In new mexico-hoping I can talk to a mechanic...

[Wabbit]

Hoping to talk on phone. Had a transmission cooler put in and I think its broke. Lot to ask, but if you can, could someone who knows 96 dodge 360 5.9l. No idea but all of a sudden its struggling for power, overdrive gasps and no power. Plastic housing got super hot on my leg. Pulled over and there's tranny fluid sprayed underneath van on from and these long rods. Temp gauge stopped working, just had a new thermostat put in. I have no idea if I can drive this or what to do. The shop that did the work is closed so not sure what they will do until tomorrow.

 

[Raven+Squid]

How much fluid showing on transmission dipstick and is it still leaking? Where does it appear the fluid is leaking from?

I wouldnt dfive it until you know you've got enough fluid.

Did they reverse the intake and output lines on the cooler?

 

[Wabbit]

There is still tranny fluid. No idea about cooler, they just said I needed a hvy duty one. We drove it 1000 miles and it just started acting up in NM. When I would go to pass and step on the gas I could feel the overdrive trying to kick in but it wasn't like it was the whole way here.

Underneath there is a new hose and some kind of plug, that's where I think the tranny fluid sprayed from. Also the cover inside the van covering the engine gets super hot(never felt it hot before, but this time I could feel the heat from there on my leg and that's why I pulled over and looked under the van. I know next to nothing about vehicles.

Now that it is colder and if I stay at 55 or so and don't use the overdrive, the cover inside the still is getting warm\hot, but not as hot as it was earlier.

 

[Wabbit]

It cost us way more than we budgeted to get this far I am going to try and get it to blm land and save up money to try and see what the problem is. Tomm I will talk to shop that did work in Iowa, but I have a feeling they will say its something new gone wrong.

 

[Raven+Squid]

I would think if you have lost fluid, high heat and shifting problems there is a significant chance you may cause further damage to your transmission. Check for loose vacum lines too.

I' m just guessing here.

 

[jonsun]

have you ever replaced the fan clutch?

try to spin the fan by hand

 

[GotSmart]

First thing is to make sure of where the leak is coming from.  It could be as simple as a lose hose clamp.  Make sure the ATF is full, and the type used is ATF+4

 

[Wabbit]

I didn't replace it. Looked and I am not able to get my hand in there to spin it. There's a cowling over it, will try after engine cools.

Made it to Az and now in this cooler night it is driving like it was before. The side of the engine cowling inside the van gets warm now, but it seems reasonable. The overdrive is working again and not chugging. In fact there's more power so I didn't really need the overdrive just did it to see if it still chugged, it doesn't.

However, since it overheated, its harder to start and shoots out a lil bit of white smoke when starting.

So would an engine cooling problem overheat the transmission cooler and make the pressure high enough where it sprayed tranny fluid on underside of car? Haven't lost any more tranny fluid in the last 125 miles.

Its also burning maybe a quart of oil every 150 miles, not positive about that number, but its close. Guy at the rest stop said the head gasket might be blown?

Just stinks, it handles great now with the money that was put into it. I have got over 7k into it so far, when is it just good money being thrown away? If we scrimp HARD and don't move much, could prob have 2k by may or June. Is that enough to have the engine rebuilt? I don't know, I'm tired, drove 1500 miles since yesterday with about 4 hours sleep. Gonna try to drive it at night and feed the beast oil.

 

[jonsun]

Well are you smelling coolant?

A fan clutch can release it's fluid

 

[GotSmart]

I am thinking I agree with the guy at the rest stop.  For now, try to drive slow and when it is cool.

Keep a close eye on guages and fluid levels.  

When you can, pull the plugs and check them out.  A plug that is significantly cleaner indicates steam in that cylender.

 

[djkeev]

When a vehicle acts as yours was/is........ STOP!!!!

Until you know the why you risk making a bad problem worse.

It is never "normal" to be leaking ATF. A unit low on ATF will do serious damage to the complex series of clutches inside the transmission.
BTW you check transmission oil level with the engine running and unit in Park. Fluid level shows more oil in the unit when not running.

You know it's ATF? That oil is blood red (if not burned). I ask for you say you are using huge quantities of engine oil. Engine oil is golden or black.

Please, stop driving the unit, no good will come from continuing on.

Dave

 

[SternWake]

Pretty sure fluid level is checked on his transmission in Neutral, on a level surface.  I know my A500/ 42re is.  One is supposed to manually shift it through 1/2/D then put it in neutral, when warm.

Long ago, When my Van was new to me I had an external cooler installed, and they plumbed a new cooler, but did not utilize the old one in the radiator, and just plugged it off, and poorly, and it started dripping all over the 'rents driveway, and I returned the next day and raised hell demanding they plumb it inline with original cooler.

They tried to charge me and I started foaming at the mouth.

If the tranmission is shuddering, like going over muted rumble strips, in the 47 to 60MPH range under light throttle, It is because they did not use ATF+4 in your transmission, but used their universal maximum profit ATF in a transmission which requires nothing but ATF+4.

Torque converter clutch chatter, and this will happen to most overdrive dodge vans within 10K miles of the wrong ATF being used.

NEVER trust any shop to actually use the correct ATF in an Overdrive  Dodge Van, no matter how soothing the service advisor is 

And please do not drive low on ATF, or engine oil

 

[steamjam1]

Engine overheating and the transmission not shifting smoothly into OD are two separate problems. For 1996, the van should have a 46RE, and those transmissions are notorious for the O/D going out. It would help if you took a pic or two of the area where the leak is coming from and posted them here...

Your van is also a magnum 5.9L. Head gasket and valley pan issues are not uncommon. What does the oil look like? black? milky? when you start the engine from cold how long does it take to get to operating temp? Does the radiator empty out?

 

[Van-Tramp]

You have yet to confirm that the fluid you saw was transmission fluid.  Red = trans fluid. Black = engine oil. Green = coolant. Get that confirmed first.

The only reason you would see trans fluid is because an trans-oil line broke (unless there is a hole in your transmission, which I seriously doubt). The only trans-oil lines would be the new ones running to the new trans-cooler. It is VERY possible that they forgot to tighten a clamp and it has been leaking oil. This is easily confirmed by the color of the oil and using the dip-stick to see if the transmission oil level is still good. An overheating engine would spit out coolant (green, smells like molasses). That is normal, but the overheating is not. A transmission that is not shifting properly could overheat your motor (staying in too low a gear, or constantly shifting in and out of OD for many miles).

 

[jonsun]

Or it won't lock the torque converter

 

[Gary68]

the good news is that if you didnt warp or crack a head you just need new gaskets
the o.k. news is,you can get a runner 360 pretty cheap,

if they bypassed your stock trans cooler and just went aftermarket cooler,they suck,it's common knowledge you go from rad to aftermarket cooler

 

[bullfrog]

You say the temp gauge is not working. Did it stop working when you noticed the problem or long before. Gauge won't read without coolant in the system so make sure you have coolant. Regular rubber fuel line hose will not stand up to automatic trans fluid for long, it should be hose made especially for oil. Because of high heat expansion all hose clamps should be checked to see if they are still tight, leaking or stripped. High pressure clamps or injection clamps might work better if some are stripped. The fact it still runs is good, but check oil for over full or chocolate milk shake color on dip stick or radiator over flow tank as indication of blown gasket or cracked head. Check trans fluid for burnt or over heated fluid by dark color and acrid smell and level. Towing it would be better than over heating it in order to get it checked by a mechanic.

 

[jonsun]

Still betting fan clutch. When they go bad it feels likes trans is going out. They can leak their fluid too and since he said trans wasn't empty.....

 

[bullfrog]

Bardo is likely right if fluids are not low. There should not be any transmission hoses with plugs if it was installed correctly. Fan clutches are filled with silicon based oil which leaks out that could be mistaken for trans fluid. Fan clutches don't always lock up when they go out most times you can feel looseness in them or they wobble on the shaft. When WITH ENGINE OFF you pull on fan blade front to back it moves or does rotate it's usually bad.

 

[Wabbit]

Took pictures, but laptop won't power on. Battery prob dead.

Tranny fluid = red
Oil = brown not black
Coolant=green

Tranny is leaking or sprayed from 2 places. First place is where it connects to a radiator? Is that the cooler? Second place is from a hose connection, this is where it looks like it sprayed. Fluid is at the middle of the"OK" section on trans stick with van in neutral. Used to be a lot higher, over the acceptable hot limit on stick. Figured the extra fluid was for cooler. With a transmission cooler, do you add more tranny fluid than recommended on the trans dipstick?

Coolant doesn't look like its circulating and its steaming.

In Buckeye, Az.

Trying to get warranty covered, will post back when I know more.