Loss of Transmission fluid

[Larrysr1957]

I have a 1997 Fleetwood Bounder with a Ford 460 engine. After driving over 300 miles when we arrived to our destination I parked the motor home at our campsite, I turned off the engine and a lot of transmission fluid poured out of the bottom of the transmission bell housing onto the ground. Can anyone help me diagnose the problem before I get it to a transmission shop. I am in Orlando Florida am going to try and find a shop Monday morning 07/21/2019

[John_Joey]

Larrysr1957 wrote:
The fluid and filter have not been changed it only has 57,000 miles on it. I thought that is a 100,000 mile service

Need to look at the heavy duty column when MHs are involved.

Also where you backing up a hill when this happened?

[Fleet_Man]

Larry, your five minutes of maneuvering is what caused the tranny fluid to “puke.” After my initial scare, I installed a transmission temperature gauge to monitor temps. One time after the gauge install, I was maneuvering our Sunnybrook 27 FKS travel trailer on the level and had the temps go up extremely fast. Hope you do not get steered into an unnecessary expense.

[Chum_lee]

Larrysr1957 wrote:
I have a 1997 Fleetwood Bounder with a Ford 460 engine. After driving over 300 miles when we arrived to our destination I parked the motor home at our campsite, I turned off the engine and a lot of transmission fluid poured out of the bottom of the transmission bell housing onto the ground. Can anyone help me diagnose the problem before I get it to a transmission shop. I am in Orlando Florida am going to try and find a shop Monday morning 07/22/2019

Need A LOT more information!

Before you have the transmission R+R'ed, did you try to use it after the fluid burp? Does it go into all forward/reverse gears? Is the ATF cooler blocked? Is the fluid underfull/overfull, burned? I agree with others. Sometimes automatics get hot and belch fluid. It doesn't necessarily mean the transmission is shot. (it's generally NOT a good sign either) If the transmission works, did it dump fluid again after it heated up? Any unusual noises?

The fluid change interval is 30,000 miles. At 57,000 miles, even though it's a '97, don't let a transmission shop sell you a rebuilt transmission without SHOWING you EXACTLY what's wrong. Tell the shop that you want ALL the old parts. (even if you just throw them away yourself) Depending on what's broken, if anything, a fully rebuilt transmission may cost as much as half the value of the RV. Something to think about.

Chum lee

[Larrysr1957]

I want to thank everyone for the informative replies I will be towing it to a transmission shop Monday. Thanks too all

[1968mooney]

You need to add a trans. temp gauge so you monitor the temp of the fluid. I had a 1996 Holiday Rambler 36 ft that did the same thing. I added a Banks trans temp gauge and a extra trans cooler. Drove the RV from Ga. to the west coast, 7500 miles and never puked fluid again. Was told by a friend that owns a trans. shop this is a common occourance on this type trans.

[Larrysr1957]

I want to take a moment and thank everyone for the very informative and helpful information each of you provided

[Larrysr1957]

Fleet man
Yes I had idled for about 20 minutes at the check in gate then drove about 1 1/2 miles at slow speed and then about 5 minutes of maneuvering into our camp spot. I have Good Sams road side assistance they will be towing it to a transmission shop on their list of repair shops

[Tim_Nowicki]

that happened to me on a ford e-350 van. thought the trannie was bad, but after talking to a mechanic, he said fords sometimes do that. never had to rebuid. topped off and good to go.

Tim

[rgatijnet1]

Sometimes when a transmission gets a little hotter than normal, they will burp some fluid. Naturally a seal could have given out as well. On a lot of mechanical items, the mileage doesn't really matter since seals and rubber parts will continue to age whether the vehicle is driven or not.

[path1]

Mark Kovalsky... he developed part of your trans probably. Look up his user name in search box... Over 12 months old.

[Cobra21]

Fleet Man wrote:
Did you do a bunch of maneuvering and backing up before you shut things down. If you did, you overheated the transmission and puking fluid out the front seal is not uncommon. If your fluid is still nice and bright and does not smell burned, top it off and press on. I had a similar experience with my F-250. Scared me too but operated normally after it cooled down and was topped off. The Diesel Stop web site has many similar stories.

I would try this also rather than thinking the worst. You never know...hope it is okay.
Brian

[Fleet_Man]

Did you do a bunch of maneuvering and backing up before you shut things down. If you did, you overheated the transmission and puking fluid out the front seal is not uncommon. If your fluid is still nice and bright and does not smell burned, top it off and press on. I had a similar experience with my F-250. Scared me too but operated normally after it cooled down and was topped off. The Diesel Stop web site has many similar stories.

[opnspaces]

Hopefully it is still under some kind of drivetrain warranty. If it is then definitely get it looked at before it hits 60,000.

Can you verify it's coming out of the bell housing? Of could it be coming out of the dipstick tube and running down to the transmission?

[Larrysr1957]

The fluid and filter have not been changed it only has 57,000 miles on it. I thought that is a 100,000 mile service