Antifreeze in transmission 2010 Duramax??

[ivbinconned]

What’s going on here. How does this happen? And has it ruined my transmission?

[Cummins12V98]

Groover wrote:

ZR1 wrote:
The Allison 1000 transmission that is used with the Duramax is probably one of the best heavy duty transmissions ever made and unmatched in any other brand truck,

While it may have been underrated and extremely reliable at its rating it is no secret that the Allison 1000 held GM's tow rating back for several years. GM finally had to scrap it and build a new transmission to stay competitive with the competition's tow ratings.

I have an Allison in my motorhome on a Freightliner chassis. It is only rated to pull 5,000lbs because of the rating on the Allison. I have often wished that they had put a stronger transmission in it.

It was kinda funny when GM said something like no one wants to tow those kind of weights and stayed SAE rated way under RAM and Ford. Then WHAM a new trans and they were back in the tow ratings game.

[Cummins12V98]

ksss wrote:
Opps the interweb strikes again.

12V98 saying you don't need more gears is based on your subjective opinion, but you don't have anything to compare your 6 speed against. You might just find that the pickup runs better with it (I don't know if you would admit that, but it just might). I would at least give yourself some room to acknowledge that the 9 speed, if that is what comes, might be of benefit. What if it made a good pickup, even better? You don't know, what you don't know.

I have not said one word negative to a true 9 speed ALLISON. All I can tell you is how my truck performs in the mountains with LONG 6% grades towing more weight than MOST.

The slight speed improvement if any would not be a reason to change out from a trans that simply does not break.

Think about how much time you are towing in 6th it's no different than towing in 9th.

[Cummins12V98]

Huntindog wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"As far as the tranny cooler in the radiator, it is there for a reason.To keep the fluid from running too cold."

Seems the MD AISIN does not need to be heated up and as mentioned they run cooler than any trans I have heard of.

12V98 wrote:
This sort of issue is another reason I like my AISIN trans. It has a cooler and that's it, no heat exchanger.

12V98 wrote:
My trans temp runs 165 towing or not and when climbing miles of 6% grades it may get as high as 172. OH and the trans is NOT tied to anything other than it's own cooler.

I just looked up your trucks cooling system on Rock Auto. You have two radiators. The secondary does not have a tranny cooler in it. The Primary or Main radiator DOES have a tranny cooler in it.
Look it up for yourself. They even have pictures.

Sorry my truck has ONE radiator. My truck is a 2015 and the 13 and 14 did have two radiators. I have no idea if the trans is tied to one of those radiators or not.

For fun post the pics.

[Groover]

ZR1 wrote:
The Allison 1000 transmission that is used with the Duramax is probably one of the best heavy duty transmissions ever made and unmatched in any other brand truck,

While it may have been underrated and extremely reliable at its rating it is no secret that the Allison 1000 held GM's tow rating back for several years. GM finally had to scrap it and build a new transmission to stay competitive with the competition's tow ratings.

I have an Allison in my motorhome on a Freightliner chassis. It is only rated to pull 5,000lbs because of the rating on the Allison. I have often wished that they had put a stronger transmission in it.

[ksss]

I have the '20 10 speed DRW and an '18 SRW, both are the same spec L5P. The comparisons are pretty interesting. I was good with what the '18 does pulling prior to owning the '20. The '20 is noticeable better. It simply feels like it has more power. The "dead pedal" is gone which great, but I feel the 10 speed makes better use of the power available.

[Lantley]

While I was happy with my 07 Duramax that had 300K on it when I traded.
My 2019 performs noticably better than my 07.
I imagine a 2020 with a 10 speed would be an improvement over my 2019.
I do understand the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality, however our trucks continue to advance and improve over the prior years, even if some refuse to acknowledge those improvements.

[larry_barnhart]

what I know is if you have a great running truck like I do nothing else is important. chevman Retiring after this winter again from rving.

[ksss]

Opps the interweb strikes again.

12V98 saying you don't need more gears is based on your subjective opinion, but you don't have anything to compare your 6 speed against. You might just find that the pickup runs better with it (I don't know if you would admit that, but it just might). I would at least give yourself some room to acknowledge that the 9 speed, if that is what comes, might be of benefit. What if it made a good pickup, even better? You don't know, what you don't know.

[Grit_dog]

Awwww snap! Here we go....

[Huntindog]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"As far as the tranny cooler in the radiator, it is there for a reason.To keep the fluid from running too cold."

Seems the MD AISIN does not need to be heated up and as mentioned they run cooler than any trans I have heard of.

12V98 wrote:
This sort of issue is another reason I like my AISIN trans. It has a cooler and that's it, no heat exchanger.

12V98 wrote:
My trans temp runs 165 towing or not and when climbing miles of 6% grades it may get as high as 172. OH and the trans is NOT tied to anything other than it's own cooler.

I just looked up your trucks cooling system on Rock Auto. You have two radiators. The secondary does not have a tranny cooler in it. The Primary or Main radiator DOES have a tranny cooler in it.
Look it up for yourself. They even have pictures.

[Cummins12V98]

FishOnOne wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"If Dodge gets the new true Allison 9 speed this will be a game changer for them and I think many will jump brands to get it."

I find these types of comments entertaining. The AISIN Medium Duty Transmission offered in the 3500, 4500 and 5500 RAM trucks simply does not break. With the straight six Cummins the 6 speeds works great. I tow much more weight than the vast majority on here at 35k combined West Coast with ZERO need for more gears.

My trans temp runs 165 towing or not and when climbing miles of 6% grades it may get as high as 172. OH and the trans is NOT tied to anything other than it's own cooler.

Cummins12V98 public statement just went into the archives for future reference. :W

As you being the RV,NET RAM expert you know this to be true.

[FishOnOne]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"If Dodge gets the new true Allison 9 speed this will be a game changer for them and I think many will jump brands to get it."

I find these types of comments entertaining. The AISIN Medium Duty Transmission offered in the 3500, 4500 and 5500 RAM trucks simply does not break. With the straight six Cummins the 6 speeds works great. I tow much more weight than the vast majority on here at 35k combined West Coast with ZERO need for more gears.

My trans temp runs 165 towing or not and when climbing miles of 6% grades it may get as high as 172. OH and the trans is NOT tied to anything other than it's own cooler.

Cummins12V98 public statement just went into the archives for future reference. :W

[Cummins12V98]

"As far as the tranny cooler in the radiator, it is there for a reason.To keep the fluid from running too cold."

Seems the MD AISIN does not need to be heated up and as mentioned they run cooler than any trans I have heard of.

[Grit_dog]

Well this is entertaining, regardless of the deleted posts….From Allisons in Rams to the old “No one needs that many gears, it’s stupid” comments.
It’s ok though because the discussion about the OPs trans is done anyway.
“He got his answer” according to him.

[Huntindog]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"If Dodge gets the new true Allison 9 speed this will be a game changer for them and I think many will jump brands to get it."

I find these types of comments entertaining. The AISIN Medium Duty Transmission offered in the 3500, 4500 and 5500 RAM trucks simply does not break. With the straight six Cummins the 6 speeds works great. I tow much more weight than the vast majority on here at 35k combined West Coast with ZERO need for more gears.

My trans temp runs 165 towing or not and when climbing miles of 6% grades it may get as high as 172. OH and the trans is NOT tied to anything other than it's own cooler.

No modern truck "NEEDS" more gears.
But it sure is nice to have. No matter how flat the Cummins torque curve is.... It will benfit from more gears.
Do some torque multiplication calculations for different gear scenarios for some startling answers as to why.
A 10 speed tranny is better than 6 speeds in a truck just as a 10 speed bike was better than a 5 speed when I was a kid.
Do not fool yourself. More gears will put more torque to the ground going uphill, AND make the exhaust brake work better going downhill.I expect that when Ram finally gets a tranny with more gears......That your opinion will change.

As far as the tranny cooler in the radiator, it is there for a reason.To keep the fluid from running too cold. As far as the risk of it failing... Any part on any brand can fail.... But tranny coolers in radiator failures are VERY rare in any brand.


To the OP, fix it, and move on. It is not likely to ever happen to you again