So, I'm thinking that the problems I'm now having with my truck has to do with the fact that I stuck it in 4Lo to go down the driveway a couple days ago. It's currently sitting until I take it to the dealership to get the tranny pan..
Last time I took it down the driveway when it was snow/ice covered I slid all the way down and almost flew into the telephone pole across the road in 4Hi, so I figured 4Lo would give me better traction to slow down when I got to the bottom where it flattens out a bit (it's a giant slope down with about 20yds at the bottom that's flatter before the road). I heard a grinding when I applied the brakes at the bottom but didnt think much of it.

Well, now I have no brakes left and my tranny pan is all ripped up and leaking now. I'm not sure why I didn't notice the leak earlier, but I didn't notice it until yesterday. In which, my initial thought was that it was brake fluid, since I just had my brake lines replaced, but no..it's tranny fluid I'm leaving everywhere.

Soo..is my limited knowledge of 4Lo the reason my tranny pan is all tore up? Or am I blaming myself for something that just happened because the previous owner didn't take care of this truck?

 

Not your fault. Can you post up some pix of this area so we can see whats going on. Did the front driveshaft come off and tear up the trany pan? (if that's possible).

 

4lo won't give you any better traction for braking. Ice is ice. It doesn't care how many drive wheels you have, or what your final drive ratio is.

You just had your brake lines replaced, yet, now you have no brakes??? Who did the lines?

Did you run over something that thumped your trans pan, or is it just rusting out? Or, did the previous owner run over something?

Welcome to DF!

 

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow.
The driveway had spots of ice and snow, majority was snow that 4Hi didnt give me traction on, lol.

The brake lines are fine (thought I was sooo hoping they were the culprit of the leak, lol), my pads disappeared. I didn't realize I had less than 3 days to get my brakes replaced once they started squealing every so often (not everytime I applied brakes).

I haven't actually looked at it myself, but I took it to the guys that did my brake lines and asked if they'd help me out (lots of mechanic friends, who doesn't love a girl with a truck? Lol). They said that it was the pan (not sure if they actually looked in detail though), but I guess technically it could just be the gasket..It was leaking pretty adamantly yesterday though, about a drop every 45-60 seconds..Today it seems to have stopped leaking though from what I'm seeing, or it could've just slowed down.

But, I know I didn't thump over anything that could've possibly hit the tranny pan..And I'm sure previous owner ran a few things over..he supposedly ran it in 4Lo down the interstate towing a little trailer..I know I wouldn't trust him with a remote controlled truck that I owned though, haha.

 

Check all fluids before driving it again. If it slowed down and/or stopped it may mean whatever fluid it was all leaked out.

So, he "ran it down the highway in 4lo"? Hopefully not on dry pavement. I'd be getting under that truck and doing some inspecting real quick. He coulda destroyed the transfer case and thats whats leaking....

 

Already did all the checking for him running down the highway and abusing the poor thing..lol. I got the truck in march. Already replaced and/or inspected everything. Still have some fixes, but nothing that would cause leaks or anything similar.

I've been checking the tranny fluid and it's still at the safe level. I've been checking as soon as I start it and let it warm up if I do drive it. I also check the oil and brake fluid while I've got the hood up.

 

Make sure you check the trany fluid when warm and in N not park. The xcase will bleed the same color oil as the tranny as it uses ATF+4, I would suggest you check it's oil level to be safe.

 

Hmm, I was always told park or nuetral was fine for tranny fluid.
how do I check the fluid level in the transfer case?

 

On the dodge trucks, you MUST check trans fluid in neutral. While in park, it does not charge the torque converter.... giving you an artificially high reading.

To check fluid in t-case, pull the fill plug, stick your finger in there, should get fluid in the end of your finger. If you don't, add some ATF +4.

 

Huh..interesting fact. Guess I'll have to bring someone out with me to check tranny fluid then (no parking brake at the moment, haven't gotten a chance to replace it). Is there by chance a diagram to show the fill plug on the t-case?