Transmission woes...again

1824 Views 37 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Maryland dieselnick, 1 mo ago

losfinch

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

The factory transmission lasted 205,700 miles. I replaced it with a BTS at that point. That one lasted to 285,988 with just 80,298 miles. I sent it back to BTS for fixing. Now that one is gone at 425,000 with 139,002 miles on it. I haven't abused these transmissions. I've put in the newer larger oil coolers and I rarely see temps about 160...most of the time I'm in the 140 range due to the colder area I live in. I've kept up consistent fluid and filter changes every 30,000 miles and have only used BTS recommended Shaeffers All-Trans synthetic fluid. I've probably only towed a total of about 2500 miles in all the years I've owned the truck. Its been my daily driver.

Recent saga is that it was running fine up until this morning when out of nowhere it will only engage into reverse. Any forward gears it will just rev up and not move. last summer out in Arizona it puked out fluid out of the transmission just sitting after a day in the heat while visiting there. Its done this before with the last transmission. Never leaks until I get into Phoenix in the summer months and parked it. Leave it for a day or two and there will be a large puddle of fluid under the truck. I fill it back up and everything is good. It has lost about 2 quarts from this heat related expansion.

I thought I was doing myself a favor by going with the BTS transmission but my experience has not been very good up to this point. I'm not sure what to do at this point? What are people recommending for transmissions these days?

Early 99 F350 4X4 CC 7.3 Auto. A.R.E. Topper, bed carpet/bench inserts, Rhino grill guard, AIS w/sleeve, Fuel filler mod, GOS headlight harness, 05-06 Headlights with LED bulbs, Rancho HD stabilizer, 06 Telescoping/heated mirrors with C-Btr Mirrors, Hella FF1000, Htr Bypass valve, front receiver hitch, Quadzilla XZT gauges, ITP Pre-pump/In-tank mods, Pioneer P5000UB w/XM radio, 4 Infinity Kappa 682.7cf, Fumoto valve, FIAMM Highway blaster horns, SS HPX, IDM mod, DP F5 (Stock,Drive-thru,60T,80E,120,80E-Mountain,1200), Walker BTM, RR, Dieselsite BRV, BTS Tranny (3rd one

), 31 row tranny cooler, Bilstein shocks, Amsoil bypass oil filter, Stancor HD Glow Plug Relay, billet thermostat housing, front & rear parking cameras, Aux reverse lights, Heated Seats.

Security: CrimeGuard Alarm with remote notification, DIY jimmi-jammers, door cylinder locks and linkage removed, padlocked rear bench seat hinge, PCM, DIY "pitstop" switch.

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26945

· #2 · 3 mo ago

Well, that's disconcerting, that many BTS rebuilds being short lived. Did BTS do the change outs?

I have been all over the West including long project periods in Phoenix, Springerville and Southern Utah. Never had a fluid loss due to ambient temp expansion or even a running towing application on Service Trucks. Maybe it starts out over filled. Other events can be water from a bad cooler in the radiator increasing the volume and pushing " puking" it out.

Who to use?, well my first choice would have been BTS, second choice a Hercules transmission from DIESELSITE in Florida. I can see why you would be reluctant to use BTS, so try DIESELSITE's product.

But, it's just as likely that there is something else that's the root cause of the failures.

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26945

· #10 · 3 mo ago

losfinch said:
The transmission is out and will be sent back to BTS next week once I receive the shipping box from them. Brian mentioned a problem that they had with some of the old purple Precision (???) brand torque converters giving them problems and maybe this had something to do with its failure. These were converters that went into their transmissions some years back. Mine second one was installed in 2015. He wants to open her up and take a look at things to try and determine what was going on. I'll keep you posted on what turns up. Looks like I'm dead in the water for at least 2 weeks...this is my only and daily driver.

Sounds like a good plan, I hope you get a result that both solves the mystery and is budget friendly. Hope you can find an alternative transport while BTS does their inspection.

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26945

· #27 · 2 mo ago

losfinch said:
The transmission got to BTS on Friday. I called yesterday to validate its arrival and was told its on the docket. In the meantime we did take the Amtrak over to Arizona so we can see some family. As soon as Brian opens it up and all he's supposed to call me to discuss what he finds and what will need to be done.

The other two times I did this before I purchased new 6.0 coolers with the install. This time I'm wondering if its really needed (replacement that is)? I only ask since in none of the lines, nor the cooler have I seen any sort of shavings, etc. I've blown through the lines and cooler with air (dry, without any cleaning liquids) to see what comes out catching it into a clear container and there has been nothing, zilch, nada. Being an early 99 my truck doesn't have the radiator cooler but relies completely upon an exterior cooler so I don't have to worry about that. I did it before as cheap insurance and especially the first time to simply upgrade to the larger cooler but frankly I'm wondering if its really needed or am I just being stingy???

From what you write, a 99 model with no in radiator cooler, combined with where you are living and driving, I believe that the benefits of more cooling capacity are a positive. If this driver had a good 6.0 cooler that pressure chemical washed out clean, both flow directions, I would put a spin on transmission filter between the cooler and transmission and reuse the existing 6.0 cooler.

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