Sound of DEATH (Transmission)

Michigan said:

Thanks for the part numbers. Our winters do get cold in Michigan.

I do not do any towing or off roading in this truck. I drive it 30 miles to work each way, mainly freeway. Do you guys think a trans cooler is necessary?


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I guess the username is a dead giveaway. Lol. I wouldn’t say it’s necessary. But a cheap way to extend the life of your transmission is well worth it imho.

Sam Harris said:

I guess the username is a dead giveaway. Lol. I wouldn’t say it’s necessary. But a cheap way to extend the life of your transmission is well worth it imho.

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What Sam said. It's not a must have but is a great way to help protect that expensive transmission.

Michigan said:

I asked about a bigger trans cooler. I don’t know much about it but he said he can put one before the radiator and connect it.

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Such a setup would be useless. If you already have a factory transmission cooler and do not do any towing, leave it but make sure it is flow tested and it and the lines are free of debris. I'm glad Mike showed up, he knows quite a bit about these things.

swathdiver said:

Such a setup would be useless. If you already have a factory transmission cooler and do not do any towing, leave it but make sure it is flow tested and it and the lines are free of debris. I'm glad Mike showed up, he knows quite a bit about these things.

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Are we talking about a trans cooler ahead of the radiator, and leaving the stock cooler..? I thought he meant replacing his factory cooler with a larger one.

Sam Harris said:

Are we talking about a trans cooler ahead of the radiator, and leaving the stock cooler..? I thought he meant replacing his factory cooler with a larger one.

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Did I misread that statement? Took it to mean the guy would insert a cooler between the radiator cooler and transmission instead of after the radiator and back to the transmission. Well, I shouldn't be so jaded against these mechanics, the transmission guy probably means the right way even if it was not described so clearly or misunderstood by me!

Michigan said:

Replied my mistake

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What you described about driving up to a light and then a funny Jerk was exactly what happened to mine last summer. I pulled off on the shoulder and looked under the truck everything looked ok. Was different than yours it was making a real harsh loud binding sound. Transfer case was fine. Trans Pan had some broken roller bearings in it. Transmission was the original with 295k on it (294,977) I bought it from the original owner who never towed anything. I was quoted between 2400 and 2800 depending on what they find when they open it up. Truck has sat in the garage since last summer and is now my parts truck for my 4X2 Rust free Yukon.

jonnytahoe said:

What you described about driving up to a light and then a ''funny Jerk'' was exactly what happened to mine last summer. I pulled off on the shoulder and looked under the truck everything looked ok. Was different than yours it was making a real harsh loud binding sound. Transfer case was fine. Trans Pan had some broken roller bearings in it. Transmission was the original with 295k on it (294,977) I bought it from the original owner who never towed anything. I was quoted between 2400.00 and 2800.00 depending on what they''find''when they open it up. Truck has sat in the garage since last summer and is now my parts truck for my 4X2 Rust free Yukon.

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295k miles out of a trans is amazing if you ask me. Not sure why mine failed prematurely unless it wasn’t rebuilt the right way. I personally put on 34k miles and I think the prior owner drive 5k miles after the rebuild. I’d have to refer to the receipt to be sure but the rebuild lasted 40k miles

I just got the call from the shop and he said they opened it up and found the rear planetary ring gear was split. He said they are also going to change the all the gears because it looked like 3rd gear was burned up and the torque converter is going to be replaced. About the sunshell that PNW VietVet mentioned he said that was fine and they used the updated version in the last rebuild


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Wow. Something very bad happened for the planetary to fail like that. Could have been a defect missed from the prior rebuild and just got worse or they could have used junk parts to replace it too. What typically happens is teeth break of or a bearing comes apart and the pieces get in between meshed gears of the planetary and something has to give and its usually the gears or the frame of the planetary that just literally self destructs. Planetery is all the way in the rear of the tranny and the only way to get to it is a complete teardown. Its standard to replace a torque converter after a complete rebuild since the old converter will be full of crap that you dont want going thru your new tranny. The sunshell being replaced tells me that something bad happened to the original. Those arent typically replaced unless a customer requests it or is cracked or blown apart.

Just using the factory cooler will add atleast 50% life to the tranny especially when used to tow or haul and the same applies for a get to work vehicle. Cheap insurance after you drop that kinda cash down for a tranny rebuild. Tranny shop will backflush all lines since the tranny has a 2 year warranty. There will be pieces of your tranny in those lines and your cooler. Theyll get it all out.

I had a 99 Sierra (OBS) that the tranny died around 125k. Rebuilt it for towing and sold the truck about 4 months ago and its coming up on 300k on that tranny and it has the old 5.7l gen 1 engine. They will stay together if they are built right and use the right parts.

Picked up the truck this morning so she’s back on the road. The shop owner showed me the damage with the rear planetary

Side note: I had asked him to check and see if he can locate my engine oil leak I’ve had since owning the truck. It’s a minor leak but he said the majority is coming from where the oil filter goes to the housing. I think he is referring was referring to the oil filter gasket. Should this be easy next time I have an oil change done? He also said that it looks to be a very minor leak from the valve gasket I believe


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That is a major break on that planetary. WOW.

Oil leaks never get better but do get worse. Fix 'em when you find 'em.