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The dragging saga continues.

Stoney

Stoney

Well-Known Member
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Elmira ny
So after many moons of dealing with my truck dragging all the time on and off, and not being able to identify where the problem is between the transmission and the brakes I decided to get brave. (Kids don't try this at home). I disconnected the brakes and made sure they were all released. On a back ass road I drove the truck, I did have another truck chained to the ass end of me but I wasn't pulling him he was just pacing along with me just in case. Truck felt fine for a little while but Eventually the problem presented itself. Truck started feeling like it was dragging, bingo ladies and gentlemen we ever eliminated the brakes as the problem.. so that only leaves the transmission. Now keep in mind this problem has been going on with two different transmissions in the truck so I don't think it's an internal problem. At least it's highly unlikely that the replacement transmission had the same problem as the original one.. what I have noticed is that the truck feels like it is stuck in a high gear. As in sometimes it does not downshift all the way when you come to a stop or slow down. Imagine taking off in second or third gear with a manual transmission. It'll do it but it ain't happy about it and it feels like it's pulling the ton of weight.
But remember that this problem began when I let an idiot work on my truck and one of the things he did was yank one of the plugs out of the side of the transmission for some dumb reason when all he was doing was a fluid and filter change. I don't remember which plug it was but I'm pretty sure it was one of the ones that has the blue s*** on it but don't quote me on that.. it may have been the big round plug.
I eliminated the idea of it being some kind of fueling issue because if it was a fuel issue it would do it all the time I would believe. But I did do some work on the fueling system that day just changing a hose or something if I remember right.
So I'm left to think that either he damaged one of the plugs, or that somehow the truck lost some programming or something.. or the torque converter is not unlocking...
I'm not an electrician by any means, but if somebody could explain to me how to test the plugs that would be awesome.. and how would I tell if my torque converter is not unlocking and what would cause that.. if I remember right that can have something to do with temperature in some way or another. .
Any ideas??

My side note does anybody know anything about Lionhart lion claw tires? 10 ply.
I ordered two of them on eBay for $125 a piece.. the reviews seemed pretty good on them for a lower end of tire. Just wondering if I should plan on replacing them in a year or if I should get some life out of them.
 
I should point out that if I'm going down the road and the truck feels like it's dragging and I gun it like I am passing somebody, you know pedal to the floor, the truck will downshift and pass them.
 
When you say it's dragging, is it only when your taking off or accelerating? when your up to the desired speed and cruising it's fine?

it's might not have anything to do with the trans at all. re-connect all the brakes and take off on a slow acceleration feeling for and counting the shifts. if it's hitting all gears including tcc lockup you should feel and count 1st, 2nd, 3rd, TCC lock, 4th, TCC lock. we need to get a scanner connected and watch live data to really rule out the trans.

I am wondering if you are experiencing an intermittent power loss on the engine side. this can be due to fuel, timing, PMD, or some failing sensors that are still within spec not turning the SES light on.
 
@dbrannon79 it seems like if I get it up to say 60 it is fine once it's up there, but lower speeds like around town, if you take your foot off the accelerator it feels like it slows down fairly quick not like a long smooth Coast that you would expect.
I took it to a transmission shop once, he took it for a test drive with his computer hooked up to it.. he said it was shifting fine, my two problems with that diagnosis are, 1) if the truck wasn't experiencing the issue at the time the computer might not pick it up and if I'm not driving it I can't tell. I know how the truck is supposed to feel he doesn't..
The other problem I have with his diagnosis is if he's manually shifting it with the computer, then that doesn't tell me anything about exterior stuff only internals of the transmission I believe.
 
@dbrannon79 . The other thing I'm going to mention but I don't think is related is that sometimes it shifts extremely hard as in you feel it jerk / bang but that's probably due to the training pan leaking. Usually stops doing that when I put more fluid in it.. I know I know get the gasket fixed I've tried redoing it three times and it's still freaking leaks... That's only been going on with the new transmission though not the old one for the leek is not involved in the dragging issue..
 
usually a scanner can't manually shift the trans. but if it's intermittent I can see where it might not had acted up when the guy drove it. when you said something about yanking a connector off the trans. the first thing is thought of is the speed sensors. if the shielding for the harness is messed up it might be picking up erratic signals from one of the sensors causing it to stay in a higher gear, not shifting right (causing a hard shift) and what not. Only connecting a scanner and watching the data when it acts up will reveal this or rule it out.

on the pan gasket. the mating surface on the pan could possibly be out of whack or worse, the mating surface on the trans. I assume you don't still have your old trans? you might want to look for another pan, maybe one of the aftermarket aluminum billet pans with the fins for extra cooling. then sometime when you have the time, replace it. the metal pans can be as much a PIA to get sealed as the valve covers are to seal up!
 
Not all scanners are equal ether. if the guy used a snap-on scanner it might not read true data properly. I have read where those don't read correctly, especially when trying to set timing. we need to find someone with a tech 2 that would be willing to spend some time with you driving or let you take the scanner with you.

to my knowledge you can get you an app on your android phone or tablet called torque pro and read data on it. Quadstar put a how to on his site. not sure if you need an actual cable or if you can use a bluetooth dongle on the truck. here is the link I found. it might be worth looking into.

quadstartuning.com

6.5L EFI Diagnostic Scanning for DIY Owners

Scan live diagnostic data from your OBDII 6.5L turbo diesel vehicle using our comprehensive how-to article on adding extended PIDs into the Torque app for Android devices.
quadstartuning.com quadstartuning.com
 
My neighbor has a tech 2. He doesn't care if I borrow it.. once I get it from him, need someone to walk me through how to use it for this..
I have torque on my tablet. Not the paid version, but I can get the paid version it's only a couple bucks..it uses a blue tooth plug in.
 
Have your neighbor show you how to connect it and show live data on it. I think @Big T has one and knows which screens you need to be looking at for the trans gears and speed sensor data. others would know what readings to watch out for as an indication of a false reading or what you should be seeing. iirc you'll be seeing sensor data from the speed sensors and looking for a differential reading between the two and look for drop outs or wide swinging reading from the two. I think the tech 2 has the ability to capture data where you can make two data captures, one when it's working fine and another when it's acting up. then send to a PC or even view on the tech 2 to compare each for what might be happening when it occurs.
 
It could be possible that when that first guy pulled a plug kn the side of the transmission he may have lost a spring that held a valve against a seat. Now the valve, or what may be, is just floating around in there, causing an intermittent problem.
If someone has a parts diagram for one of these transmissions, look and see what plugs might be on the side of these transmissions and what might be contained under them.
 
@dbrannon79 just took it for a run. I came to a dead stop. Shifted it to park for a second. Shifted it into overdrive. And took off, was feeling the dragging sensation and I only counted four shifts. And I ran it up to about 65 mph maybe 70.
It seems like some of the shifts are very soft as in you would barely notice them. Others you definitely notice.
Another thing I have noticed is if you're at a dead stop and you just take your foot off the break with the truck in gear, when it's acting up it will barely start moving at all without touching the throttle. When it is not acting up you can just take your foot off the break and she start rolling on her own really good.
When it's acting up it almost sounds like the engine is bogging down, again kind of like taking off in third gear with a manual transmission.
 
when the TCC locks the RPM will only change by maybe 200 when not under a load. I feel like you were able to count the shifts #1 = from 1st to 2nd, #2 = 2nd to 3rd, #3 = 3rd to 4th, and #4 = TCC lockup. it is extremely hard to feel the TCC lockup in 3rd. I rarely feel it.

easy way to tell is take off with the shifter out of overdrive (in 3rd) once your up to at least 55mph and cruising, tap and hold the brake pedal just enough where the tail lights would turn on but no enough to apply any braking while eyeballing the tach. you should see it jump up ever so slightly. I am confident that your trans is going though all the gears properly as it should.

do you have a fuel pressure gauge you can plumb in at the IP? have a length of hose on the gauge so you can prop it in front of the windshield to watch while you drive? also do you still have the clear tubing on the IP return? it's possible your LP is working but intermittently not supplying pressure or maybe a bad OPS or ground to the LP making it sometimes not work. if the LP is of the factory veriety, you'll only see 6-9 PSI on idle and see it drop to around 4PSI on WOT or accelerating up an incline. if it drops lower than that, it might be on it's way out. also watching it to see if you get sudden pressure drop outs while driving too.
 
@dbrannon79 , I changed the little line that we all replace with clear line . That piece had been on the truck for multiple years.. I noticed that on the bottom of the bend in the hose it was dry rotted and cracked all the way through.. no idea why I never saw any fuel leaking out. Any way, I changed it. Haven't drove it yet.. but that's just a return line so I would think it could suck air in. Only spray out. But I could be wrong.
I just use 1/4 inch tubing from the lawn mower section.
 
Ok this is weird.. after changing that return line with a new clear hose, the truck seems to be running a thousand percent better... Is there any way that could have been sucking air in?? I thought that was just took fuel back to the tank... Although I'm not going to put a ton of faith in it yet... It could just be coincidence... @Will L. @ak diesel driver @WarWagon does this make any sense to any of you? That one really has me baffled..
 
Yes. The return line has to be sealed- it goes to the bottom of the fuel tank even.
Not leaking out when bad there is really uncommon but possible.

Fuelline.com sells clear line by the foot that is rated to 25psi, and is safe for all fuels including diesel, gas, ethanol, methanol, nitro. I have had a sample piece soaking for a couple years now with ZERO deterioration. I did not think to put some out in the sun to see hkw it does against uv. Think I will do that today.
 
@Will L. I wouldn't worry about it as far as UV I mean think about it how much sun exposure do these engines actually get.. .. okay if we're talking about my engine it gets a lot of sun exposure because the Hood's always up but you know what I mean
I'm going to get on that site and order some I think I'm just going to redo all the fuel lines at once.. eliminate possibilities
 
Really?? Damn I really do learn something new everyday.. that's pretty cool 😎...
The only thing I've noticed with the truck today, when I take off from a dead stop occasionally it'll feel like it's dragging for a couple of seconds then the transmission shifts really hard and it's going like a freight train... Can't figure out why the transmission is making that first shift so hard or if that is related to the problem. Does the tranny computer read fuel line pressure or something?
 
the first shift being hard could possibly be the adjustment on the selector switch? @Will L. might be able to answer that. I know you had swapped out the trans a good while back.

on the clear return line being cracked and not leaking tells me your LP isn't pushing pressure to the IP. get a gauge on it and mount it where you can see it while you drive. I will place some poker chips on that one.
 
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