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**petejw** · 06-24-2010, 03:32 AM

from what it sounds like geezer is that the rubber seals
have hardened, as the transmission warms up the seals
become pliable, you could try an addative and cross your
fingers and hope for the best, or the rubber seals will require
replacing.

**XSive Okie** · 06-24-2010, 07:35 AM

Could be the valves sticking in the valve body, and they are freeing up when warm. Might add some Seafoam Trans Tune (or similar product) and run it for a couple of miles, see if there is a improvement, and then change the filter. If the Seafoam doesn't help your problem it won't do any harm either, completely safe to use. Good luck!

**DiverRay** · 06-24-2010, 07:40 AM

My experience is with the older automatics, so I'm not sure if I can help too much... I would think doing the fluid and filter will be the #1 on my list. Look for a brown fluid, or a burnt smell when you change it. If the old fluid does NOT look really bad, you should be OK. I would then put on an aftermarket transmission cooler. Plumb it so the fluid goes from the trans, too the cooler, and then through the radiator and back too the trans. That will keep the oil cool, but not allow it to get too cold to work properly.
Now I don't know what shop you talked to, but DO NOT EVER GO TO AAMCO!!! They WILL overcharge you and do a bad job on top of it!!

**petejw** · 06-24-2010, 08:54 AM

Hey Ray,
Its a 78 model,
how much older would you be talking about? lol

**Yahman** · 06-24-2010, 09:19 AM

If the oil is brunt, DO NOT CHANGE IT! It's money wasted and the quickest way to finish it off. If you do, it will most likely brake down on you when you are out on the road using it, and it probably won't take long. I made my living rebuilding transmissions for many years, and from my experience you are probably going to need a rebuild. With the number of miles and its age, the fiber material is shot and probably flaking off. Small particles then get into the valves and cause them to stick. Also Pete is right that the seals have hardened. Send me an email and we'll talk.

Larry

**crazy steve** · 06-24-2010, 09:54 AM

I'm with Pete, I think the seals may have dried out a bit, although I've seen 'old' fluid/dirty filters cause this problem. 90K miles is still pretty 'young' for the bands, etc to be worn out unless the truck has been used for a lot of hauling/towing of heavy loads. While changing the fluid, make sure you get the torque convertor drained as it holds a lot of fluid and not draining that means you only changed about half of it, contaminating the new with the old. No drain plugs on the convertor? Change it at least twice, three times would be better. Use a 'seal softener' additive.

If the fluid has never been changed, you've taken some life out of the gearbox, but it still should have some miles left in it. The ford boxes will go over 200K easily in 'normal' use if cared for. The trans fluid should be changed every 40-50K at least, more often if you haul/tow.

I'll agree with Larry, if the fluid has been 'burned', the gearbox is probably done...

'78E original owner

**Ivan** · 06-24-2010, 10:34 AM

78 Ford pickup will probably have a C6. They were pretty well bullet proof. At 90k, I would get a Chilton's and a beam type inchpound torque wrench and see about setting the bands again. They do wear, and you could probably get another few thousand miles out of it. That and a filter change would be the cheapest things to try first. If you get the filter changed, spend the $60 or so to have it power flushed. I don't buy into it on polwer steering or coolant, but it genuinely seems to work on automatic transmissions.

If all else fails and you have mediocre mechanical abilities, pull the sucker and rebuild it your self. They were pretty simple to rebuild and cheap enough as well.

**fredintoon** · 06-24-2010, 10:50 AM

My own sad story,
our trusty Buick's tranny died as my wife and I pulled into the restaurant car park on Valentine's day.
The tranny suddenly went from working great to acting like it was in neutral.
Coulda been worse, we could have been in the middle of down town traffic.
As it was, we could enjoy our dinner, both of us could drink more than the driver's token 1/2 glass of wine and get a free ride home in CAA's towtruck.
Turns out that the tranny fluid cooler in the radiator had failed and had allowed engine coolant to mix with the tranny fluid and the tranny didn't like that at all.
What with a complete tranny rebuild and a new radiator the repair bill was just about equal to what the car was worth.
But whatcha gonna do? Sell the car for scrap? Buy another 17 year old car with God knows what problems of it's own?
Or pay up and drive the Buick another 150,000 miles?

**Geezer** · 06-24-2010, 12:40 PM

Thanx for all the suggestions. I'm going to verify what model transmission it is today. The guys at auto parts store told me to count the bolts on the pan. Anyway the transmission has been regularly serviced. Once by the original owner and once by my father. The oil change places around here all want $120 and up for a flush. I guess I'm just too damn cheap for that...

It has some other problems from sitting and I could see that the seals could be a problem. The power steering leaks too.

This truck was the bait and switch model, base model with deluxe trim and high gearing. It had the smallest radiator Ford made. It over heated easily from the time it was new so I put in the biggest triple core radiator I could get when I got it... I'm planning a full restore so I'm willing to put in the effort but $1400 right now is just plan out of the question...

Geezer

**psycoreefer** · 06-24-2010, 01:17 PM

I'm sure your probably aware of this option, but if you can't spend for the full rebuild there are a lot of trucks and transmissions available at junk yards. I'm sure probably cheaper then 1400 bucks, not as good as a full rebuild but....

Also call around some more, when the transmission went out in SWMBO blazer I had a lot of shops quote me 1000+, had a family member suggest a small local place he'd used before and the guy that does the rebuilds will do what you want...meaning I talked to him because I was short on cash and he only replaced the parts that were worn out, I got out of it for just under 300 bucks, and we've already put another 10k on it and it seems to be holding up fine.

**cywelchjr** · 06-24-2010, 01:38 PM

Originally posted by DiverRay View Post

My experience is with the older automatics, so I'm not sure if I can help too much... I would think doing the fluid and filter will be the #1 on my list. Look for a brown fluid, or a burnt smell when you change it. If the old fluid does NOT look really bad, you should be OK. I would then put on an aftermarket transmission cooler. Plumb it so the fluid goes from the trans, too the cooler, and then through the radiator and back too the trans. That will keep the oil cool, but not allow it to get too cold to work properly.
Now I don't know what shop you talked to, but DO NOT EVER GO TO AAMCO!!! They WILL overcharge you and do a bad job on top of it!!

+1 on the AAMCO. Many years ago I took a transmission in to be repaired. It took them 5 tries to get it right and finally the fifth time they found the hairline crack in an actuator plate. And to top it off it was something like 1500 back then almost 30 years ago, and that wasn't even for their supposed lifetime repair. I will however say that I put almost 100k on the transmission after that, and only got rid of the car because it was in a flood. It's now a drag car down around bakersfield (old vega wagon, pretty popular thing to do with them).

**Deathdeelr** · 06-24-2010, 07:17 PM

If you want to give the trans it's final flush down the toilet then go ahead and have it flushed. You'll throw the money out the window and the trans will be directly behind.

I believe the only automatic that came in the 1978 F150's was the C6. Take a look online for the adjustment specs on the bands and go a hair tighter. What I mean by a hair is like 1 or 2 inch pounds. You'll also need a 3/8" or 7/16" 12 point socket to fit the square nut on the band. It's not a difficult job and at the same time you can change the fluid and filter. Keep in mind just by dropping the oil you will probably need a new trans soon anyway. Tightening the band might get you a few more miles out of it.

**Ivan** · 06-24-2010, 10:14 PM

Boy I am sure f'n glad I didn't invest any time or $50k on tools to be an ASE tech for ten friggen years at a Ford shop.

Disregard anything I might have said. Toilets are obviously a better option.

**GARTHXS** · 06-24-2010, 10:22 PM

Originally posted by Ivan View Post

Boy I am sure f'n glad I didn't invest any time or $50k on tools to be an ASE tech for ten friggen years at a Ford shop.

Disregard anything I might have said. Toilets are obviously a better option.

Now thats the Ivan I remember

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