Smoked a tranny.

[SgtMajHarper]

Just trying to get a handle on what I may be up against. Last week at our local Veterans Day parade, I was on the way home running in "maybe" 3rd gear, plugging along at @ 30 mph and the truck started smoking like a Navy CPO on mid watch with unfiltered Camels thru the battery box and up thru the floor as it lurched hard to a stop. I shut off the engine and the wife and I did our abandon ship drill expecting flames and screams from women and children....fortunately, none of that happened....(well, no flames and no children's screams anyway).

The smoke rapidly dissipated, but something bad just happened. Not wanting to tempt fate further, I called a tow truck and waited and watched the heat indicator rise in my wife's forehead and her gaze squeeze shut as it only took @ 2 hours to get a tow truck to arrive on a weekend. Looking up under the hood and body of the truck; nothing bad visible, do drops, or pools of dead truck fluid, no indicators of harm.

I climbed back in and it started right up, ran fine, sounded fine. Just for fun I shifted into first and it pulled away like it should so I was now able to get out of the traffic lane. I experimented further, I also have reverse, acts normal. Still not wanting to tempt fate, I waited for the tow and eventually got home. Dropped the truck in the driveway and I was to drive it around like usual to get it backed back into it's stable and close the door.

What I'm wondering is does anyone have any wild ideas what I might have broken? I haven't done a thing to it yet, waiting for more time and other projects to be done first. I have hopes the tranny may be salvageable since it still has life in it.

 

[CMPPhil]

Hi

Well let's begin with some of the obvious and walk through what it might be. There are two approaches one figure out the most difficult/expense to repair. The other is to start with the simple/inexpensive to repair.

Now to questions/things to check:

1. check fluid levels and condition of the fluids
2. evidence of heat, scorching or discoloration

Once drove off with one of my truck with the parking brake partly on, 6 miles later oily smoke starts rolling out from under the truck into the cab, behind the truck. Pulled over grabbing the fire extinguisher and bailed out looking for the source, with smoke still rolling out from under the truck was about to call the fire department, when spotted that it was brake band on the back transfer case was the source. It was oil that had leaked out over the years on to the brake ban.

Another time in the fall of the year took out another truck for a ride, this time the source of the billowing smoke was from the exhaust, and it smelled like burning oak. Turned out the little critters had decided to store a winter's worth a horns in the muffler and tail pipe, and I roasted for them.

Now if your original assumption that it is/was the transmission it maybe that a lower gear cluster bearing has seized an the result was all the smoke.

Cheers Phil

 

[Roller]

Sounds like its the parking brake dragging, that's my guess.

Frank

 

[Barrman]

Yep. Parking brake is my guess as well. I have done it 3 or 4 times in the last 18 years. The brake band is so saturated with gear oil you don’t notice the slight drag until it all burns off. Then the Hand Of God reaches down and stops you in a hurry with lots of smoke.

 

[67Beast]

I'm going to agree with others on this on the parking bake. I have done it before as well but caught it before I got too far and ended up in smoke, but you sure could smell it.