Sprinter Transmission Line

[dhalltoyo]

I had a driver friend tell me that his Sprinter started losing power and 45mph was its top speed. He drove about 15 miles to an exit and pulled into a truck stop.

He had the vehicle towed 150 miles to his home area.

Freightliner said a new tranny would run about $6000.

Aamco said the serpentine belt wore a hole in the transmission cooler line and the fluid leaked out. Running the tranny hot caused the bands to wear. A rebuild kit and labor was about $3000.

Anyone ever know of that happening?

I thought the transmission cooler lines were solid steel or braided steel.

 

[RLENT]

Never heard of it happening .....

The cooler lines are steel - from the connections on the cooler (which is basically a large tank built into one side of the radiator) down to the bottom of the radiator/cooler. Then you have a pair of short rubber flexible lines ...... similar to say a power steering pressure hose ....... that run about a foot or so and connect to another pair of steel lines ..... which run back and connect to the transmission.

I'd have to get down there and look again and see how likely that is ..... as far as the serp belt destroying the flex line goes ..... or whether it's even possible (as in, does the serp belt even come anywhere close ?)

I really should know .... I was just under there a week or so ago .... doing the transmission filter & fluid change ..... and I had to crack the lines at the flex hoses to drain the cooler lines completely. But of course I wasn't really looking for answer on this while I was there .....

The questions that come immediately to mind are:

1. Has the transmission been serviced previously - and if so - who performed it ?

2. Did the serp belt itself fail and then destroy the steel or rubber flex hose - or was it just rubbing against one of the lines and cut it open/wear a hole in it ?

3. Did Ammco provide the damaged line and/or serp belt for inspection to the vehicle owner ?

With the answers to those questions that it might shed some light on whether it was a previous service screw up (by an incompetent) that actually caused the problem .....

 

[davekc]

I would question this information as well. Just doesn't sound right. I don't ever recall a post of this nature with regards to the Sprinter.











Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[guest]

My friend had the same problem in TN...4000$

 

[greg334]

Well I don't know about the sprinter but a auto trans is an auto trans.

I busted a line on a ford van a couple times (the line had rusted through in an area where stones hit the line) while on the road with a load on the truck (8000 lbs if I remember right)and I never had to replace/rebuild the trans.

I think but I may be wrong from my education on auto trans, the cooler lines are under pressure (not a lot maybe 10 or 15 psi at the most) which means that they drain pretty quick if there is a leak while moving and the oil comes from the torque converter or somewhere where a lot of heat is generated. Most of the heat, even in a lock up converter comes from the converter, not the bands or clutch packs.

So I would say that the belt issue is possible but rebuilding may not be needed and I have to ask has anyone just replaced the line and filled the trans up to see what happens?

I also know that AAMCO has a bad, very bad habit of trying to get people to rebuild their trans when it is not needed - this is where they make their money just like the dealers. Example is my dad's van in the 90's, he got a free trans fluid change from there and they told him that it needed to be replaced NOW because of the particles in the pan. Yea there were metal particles (it was aluminum), not steel and yes there was band material there but there was no burnt fluid, there was no slippage and there was one angry son who was called away from a very important meeting to tell his dad just to tell them to change the fluid and cut the crap.

As with any transmission, slippage will cause friction and friction causes the oil to heat up to the point it becomes burnt. SO another question is this, did they extract the fluid out and give a sample back to the vehicle owner? I have a strong feeling that the fluid was alright.