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I was home over the weekend (we have a house 100 miles away, job required a move) and stayed with a friend. I have been bugging him for a year now about how he takes care of his vehicles. Specifically, he has a 1990 Chevy 3/4 ton with SM465 and NP241C, with 125,000 miles on it. He bought the truck new. He said the tranny was making a noise when it was very cold, so I asked him when the last time he changed the fluid was. He had never changed the fluid in anything but the engine. Wow, I was expecting sludge to flow when we pulled the plugs. So we took it to the shop (see pic) and put it on the lift. We also had to weld up the exhaust a little and he's 6'6" tall, so getting under it is a hassle when it's on the ground.
Before we pulled the plug, I got an 8 oz drinking water cup to catch the first fluid to see what condition it was in, never having seen 10 year old fluid with high mileage. Oh, BTW, he tows a trailer (3 axle) with the truck (usually with my jeep, or parts jeeps, on it), and had towed out an 18 wheeler three days prior. So we pulled the plug and I caught the fluid, ALL OF IT! There was literally 6 oz (1/4 quart) of fluid in the tranny. Impossible I said, so I grabbed a punch to stick into the hole to make sure there wasn't a blockage. Nope, that was it. I told him this wasn't good, so we pulled one of the side PTO covers and looked inside. The gears were fine and there was no buildup of metal flakes on the magnet in the bottom of the tranny. We put the right amount of fluid back in (135 oz, 4.2 quarts) and checked the other levels. The transfer took 2 quarts (it only holds 2.2 quarts) and the axles were low 1 quart each. We refilled everything with synthetic and finished the tasks. If I had not seen this first hand I would have told you it was impossible. I'd have called you a liar and said it would have burned up long ago.
He said the truck shifts much smoother now. /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif One question: Why was there ATF (it was DEFINITELY ATF) in the tranny? I am also running a SM465, but it has gear oil in it, I thought they all took gear oil. The transfer I can see (chain driven), but the tranny? I'm glad I swapped the same tranny into my jeep, that way if I run out of fluid I'll still have 50,000 miles I can travel before I worry about it (that was a joke!).
JEEPN
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled!
GM151/SM465/NP205 twinstick/7" Lift/33" Swampers/ Scout II D44's F&R 4.10's & Lockrights
Before we pulled the plug, I got an 8 oz drinking water cup to catch the first fluid to see what condition it was in, never having seen 10 year old fluid with high mileage. Oh, BTW, he tows a trailer (3 axle) with the truck (usually with my jeep, or parts jeeps, on it), and had towed out an 18 wheeler three days prior. So we pulled the plug and I caught the fluid, ALL OF IT! There was literally 6 oz (1/4 quart) of fluid in the tranny. Impossible I said, so I grabbed a punch to stick into the hole to make sure there wasn't a blockage. Nope, that was it. I told him this wasn't good, so we pulled one of the side PTO covers and looked inside. The gears were fine and there was no buildup of metal flakes on the magnet in the bottom of the tranny. We put the right amount of fluid back in (135 oz, 4.2 quarts) and checked the other levels. The transfer took 2 quarts (it only holds 2.2 quarts) and the axles were low 1 quart each. We refilled everything with synthetic and finished the tasks. If I had not seen this first hand I would have told you it was impossible. I'd have called you a liar and said it would have burned up long ago.
He said the truck shifts much smoother now. /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif One question: Why was there ATF (it was DEFINITELY ATF) in the tranny? I am also running a SM465, but it has gear oil in it, I thought they all took gear oil. The transfer I can see (chain driven), but the tranny? I'm glad I swapped the same tranny into my jeep, that way if I run out of fluid I'll still have 50,000 miles I can travel before I worry about it (that was a joke!).
JEEPN
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled!
GM151/SM465/NP205 twinstick/7" Lift/33" Swampers/ Scout II D44's F&R 4.10's & Lockrights
