od lights and leak

[the2ndtinman]

ok a few days ago i was up playin in the snow (deep snow) and my od light started flashing so i figured it was hot(didnt get my tran temp gauge for x-mas like i asked for) i didnt want to stop on the hill so i countinued a little further stop and poped the hood for cool off. I was walking around enjoying a beverage and a noticed a small puddle of fluid. Small being the size of a dollar. there were also a few very small streaks. After it cooled down i continued on and light started flashing again, i stopped let it cool off continued on. it did it too me about 2 more times before i got off the trail. i let it cool for about 2 hours before i drove it home light didnt come on and it was hard to tell if it felt wierd casue the whole truck was wierd because of deflated tires.

questions:

how bad did i just mess it up??
what can i do to prevent it again, should i have been it 4 hi or 4 lo?
when i change my fluid should i put somthing special back in?

thank you

[the2ndtinman]

one more time then i give up!!!!!!!!!!!

[elibenson]

It has been my experience that it is probably bad. It doesn't just leak for the hell of it. It'll need a new seal, definitely. While you are taking it off to put a seal on it, it is almost not worth putting back on without going through it, and putting new clutches, etc in it. The nice thing about it is that no matter how bad you mess one up, you can always rebuild it (unlike an engine). If you can't afford a rebuild right now, just keep fluid in it, and keep running it. Try some Lucas transmission fixer in it.

I had the same problem more or less in mud one time. Big heavy F350 super duty, little lifted, 335 tires (bout equivalent to 35"), a ton of bumpers on it -- Buried up till it was sitting on it's bumpers. Bad. For some reason, I forgot to put it in 4lo, and I was trying to get this thing out. Bad things happened. It took a full size farm tractor and a lot of effort to get it out. Don't worry, it was a Ford tractor. Oh, and i nearly took out a State Trooper that was blocking traffic when it finally came out. The truck was sliding sideways, and the tractor was pulling from the blacktop road. Here we were sliding sort of diagonally, and the chain starts getting really close to the car really quick. Luckily the trooper saw it and moved it in a hurry.

Anyway. I was doing all sorts of damage in 4hi while stuck, and didn't know it. If I was in 4lo, I would have probably still been stuck, but might not have wrecked my transmission. It drove when I got out, but it was leaking fluid like a sieve. It took me like 4 gallons to get 80 miles home. When the mechanic went into the transmission, it was pretty much as bad as one could get. No gears were broken or anything, but everything else was needing replacement.

So, it would really help to be in 4lo.

[the2ndtinman]

thank you very much for the input, it doesnt seem to be leaking anymore just at the time still think it needs seals and rebuilt drove it yesterday and didnt seem to be shifting any different than normaland fluid was only about 1/4 quart low?

i was in 4hi to i didnt know 4lo was the better choice till i got home and someone told me that. Im used to my 79 chevy that when you put it in 4lo it was in 4LOW!!!!!!!!!!! no what i mean top speed 8 mph!!!!

[ponyponer]

i'd just go with a new seal. how many miles? sometimes guys will just replace the whole transmission, because i think you need to drop it to put in the new seal or at least for the front one. i am not sure about that one i could be wrong. i have replaced a whole trans on mine, but no seals.

[samiam]

my trans gets hot if i'm moving around in the snow or mud or on winding steep logging roads when i'm under 35 mph and the torque converter never locks up. maybe the TC generates more heat when it's not locked up like that. i had the tranny spit up fluid once from the top of the tranny case and it ran down the sides and left a few drops on the ground. if you were using a hot tune on your chip then that could contribute to heat in the tranny. pushing deep snow might equate to hauling a load and maybe a hot tune isn't good for that. you filled your tranny fluid back up, right? when i play around like that i'm usually in 4hi. i installed an additional trans cooler installed and haven't had an issue since.

[symbols]

going slow = little air flow over cooler, deep snow= hard work for tranny. May have not messed anything up. I've had mine at this temp for several hours and it still works.

[the2ndtinman]

HOLLY _______ that is hot!

[pwrstrokecoalroller]

when the light flashes it perty much means your trannys fu*ked

[hoosier golfer]

I had my OD light flash at me one time & stuck on.. I had my chip maxed, it was misting a bit, when i pulled out onto the highway i hammered it & spun the tires forever!!! Then it shifted kinda funny. It went in & out of 4th & 5th a couple time before I could get off the go pedal.. I stopped the truck let it cool down for a min started it back up & everything was fine.. Done my share of burnouts since then & have never had another issue with it!