2004 1500 5.7 HEMI 4×4 172k miles.
Hopped in my truck today and soon as I put it in drive I noticed it wasn't shifting properly. Went to take off but just didnt have much power behind it, got going and wouldn't shift past second gear. I pulled over and popped the hood, there was smoke coming from passenger side. Looks like it was coming out of the transmission fluid fill tube. Any ideas?

 

How is your fluid level? What does the fluid look like?

 

Fluid level was good. A little low but not below the mark. Looks a little dark and smells a little burnt. I just did a transmission flush. New filters and fluid. Still having problems. When I put it in gear it takes a couple seconds for the truck to actually move.

 

Fluid "flush" on a trans with 170,000 miles is not a good idea.
Did you do this before the issue or after?

 

If the fluid has never been changed or if you don't know when it was last changed, then I agree.

 

Sometimes people call a drain and fill a "flush."

A drain and fill won't do any damage and is beneficial at any mileage. A flush using a machine is bad at any mileage.

 

I dont know when the last time it was changed. I just bought the truck a few months ago. Also, I didnt do a full "flush" just drained the pan and put in new filters, gasket and fluid. That seemed to help some but still not shifting correctly. What really threw me off by the whole thing was fluid coming out of the fill tube. I was wondering if anybody else has experienced that or heard of happening? Maybe that would give me a little better insight to exactly what's going on. Looking like I'm just gonna rebuild transmission either way though.

 

So which was it, smoke or fluid?

 

Fluid was coming out of the fill tube. Smoke was coming from passenger side of the block, where the fluid expelled from the fill tube on to the block.

 

Fluid coming out the fill tube is a sign of being overfilled, or the trans overheating..... Does your dipstick have the cool little locking lever on it? (GM did that for a while.....)