Transmission story - good & bad
My old 97 GMC 1500 4x4 Sub was just over 300,000 km, or about 200,000 miles. I pulled my little 197 only about 800 miles with it. My wife left her 01 Sub at home to get some work done on it, and took the old one back up North. She got about 46 km north of North Battleford and the tranny blew, good and proper. Oil all over and no go
Okay, we get it towed back to Canadian Tire at NB, I talk to the service manager, he says there is a good tranny shop there. I ask him to get the tranny rebuilt.
Done. $2800 bill. My wife gets her grandson to drive it to Saskatoon and leave it at her daughter's. Wife has the keys, so no one used it. We went to get it one evening. I get back to just north of Davidson. Tranny blows. Oil all over. I bought a bunch of oil at Davidson and nursed it back to Regina. Many phone calls later, CT says the transmission shop will ship another trans to Regina.
Guy at the shop in Regina phones me and says it needs a rad, big time. He figures that the trans cooler that is built in to the rad was plugged after the first trans blew and it was not flushed. He said it was toast, plugged good and proper. Okay. New rad put in and the old Sub is back on the road.
One thing the fellow from Regina made really clear - he said I should take those &$!(&% stupid aftermarket grille covers off. He said they restrict the airflow a way too much if you are towing in the summer. Tranny will overheat and kaboom. He said they are fine in the winter, not towing.
The oil comes from the trans to the cooler built in to the rad first, then to the exterior cooler, and the built in one will plug with crap when the trans blows. He showed me the converter from the second trans. It was almost the same color as the old Sub - a dark maroon!!
I didn't mind the first trans blowing, or even the second one, as %$#& happens. Lesson - take those blankety-blank grille covers off! Oh yes, and he cautioned me about pulling a trailer in overdrive - DON'T.
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2012 Jay Feather 197 w/pull-out
1997 GMC Sub 1500 4x4;
or 2015 Ford F150 4x4 SuperCrew EB
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