1992 4.9L V6 Transmission Kaputt

[Kaajot]

Hi all-

Well, been about 8 months since I was here. I've been making a lot of headway on repairing my F-150 to tip-top shape with new ranch hands bully bars to boot. It was looking pretty, and then I went on a journey to Syracuse.

Well, I was headed back from looking at a camper trailer and the engine started acting sluggish on acceleration. I tried to punch it up a little and that's when it went from bad to worse. Lost all feel of torque, the mph dropped, some thunks inside the engine and then a lot of smoke as I coasted to a stop.

I didn't see specifically any fluid blow, but lifted my hood to clear the smoke and checked underneath -- a lot of smoke and dripping fluid coming out from underneath the central part of the truck between the driver cab and the forward edge of the bed's box.

Now I'm going to go out on a limb and say my transmission rods shattered and destroyed the engine... and any fluid down the central gear box to the rear wheel drive axle was tranny fluid escaping its shrapnel-filled confines.

Opinions? Options? Don't think it's repairable, which is a shame because it's only 131K actual miles on this beauty. Heaps of upgrades on the truck itself. Insurance is cheap.... Does a good job.

However, I'm pulling heavier loads. Maybe I should sell it for scraps to a bidder and upgrade to an F250 or F350? I'm buying a 4K lb camper and have a 2K lb 28' boat trailer that will hold a 4K lb boat (6K deal). Maybe someone will want to buy it as a project? I'd hate to get rid of it and it does my landscaping and home building work just fine and looks fantastic now.

Anyone know where I can get a new engine at a reasonable price if I can't get it repaired? If I'm getting a new engine, is now the time to upgrade to Air Con if i want it added? Can I upgrade the engine to have more pulling power? I'm totally new to transmission replacement.

I did upgrade the back and front with custom bumpers. The back bumper has a built-in class 3 hitch tied to the frame. If I can get more torque out of the new engine for pulling, I'm all ears, but part of me thinks I'd have to replace the gearbox and possibly the rear axle to match the upgraded system? Again, shooting from the hip here with little experience.

Thanks and hopefully you can point me in the right direction of what to do with the truck. I just fixed the electrical system too including the brake control.

 

[Kaajot]

I know it's not a lot to go on in my first post.

I'm resigning to the fact that it may be $2K to rebuild the engine or replace it and I won't be getting anything out of it, sooo

Looking at buying an F250 1995 or 1997 long bed 4x4 in the area with lower mileage, automatic, that I can swop my best upgrades onto and then sell the body of the F-150 to someone that may have an engine to drop into it.

 

[SuperCab]

Unless it truly was some extremely rare catastrophic failure, either your engine or transmission are probably still ok. Unlikely that they both gave up the ghost simultaneously.

I didn't notice if you mentioned it in your original post... Is it an automatic or manual transmission?

 

[Kaajot]

Unless it truly was some extremely rare catastrophic failure, either your engine or transmission are probably still ok. Unlikely that they both gave up the ghost simultaneously.

I didn't notice if you mentioned it in your original post... Is it an automatic or manual transmission?

Well, it felt catastrophic.

It's an automatic. The check engine light has been coming on and although I didn't see any other indication, the vents were blowing hot over the last month and finally got noticeable due to warmer weather. There's no A/C, so I'm used to warmish-air but it was not able to bring cooler air from outside into the cab.

Also, the serpentine belt fell off the truck 2 months ago. I put it back on (new one), warrantied at the autoparts store with their tool and got her back up and running, but some lubricant had shot out that night. I don't know if it was transmission or coolant -- looked like it was from the radiator.

Could the radiator have died and I let the truck run w/out one? It was a brand new radiator. >_<

 

[SuperCab]

Well if the radiator was leaking you probably would've noticed all the coolant leaking out before it was bad enough to overheat the engine.

Let's try to figure out what failed and left you on the side of the road...

Where is the truck now? Do you have it or was it towed to a shop or something?

Have you or anyone tried to start the truck since then? Does it crank at all? Has anyone visually inspected the engine and trans for signs of catastrophic mechanical failure? ie parts/pieces protruding from the trans case or engine block?

 

[Kaajot]

Well if the radiator was leaking you probably would've noticed all the coolant leaking out before it was bad enough to overheat the engine.

Let's try to figure out what failed and left you on the side of the road...

Where is the truck now? Do you have it or was it towed to a shop or something?

Have you or anyone tried to start the truck since then? Does it crank at all? Has anyone visually inspected the engine and trans for signs of catastrophic mechanical failure? ie parts/pieces protruding from the trans case or engine block?

Ok, so the truck is at Big Mike's Auto Service Center in Syracuse, they'll be doing the diagnostic on Monday. I didn't have my electronic diagnostic with me -- wish I had to plug into the computer.

It doesn't crank at all. Electrical is working as far as lights, charging, etc.

I looked at the engine, all I saw was smoke coming from underneath so I looked under the bed/passenger door where the most smoke was wafting and saw lots of smoke and fluid coming from under the exhaust pipe. It didn't look good down there, but I didn't linger as I was in a very bad place on the side of the road and the state trooper later gave me crap about it too like I had a choice on where I rolled to a stop (also claimed I was telling him what to do, which I was not -- I think he had a case of the short man syndrome and hadn't watched Super Troopers).

 

[SuperCab]

Let us know what they find out

 

[Kaajot]

It was the transmission, now I know what the that looks like

Let us know what they find out

So, this is partially my fault, partially another shop's fault, and completely preventative.

I'm in upstate New York now, so the Winter was cold. In December I had a body shop finish repairing a 12 pt buck hit with a new radiator structure support mount and radiator. Well, the Radiator Shroud was not on because I'd taken it off while dismantling the front end to save on time and labor at the shop. It was in the back of the pick-up when the shop assembled the front end, but they didn't see it/install it.

So I told them about it a week after I got it (or less) and we were working on another date to "fix" the problem. Well, they got backed up from work due to the massive snow storms causing structural hits/accidents that we just kept letting it slip. Fast forward four months and the heat finally turns up. Prior to that I had only been driving it 35 miles one way max or idling at a frozen drop zone where the radiator was cooled by the ambient temperature. I drive to Syracuse to look at a camper, park outside a Starbucks and flip through apps with my dog on the bench seat enjoying some ice cold water, and begin driving again. Total engine run time is about 2 hours out of 2.5 hours. I get 10 mins up the road and lose power, transmission burns out due to ineffective radiator install.

Also it's worth noting I didn't change the cap or the thermostat with the new radiator, so we did that this time at Big Mike's Service Center just north of Syracuse.

Also worth noting, the water pump has likely never been changed to my recollection and we're probably going to change that out too.

I've also added a super cool radiator per the mechanic's recommendation on the outside of the radiator to enable additional cooling and prevent this from occurring again.

Engine fine, radiator not so much.

It's about a $2K bonehead mistake in the long run but a new water pump, radiator super cooler, thermostat/radiator pressure cap, and new tranny. Or maybe it was going to happen regardless, but I ran the radiator shroud down to the shop and it's installed in the truck too.

130K miles on the engine, good condition body, and a lot of replaced parts -- I want to keep the truck going. I may sell her though if I can find a good F250.

Any suggestions on F250 years? I've been told the 7.3L V8 turbo diesel is an amazing engine in the 1999-2003 models? Not what I'm used to working on, but I need more pulling power so it might be worth it.


-KJ