Two days ago, mid day and 95 degrees, a friend and I drove from DC to Western MD to pick up some hardwood lumber. We were cruising along fine and engrossed in conversation for about 60 miles, when I noticed a haze of smoke behind us. I realized we were headed over what passes for a mountain in this part of the world and I was pushing along at 70-75. I figured I was pushing the truck too hard and backed off. All the gauges read normal, but I was thinking engine, so we turned off the AC, eased up and kept going. 20 miles later, I start to feel an occasional slip. We take our exit and pull up to a stop light. Light turns green, no go.
I rolled it backwards down the hill to a gas station and hopped out to find the transmission hemorrhaging from the breather tube (is that what it is?) between the engine and trans pans. It dumped maybe a gallon or a bit less, then started to slow down. I added 2 quarts I had in the truck (I had meant to check the trans fluid level before we left and forgot) and limped 50 yards into the gas station parking lot. It spilled a little more fluid, which boiled when it hit the gravel/grass.
We let it cool for a couple hours, added 3 more quarts till it registered on the dipstick and went about our business. I took it a lot easier on the way home, now with 600 or 700 lbs of lumber in the back. It did OK, but I was pretty paranoid and it still feels a little funny. The other oddity: the oil pressure gauge went from it's normal position at about 33% to about 55%. Makes no sense to me, but it happened at the same time.
The really bonehead part is that I remembered that the truck had randomly gone into limp mode a couple times in the last few weeks. If I shut it down and restarted, it was fine, and I basically forgot about it for the last week.
I changed the tranny fluid about 18 months/5000 miles ago, but I'm assuming it's pretty cooked so I'll do another fluid/filter change this week. Anything else I need to do?
Was I really pushing it too hard to go up a 5 mile hill on a hot day at 72ish MPH and empty? I'm more accustomed to modern vehicles where that wouldn't really be a thought, and if I were towing with the 20 year old truck I'd understand, but empty? Do I need to look for a deeper problem, or was I just being dumb?
I rolled it backwards down the hill to a gas station and hopped out to find the transmission hemorrhaging from the breather tube (is that what it is?) between the engine and trans pans. It dumped maybe a gallon or a bit less, then started to slow down. I added 2 quarts I had in the truck (I had meant to check the trans fluid level before we left and forgot) and limped 50 yards into the gas station parking lot. It spilled a little more fluid, which boiled when it hit the gravel/grass.
We let it cool for a couple hours, added 3 more quarts till it registered on the dipstick and went about our business. I took it a lot easier on the way home, now with 600 or 700 lbs of lumber in the back. It did OK, but I was pretty paranoid and it still feels a little funny. The other oddity: the oil pressure gauge went from it's normal position at about 33% to about 55%. Makes no sense to me, but it happened at the same time.
The really bonehead part is that I remembered that the truck had randomly gone into limp mode a couple times in the last few weeks. If I shut it down and restarted, it was fine, and I basically forgot about it for the last week.
I changed the tranny fluid about 18 months/5000 miles ago, but I'm assuming it's pretty cooked so I'll do another fluid/filter change this week. Anything else I need to do?
Was I really pushing it too hard to go up a 5 mile hill on a hot day at 72ish MPH and empty? I'm more accustomed to modern vehicles where that wouldn't really be a thought, and if I were towing with the 20 year old truck I'd understand, but empty? Do I need to look for a deeper problem, or was I just being dumb?
