Water in Transmission.

[MicroRacer]

I had posted recently about putting the right side of my truck off in water. I checked the oil and I did not see any evidence of water. I had also checked the transmission and I did not see any evidence.

I pulled all the glow plugs and turned the engine over to make sure that there was no water in the engine. I then got the truck started and let it run for 10 minutes. I rechecked the oil in the engine and there was still no evidence of water, but when I checked the transmission the oil hat turned a creamy color.

It looks like I really screwed up. I should have changed the transmission fluid, but GM makes it such a difficult job considering that GM makes transmissions without any fluid drain.

So what do I do now? I have the transmission pan off, but what about the fluid in the torque converter? If I had a drain in the transmission pan I would just change the fluid until evidence of water disappeared, but unfortunately the pan has no such drain.


Any ideas. I don't really want to take my truck to a transmission place. It is 30 miles away anyway I don't know how much damage the water may cause.

[Phil Holmen]

Now that you already have the pan off remove the filter and replace it also. Reassemble everything refill with fluid. On the passenger side of the tranny remove the return lie from the cooler, I believe that it is the bottom one.. put this end of the hose into a pail. Start the truck, the fluid should pump out through the line, if not, you will have to use the other hose, continue adding ATF until it comes out nice and clean. shut off the engine, reconnect the line and check your fluid level, good to go now you have completely flushed your torque converter and your tranny coolers as well. Just to be on the safe side I would also change oil and filter again shortly; oil is alot cheaper than a tranny.

[MicroRacer]

Thanks, that sounds like a reasonable and smart thing to do.

Bill

[Phil Holmen]

I forgot to mention that after doing this the first time on my truck I had tracked down a fitting that was used to drain oil, you just drill a hole and insert the bolt and tighten up the backup nut and there is a smaller bolt through the middle that acts as a drain plug, you don't get all of the oil out but it gets most of it until you are ready to remove the rest of the pan.

[MicroRacer]

Well I managed to get all the water out of my transmission. I thought everything was great untill I drove the truck a ggod distance,

The transmission takes off and shifts great while cold. When the transmission gets hot I have a hard time getting it to take off. This morning I drove in town (30 miles) with no problems. When I went to put the truck in reverse it would not engage. Finally after playing around with the shifter (putting it in forward and reverse) the transmission finally engage. It slipped again going forward, but once engaed I never experienced any more slipping.

Is my transmission toast now? The oil in the tranny now is fresh and clean and the filter was changed twice.

[billg]

Hi MicroRacer,
Make sure the trans fluid is at the correct level on the dipstick with the motor running. With all the draining and changing maybe it

[ucdavis]

Water is heavier than tranny fluid (by a fair amount). I'll hazard the following guess:
Pan contents included H20 after the swim. You did the flush in the driveway @ idle or @ most by reving engine. That woulda flushed all galleries & torque but some water may have drained out of converter/galleries to the pan during the flush. You may need to drop pan again to get it all out.
I don't know if the tranny has a vacuum-type intake like a crankcase oil pump to get oil off bottom of pan, but even those have a meaningful gap that would leave water in bottom of pan @ idle.
Just my $.02

[MicroRacer]

I dropped the pan twice and there was hardly any water there the last time I changed the filter. I have checked the fluid level and it is full. I pump nearly 40 quarts of fluid through the transmission and I dropped the pan twice to install 2 filters.

After driving it home tonight I realize I must have a major problem. I live approx 30 miles from where I live. The tranny was doing great until I stopped for dinner at a fast food place which is 7 miles from home. When I went to get back on the main road the transmission slipped real bad and after that the tranny would shift no higher than 2nd. I stopped and got the codes and I have a 41(not sure while I would have a brake switch code) and 68 showing. I reset the codes hoping that the transmission might shift better, but no such luck. I had to limp home at 40mph because the transmission would not shift.

I guess I had better start saving some dollars.

[britannic]

Here's a really useful transmission discussion forum where there's GM techs, rebuilders, etc.: NetGearHead UBB (http://answers.netgearhead.net/ubbthreads.php)

[tom.mcinerney]

I'm not knowledgeable about trannys.
After submergence some moisture may have begun corroding some electrical contacts , or sensors. It might pay to open up the harness connectors, see that they are dry, dry them if not, coat with synthetic-lube/dielectric-grease, reseat connectors...and talk to a good tranny man after reading in Brittanic's forum....