend. It really puts a damper on you when you are gettin ready and the damn thing wont start or it die's right after it starts.
Dances Out

I have a 96 f250 Powerstroke and just rolled 110,000 and runs great. I pull a boat and load about 1500 lbs in the back for work everyday and not one problem. I run amsoil in the tranny and motor. I think that may help.

I've got a Powerstroke (auto trans) with 95k miles on it. It has never been in the shop for anything but oil changes and minor tweaks. I tow a 3500 lb. jet boat and carry an 11 1/2 foor camper. Usually at the same time, so you can't say the tranny doesn't get a workout. Also, you can't say the tranny isn't built to take it - the powerstroke tranny is made by CAT. I have a lot of friends and aquaintances with powerstrokes and this is only the second problem I've ever heard of.
Sorry to hear of your bad luck.

Is your tranny that fell out the ZF 6 Speed of the Ford 4 Speed Auto?

Fishhead5

Gotta call you out on the comment regarding problems with the aluminum heads on the Duramax.
Where is that from? Are you talking from first hand experience or rumor. Please describe the problem more thoroughly.

Yes I think that is true. When I looked at them I was told they Alum heads also. For Chev's sake I hope this motor is a good one but that is why I bought a Cummings

Sorry to hear about your tranny problems. My rig has been great towing both a boat or a 4-horse trailer with the truck packed to the gills full of hunting gear.

One thing for you other Ford guys with powerstrokes, check the bolts on your turbo housing. The last time I took my truck in for service, all of the bolts were loose with one that backed out completely and missing. The technician told me that some of the trucks didn't get thread sealer on these bolts and that they can loosen up. I'm not sure if he was down-playing a more serious problem, or if it is no big deal, but check it out. It sounded like they are seeing this on some of the powerstrokes. I would hate to think what would happen if all the bolts backed out and you are cruisin' down the freeway!

Also, when it is cold out and I start my truck, there is a valve that shuts (or opens?) to recirculate the exhaust with the purpose of heating the truck up quicker. You can hear a loud wind-flow noise from the exhaust when the valve is engaged and the truck is left to idle. When my truck was new, this would engage and the truck would make this noise until the temp came up, and then it would disengage and sound like a normal warm idle. Now when I start it in the cold, this valve continually engages and disengages over and over rapidly until the truck is warm. The dealer has replaced the computer in the truck to no avail, and they tell me that this will not hurt anything. But I feel that this just is not working right. It didn't do it when it was brand new.

So does anyone else hear this from their truck, and does it engage and disengage like my rig, or just engage until the truck is warm? I would like to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks!

Hey look at JASPER tranny when you rebuild. My dad PSD auto went out at 50k, second went out at 85k. Mine went out at 100k, put a JASPER in it instead of a standard rebuild. Seriously beefed. Jasper is what the ambulances, service trucks run. Mine cost $2250 and comes with a 3 year 50k warranty.

http://www.jasperengines.com/

powerstrokincowboy, I also had the Turbo bolt problem, the 99-00 are notorius for this. They ended up replacing the turbo on mine. I love this truck and it has more power than I could ever use and I have had it loaded up pretty good. If you want info on Ford Diesels go to Ford Diesel.com This is a great BB and has a ton of info on the Powerstrokes.

I got this info,first hand from Seaview Chev in Lynnwood. When the Duramax first came out the Aluminum heads didn't handle the heat the way they thought they would and had lots of overheating problems.I thought that it was a well known problem?

Since then a friend bought an 02 Duramax and have towed their 39' fifthwheel all thru the states and have had no heat problems. They are also very pleased with the Allison tranny.

Fellas-
Torque doesn't kill trannys, heat does. Torque breaks parts and if you didn't hear a loud bang and things stopped moving then heat killed it. The number one thing you can do to increase the life on an auto trans is called "lubegard". Every trans shop I have ever known uses it and it works. I have run it in everything from honda cars to my cummins dodge. My race car went through 6 "so-called" race trannys before I put a stock 727 with lubegard in it. After that it went 25,000 miles, around 400 of those a 1/4 mile at a time and used over 300 bottles of nitrous oxide without a single problem. My dodge has 190k on it and lubegard since the day I bought it and not a single problem. It also cures the Ford power steering morning sickness that is so common. Run the largest trans cooler you can find and pour in lubegard and forget about your trans forever. Theres my three cents.
Lance

Did a GOOGLE search for Duramax and came up with some good info. Primarily a site called "The Diesel Page.com

Much info on Duramax and Allison including discussion pages by current owners talking about problems.

I am driving my second Cummings Dodge with 5 speed manual and have never had a problem with Tranny or clutch. The latest one had a crank seal leak but thats the only problem in like 160,000 miles of driving and towing.

I have been hearing about problems with the chevy but its been the tranny. Its funny, Chevy sells ya a Duramax for 38,000 bucks and the first thing you see when you look at it from the side is the cheap ass emergancy brake cable running along the frame on the outside... the frame that is covered with big white stickers of some sort.

Lubeguard (Lubeguard?) sounds like good stuff. Any info on it would be greatly appreciated.
Is it carried in most auto parts stores?
Is it a transmission oil additive?
Is it only for manuals
or
is it compatable w/hydraulic fluid/automatics?

Thanx fer the info

Sincerely
Roger

I know it is not snake oil ...it is good stuff and it will take the heat and not burn up.. I found it at B&B Auto part's in Redmond

I own a '99 Ford F250 4X4 Turbo Diesel, extended cab w/8' bed. 90K on it. No tranny problems.
Just don't ask about why all the leaf springs fell out.
Oh, and I'm waiting for the brake power-assist to come in from California. Then the pedal will quit coughing fluid all over my shoe when I use the brake.
But....I just luv that truck.


diana