F150 Pushed too hard

[mitchwi]

We use a F150 2WD with a 351 for farm use. It is well worn, but does a good job of hauling stuff. I think I pushed it too hard and was wondering if anyone thinks I could fix it reasonably $, or would I be better off sending it down the road.

I had hauled 2 previous loads of cob corn in gravity boxes, with additional (avg) of 7700#. 3rd load was 7860. All three loads, I had to pull over and hook a tractor up to pull me up this last part of a steep hill.

Now going into this hauling, I knew the truck wasn't running in tip top shape, seems to be missing a bit when you get on it. But it is still running fine, problem lies in tranny.

Right at the spot I pulled over and waited for daughter to come with tractor and I had shut it off to wait is where I find the puddle of transmission fluid started. When I start up the truck it is pouring out, and from as close as I can see, it looks to be coming from inbetween the torque converter and housing. If I am wrong on terminology forgive me, I don't work on vehicles much

Anybody have an educated guess what it wrong? Is there a seal in there that could of blown? or any type of hyd hoses? Transmission is still working (except for fluid running out like crazy).

Any insight is always appreciated!

Thanks...Michele

 

[john250]

We use a F150 2WD with a 351 for farm use. It is well worn, but does a good job of hauling stuff. I think I pushed it too hard and was wondering if anyone thinks I could fix it reasonably $, or would I be better off sending it down the road.

I had hauled 2 previous loads of cob corn in gravity boxes, with additional (avg) of 7700#. 3rd load was 7860. All three loads, I had to pull over and hook a tractor up to pull me up this last part of a steep hill.

Now going into this hauling, I knew the truck wasn't running in tip top shape, seems to be missing a bit when you get on it. But it is still running fine, problem lies in tranny.

Right at the spot I pulled over and waited for daughter to come with tractor and I had shut it off to wait is where I find the puddle of transmission fluid started. When I start up the truck it is pouring out, and from as close as I can see, it looks to be coming from inbetween the torque converter and housing. If I am wrong on terminology forgive me, I don't work on vehicles much

Anybody have an educated guess what it wrong? Is there a seal in there that could of blown? or any type of hyd hoses? Transmission is still working (except for fluid running out like crazy).

Any insight is always appreciated!

Thanks...Michele

I did nearly the same thing a few years ago. It's toast. Repairs cost more than it's worth.
Use the repair bill to make a down payment on an F-250/350 if you commonly pull those loads. OR, use the tractor exclusively to pull those loads and buy another F-150.

 

[Saltydawg]

There is a front seal on the shaft between the torque converter and housing. Your main hydraulic pump is next thing in line.

If the tranny is working fine except for the fluid loss you might get lucky and just have to replace the front seal.
Also look really closely for a cracked tranny housing and any damage to the torque converter.

If it's just the seal leaking, it's an easy repair. If something is cracked like the pump housing or you buggered up the torque converter you're gonna need to start looking for parts.

 

[Bullbuyer]

I'd see if someone won't do a swap out for you. There's a guy here that keeps several common tranny's available all the time - just drop off the truck and they trade 'em out. Cost - I don't know but I'm willing to bet it's much less than the factory folks - check around.

 

[shorty]

I don't know what your transmission problem might be but I do know that you're overdoing it with the truck it may pull the loads ok but your truck doesn't have brakes or weight to stop a load like that , ( I know from experience ) you could have an accident waiting to happen.

 

[mitchwi]

Use the repair bill to make a down payment on an F-250/350 if you commonly pull those loads. OR, use the tractor exclusively to pull those loads and buy another F-150.

F350 is on the need list... We usually do use the tractors, but we ended up getting the cob corn for a little labor trade my husband did... anyway, it was about a 10 mile haul.

Saltydawg, if that seal is out, does pulling engine and/or tranny involved?

Thanks for the help!

 

[perda04]

You don't need to pull an engine to replace the front transmission seal. The transmission is attached to the engine and the torque converter is attached to the plate driven by the starter. Take down the rear transmission support, remove the bolts to the engine and disconnect the torque converter from the flywheel. You will also need to pull the drive shaft, shifting linkage and speedometer shaft. Once you have it down, the torque conver slides right out the front exposing the pump and front seal.

 

[MrGale]

QUICK TIP....before you remove the bell housing (that big thing bolted to the engine...) MARK THE torque converter and flywheel through the hole from removing the starter or through the tin plate on the bottom of the bell housing with a scribe so that it goes back in the same place....there may be an alignment dowell on the converter but marking as well is usually helpful getting it back together right.

 

[Saltydawg]

Yea the tranny needs to be pulled.

I would recomend a Chiltons or Haynes manual.

It's not a technically difficult job and it doesn't require any specialty tools. Wrenches, sockets, and basic hand tools.
The tranny will weigh about 100-150lbs and will need to be lifted down once it's unbolted so without a tranny jack it's up to you how you want to lift it.
I've seen people just wrestle it down by hand and I've seen them wiggle a standard floor jack under and balance it down. (ive used both of these methods as well :lol: )

Your tranny is leaking fluid badly. If it isn't one of the cooler lines on the side of the tranny leaking then your tranny is gonna have to come out anyhow if you intend to fix it.
The front seal costs about 10 bucks and is easy to change other than the fact you have to drop the tranny to get to it.

 

[mitchwi]

Thank you to everyone for the great replies!!