Uh-oh!!

[CaliDude76]

Came home earlier, and backed up into my driveway to unload some stuff from my pickup. My driveway has a good pitch to it, so I have to give a little throttle to get up on it...

anywho... when I hit the brakes.. I felt something clunk, and the truck felt like shook a bit, thought I hit something at first...but didn't...
Put the truck on the street, and reversed it, and heard some clunkage, and some other special noises...went into drive.. just a tiny bit of noise when I accelerated.

I'm sure (hoping) it's not the transmission itself... it shifts smoothly, and doesn't slip...

could bad u-joints be causing this? It just started happening this evening.

 

[skysurfer]

I had the trans in a '97 F-150 blow up twice. Both times it did exactly as you described.

Not sounding good for you from here.

 

[towman]

my first suspect would be the rear u joint

 

[crazy4offroad]

Just something to check, I suddenly got a very slight vibration on the highway so when I got home I checked my u-joints (on my Tacoma). Ended up being the pinion yoke nut had backed off almost 1/2 turn. The pinion was just loose enough to rattle around.

 

[CaliDude76]

After a few other opinons, as well as my dad's.. I'm gonna tackle the U-Joints.. front and rear..

So i'm going to do a write up.. Be on the lookout!!

 

[HotRodPC]

Youve got a Th350 in that one right? They usually don't have a clunk issue when they go out. Not a normal trait of a Th350 anyway. I'd first suspect U-Joints, next I'd suspect spider gears in the rear end. I have had the clucking you describe before and it was spider gears in the rear end were breaking teeth off the gears one at a time.

 

[CaliDude76]

Youve got a Th350 in that one right? They usually don't have a clunk issue when they go out. Not a normal trait of a Th350 anyway. I'd first suspect U-Joints, next I'd suspect spider gears in the rear end. I have had the clucking you describe before and it was spider gears in the rear end were breaking teeth off the gears one at a time.

well.. replaced the u-joints.. (wrote up about it, on another thread.) It cured most of it, but it was my driver rear brakes. They were out of adjustment, and were clunking around in the drum. Tightened em up, and it stop. Needed to do u-joints anyway.. it's been years since they've been touched.

Noticed the tranny did start whining a little bit in 1st gear, then runs quiet after it shifts. Old age.. it has to have at least 500K on it tho. So I guess i'l roll it till it stops.. doesn't shift hard or slip.

 

[HotRodPC]

Now, I have heard of Th350 having a whining problem about 2-3 weeks before they took a dive. As far as what's gone wrong from the whining, I don't know and don't recall what the issue ended up being.

 

[CaliDude76]

Now, I have heard of Th350 having a whining problem about 2-3 weeks before they took a dive. As far as what's gone wrong from the whining, I don't know and don't recall what the issue ended up being.

Well.. the transmission is fried...

Took it for a ride this evening, and didn't get a half a mile away from home, and the darn thing stopped moving.. just made some weird clunking noises.. shifted funny, and that was it.

Crazy thing though.. is I stopped the engine, turned it back on, and it went into gear, and I was able to limp home. The fluid was between add, and full.. not sure if this would make that much of a difference, but I lost daylight, so i'll add some tomorrow... and see what happens

 

[HotRodPC]

The clunking part you talked about didn't scare me much on a Th350, but the whining certainly concerned me. Now if a 700r4 or 4L60-E is clunking, then yes you can be concerned. The clunk and the whine makes me wonder of your converter doesn't have a problem, which is rare in a Th350 too. But, you mentioned its got a ton of miles on it, and I wouldn't be to upset its gone with that many miles on it. Just glad it didn't leave you stranded on the road or miss a day of work. I wish I was in Cali, we could hook rebuild that dude in a matter of about 2-3 hours depending on how dirty it is. if you had it out already. Beleive it or not, it takes me longer to clean all the parts than it does to build the transmission.

 

[CaliDude76]

The clunking part you talked about didn't scare me much on a Th350, but the whining certainly concerned me. Now if a 700r4 or 4L60-E is clunking, then yes you can be concerned. The clunk and the whine makes me wonder of your converter doesn't have a problem, which is rare in a Th350 too. But, you mentioned its got a ton of miles on it, and I wouldn't be to upset its gone with that many miles on it. Just glad it didn't leave you stranded on the road or miss a day of work. I wish I was in Cali, we could hook rebuild that dude in a matter of about 2-3 hours depending on how dirty it is. if you had it out already. Beleive it or not, it takes me longer to clean all the parts than it does to build the transmission.

Yeah.. that IS a bummer you live so far away. Although, it wasn't making these hellacious clunking noises... but it was sounding like.. i guess the the best way I can explain it is.. a dry bearing rubbing.. only in 1st gear though, then it would shift out into second and then run fine.

However, i took it for another spin later on in the evening after replacing my u-joints thinking that was the problem, and it did fine.. but started shifting a little funny, like it went out of first into second gear, for a like a second, then skipped right into third. I made a u-turn to go back home, and after I got out of the u-turn.. it just stopped moving and my RPM's shot up.

Tried all the gears and nothing. turned the engine off.. then back on, and it went into gear.. and I drove it home real slow... and that's it

Hung my hat-up, and called her a day... I have all day tomorrow..

 

[dhamp]

Gotta love a square that drags you home while it's dying inside! :gmfs:

 

[Camo]

maybe you should ge the video of ebay adn just get a rebuild kit. These transmissions really arent that complicated as hot rod said. A few hours and your back on the road. Kits start around $100.