Sunday, Nov 09, 2008 at 17:35
Thanks Scott.
I do try - I guess if I got paid for what I know and write - maybe I could afford a
membership here! ;o)
I learned the above info off US 4WD sites specific to the Eff Truck - and i went searching because the KNOWN downside of EFF trucks in Aus is they seem to chew out trannys about every 60,000
miles or 100,000 km's at best when towing!
Putting in a replacement seems to entail about a $20K bill bye the time you get one shipped out from the US!
When I first bought Effie for towing the boat - I performed a USED OIL Analysis (UOA) on the transmission fluid as a result of all the horror stories I'd heard aout F trucks with auto trannies chewing them up and spitting them out.
You can see the results came back "Abnormal" with very high readings of
Fe (Iron) 106 PPM
Pb (Lead) 31 PPM
Cu (Copper) 84 PPM
Sn (Tin) 12 PPM
Al (Aluminium)
Si (Silicon - dirt/sand) 5 PPM
Na (Sodium - salt) 4PPM
Mb (Mollybednum) 2 PPM
Thats some of the crud you can see stuck to the sump plug drain magnet in the trans sump in one of the above photo's!
A lot of the non ferous crap gets pumped around the tranny - and scores the aluminum cylinders in the valve bodys etc and plays havoc with gear changes etc if valve bodys get stuck on jammed foreign material - all this stuff also wears out the trannys quicker, blocks the cooler etc.
When a trannny detonates (or the torque converter) all the crap metal bits go thru the tranny under pressure of the oil pump and destory it basically.
So - what I also did that I omitted to mention above, was install a paper cartridge filter (oil filter just like for the engine oil) in the transmission oil line between the tranny and the cooler. (
well really it is a sub micron filter so a bt better quality than a standard oil filter - but basically looks the same).
This way - IF anything craps itself in the tranny, the metal particles all get filtered out in the filter BEFORE they get to block up the tranny cooler and before they getumped back into the transmission.
Oh - I also added to the outside of ALL my filters (engine oil - Enginefilter, oil submicron bypass filter & transmission oil sub micron filter) a rare earth Nyobium Magnet - to help trap any ferrous metal
debris within the cartridge filter.
I notice when I change oil - and clean out the sub micron Filter bodies - a definite pattern of very fine metal like powder stuckl to the cannister where the striong magnet attaches outside!
I remove the magnet (after the filter is screwed off the engine or oil line) then wipe & wash this
debris out!.
Often this means if a torque converter craps itself - the only replacement cost is a new torque converter - NOT an entire new auto trans since non of the metal makes it's way back to the intricate workings of the transmission itself.
Lets face it, IF FORD NISSAN or TOYOTA really cared about their 4WD's for towing in Oz, most of this stuff would be STANDARD fitment on a new veihlcle.
Even the NEW Tojo Sahara V8 Twin Turbo diesel AUTO I drove last week at $117K...desnt have such a filter to protect the tranny!
One wonders about the quality of engineers they employ at these
places to design their new product - obvioulsy non of them have ever towed a heavy load in the heat of Oz's outback!
The hunting between gears of the auto's with cruise control - comes on the "jumpups" north of
Carnarvon mostly - where cruise control cannot "see an approaching hill" - increase speed slightly - coast up the
hill by easing the throttle and allowing the auto to stay in top gear then increase speed again on the downside of the
hill.
No - the cruise control keeps the vehicle at the set speed (say 100kph), then encounters the
hill unexpectedly and applies throtle too late to try and maintain speed - the auto then kicks down a gear at say 90 kph which you don' want - the engine revs its guts out to get back up to 100 and seconds later is coasting down the other side of the
hill - trying to use engine breaking to slow you to 100kph..
Cruise control is no use with a heavy load on anything except flat ground.
I found in Hot weather - I can control engine rpms and hence EGT's and Trans oil temps etc etc a LOT better by driving with my foot on the throttle - and accelerate slightly to maybe 105 or 110 before the
hill - coast up the
hill driopping to maybe 95 without kicking downa gear and then accelerate a little going down
hill - to get back to 100kph - then re set the cruise control fo the next 5 or 10
miles till the next "jump up"
hill / dune on the landscape approaches.
Then I flick cruise off and drive manually over the
hill - and then resume cruise control.
It's a trick you learn -just like hitting the
water switch when needed.
A side benefit of the
water tanks & 12V pump is I keep a garden hose & nozzel etc with snaplocks behind the
seat.
In the unlikely event of a tyre fire - you can plug the hose in to a snaplock on th rear bumper - hit the dash pump switch and
water down the tyre - to cool it off and stop spontaneous reignition from built up heat making the rubber molten!
This can prevent a tyre fire from setting a fiberglass or alumiunium boat or caravan on fire and then spreading till you lose your whole rig, car and towed boat/van!
Obviously I have a few fire extinguishers as
well - which can hold the tyre fire at bay for long enough, while I get the
water hose hooked up!
Even if it doesn't save my boat & truck it COULD help someone else less fortunate on the roadside who finds themselves in such a spot of bother.
Maybe more folks should travel with adequate
water and a pump to deploy it when towing in the outback?
Had I known better (or asked) I might have found the poly
water tanks available at 4WD stores before I comitted the $11K to having the 2 stainless steel
water tanks fabricated for that particular project!
Wise in hindsight!
Cheers!
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