speculate on a noise from rear end - turns out it's a tranny problem

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Vbb199

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Hell, I hope I didn't come on initially sounding like I'm dooming it,
Ive rode in some JUNK and heard all kinds of ungodly noises and rode it out until the very end when it came to a physical grinding halt

I hope it lasts another 100,000 miles.
 

SirRobyn0

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Hell, I hope I didn't come on initially sounding like I'm dooming it,
Ive rode in some JUNK and heard all kinds of ungodly noises and rode it out until the very end when it came to a physical grinding halt

I hope it lasts another 100,000 miles.
No you didn't sound like you were dooming it. You gave me honest advice and info on what to check for. Had I found something in the pan the only thing I would have known is that it wasn't a good sign I'd of had no idea what one thing or the other would have meant.

I'm not looking for nor do I intend to try to push it. I mean from talking to the three of you I basically understand that it could go on like this for quite sometime, possibly years, but I really don't want to push it. There is abnormal noise, something is obviously not right and I do want to fix it. I don't wanna be 100 miles away or over the pass and have it let go one day. If I can get it to do the jobs I really need it for, for the next several months I will be perfectly happy with that and either get my unit rebuilt or an exchange unit in there.

I've got an E-mail into Pac-Trans in Yakima for pricing with some upgrades, and turn around time. Also another one to Bowtie Overdrives, I'm open to investigate other venders, but NOT interested in Monster I've heard to many horror stories. Mainly I'm glad to have a little time to figure out how it'll go. Thanks.
 

Vbb199

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No you didn't sound like you were dooming it. You gave me honest advice and info on what to check for. Had I found something in the pan the only thing I would have known is that it wasn't a good sign I'd of had no idea what one thing or the other would have meant.

I'm not looking for nor do I intend to try to push it. I mean from talking to the three of you I basically understand that it could go on like this for quite sometime, possibly years, but I really don't want to push it. There is abnormal noise, something is obviously not right and I do want to fix it. I don't wanna be 100 miles away or over the pass and have it let go one day. If I can get it to do the jobs I really need it for, for the next several months I will be perfectly happy with that and either get my unit rebuilt or an exchange unit in there.

I've got an E-mail into Pac-Trans in Yakima for pricing with some upgrades, and turn around time. Also another one to Bowtie Overdrives, I'm open to investigate other venders, but NOT interested in Monster I've heard to many horror stories. Mainly I'm glad to have a little time to figure out how it'll go. Thanks.
It is pleasant to get a break sometimes, usually when they fail they go out all at once unless a seal just breaks down and hardens and begins to squeak fluid by on a piston.

Glad that it's not totally fatal given its service life
 

SirRobyn0

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It is pleasant to get a break sometimes, usually when they fail they go out all at once unless a seal just breaks down and hardens and begins to squeak fluid by on a piston.

Glad that it's not totally fatal given its service life
I've been lucky lately and that is really how I should look at it. But I was just telling this story to one of the techs at work this afternoon. In the 90's and early 2000's I had an 1988 Olds Delta 88, it was a really nice car, well one day coming up the hill to farm it went from operating perfectly to no drive in any gears, no reverse no nothing. At the time I had a local guy rebuild it, but I no long remember what he said was the failure. From that prospective I do like the reliability of manual. I've kicked around in my head today the idea of converting the truck to the SM465, but man it's 84 low hump, and if I remember what I've read I don't think it's a removable hump, so that would mean cutting the floor. Sourcing all the needed parts, and the conversion is time I don't really have, plus I sure do like the automatic in the city traffic near the shop. I've been really happy with 700R4 to be honest.
 

SirRobyn0

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Man, I hate it when my Tranny has problems;)

Glad it seems to be holding together and nothing too terrible was waiting for you in that pan. Glad the doggo is doing better too!
Funny story about trannys. In the mid-2000's I was managing for Goodyear and there was a tech at the shop who was a Mexican immigrant sometimes he would get certain words wrong, or use certain phrases wrong, but his English was really good. I'm telling you this guy was far from knowing it all, but he was super sharp and a heck of a hard worker, anyhow. Like at the shop I'm at now my desk was in the shop. I was sitting there one day and the sales guy called for him to explain some repair. Apparently the customer was or looked like a tranny. The Mexican guy comes out of the front sits down across from me at the desk, and says that, that.... Customer looked like one of those..... What do you call it in america.... Transaxles. And he rolled the R a little bit as he said it. Oh, man did I go rolling on the floor laughing...

Thanks. I get really, really bonded to my dogs. Sometimes I even think it's a little ridiculous how strongly I bond and get attached to them. And for crying out loud this was just a spay, very routine for the docs, but not for me. Oh I guess that's just more good news I hadn't thought of, both with the transmission and the dog she LOVES ridding in the square, all cars are fun but the old truck is her fave. In 14 days when she gets her stitches out she'll be allowed to jump in (no jumping with stitches in the belly so right now really the minivan is her only option) Once those stitches are out, then she can go for a ride in the truck!
 

SirRobyn0

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For anyone wondering the truck did just fine today on the feed haul. 8 - 55 gallon barrels of feed in the bed. It's pretty good load, and as expected it made the bearing / growl noise every time it was in 1st gear. A couple times taking off from stops where hills were involved I had to wind it up a bit and again it did just fine. I will do something with the tranny in the net few months I don't wanna push it until it leaves on the side of the road with a bed full of feed or something. That would not be a good time....
 

SirRobyn0

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Thanks for all the help and advice on this guys!

For anyone wondering. 2 months later I've put roughly 2,500 miles on the truck since the noise started up. It's been stable and the noise hasn't changed much if any and I've done some good long runs with it loaded too. There is a little part of me that wants to just keep pushing it, but there is a much bigger part of me that knows how disappointed I'd be if it failed on me and I was without my truck for a couple of week in the summer when I use it the most for the farm. It would also really suck to have it go out 100 miles from home with the bed loaded with feed or towing the trailer. So this next Tuesday I'll be towing the Jeep to the shop with the truck, so I can leave the truck, pull the tranny in the days that follow and hopefully get it to the builder the following Friday.

This post was just basically to conclude this thread for anyone that was wondering how it's been going.

If you wanna see how the rebuild goes, and the other things I plan to do while the truck is at the shop waiting for the tranny to go back in, I'm going to post that stuff here link>>> https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/1984-c-20-driver-thread.35123/ <<< You will want to jump to post #44 for the tranny stuff to start.
 

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