Bonehead move, drove with no tranny fluid OUCH!

[stenerson]

It was a bit of a scare. Installed new caulk bypass setup. Was in a rush, bad lighting I thought I installed the snap-ring back correctly. Took it out for a ride, about 2.5 miles later I get a warning light and message to put truck in park. I pull over knowing it had to do with what I just did. I see a trail of fluid on the road. Got towed, following the fluid trail, even found the snap-ring 1.5 miles or so back where the fluid trail began. Had about 8 transmission related codes on scanner. Long story short I did the refill process and the codes have gone away. Probably only 2 or so quarts came out when I drained. I did a drain and fill last fall with Amsoil. Now it's at pretty much all new Amsoil now. It's driving good as ever, every thing very smooth. It's also running 20-24 degrees cooler with the bypass. Who knows how much life I've taken out of the tranny but learned a big lesson. Don't rush, do it once, do it right.

 

[EdGs]

The trans probably shut itself down. I've heard of people that have hit debris and cracked their plastic pans.

Once the pan was fixed and refilled, all was good in the world.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Oh.... who knows, maybe you knocked the cobwebs out of it? Give it a few years and time will tell. Probably nothing will happen. A couple quarts low for a short drive isn't good, but IDT it's defcon-5 alarm either.

Related Story: I drove a mid-90's Jeep Grand Cherokee all the way to the Black Hills and back, about 2000 miles, with almost no fluid in the transfer case. (I'm skipping the long story why it was). Got home, pulled the drain plug and I bet barely 2.5 tablespoons of fluid drizzled into the pan. Made no more than a 4" circle in the pan! LOL. And stopped! The transfer case wasn't hot though.

Short story, we had to work the next am. I put fluid in it and corked it back up. I'd planned on looking for a used one to swap in as soon as I could. Well, no noise, no vibration or leaks, life goes on. We drove it another 2 or 3 years. I had visions of blue gear teeth and cooked bearings. One day (few years later) while replacing a pinion bearing, curiosity got the best of me. I pulled it and split the case. To my astonishment I could find NO damage inside. I replaced the output seals and buttoned it up, drove a couple more yrs. It ever did fail. There's a pick-up tube for the oiler which pulls off the bottom. There must have been JUST enough ..and some spray fumes floating around in there ...that lubed it enough w/o seizing.

So hopefully (fingers crossed) you'll never have any problem with your trans. Good thing you stopped when you did.

 

[diymirage]

Oh.... who knows, maybe you knocked the cobwebs out of it? Give it a few years and time will tell. Probably nothing will happen. A couple quarts low for a short drive isn't good, but IDT it's defcon-5 alarm either.

You sure you mean 5?

 

[stenerson]

The trans probably shut itself down. I've heard of people that have hit debris and cracked their plastic pans.

Once the pan was fixed and refilled, all was good in the world.

I didn't hear anything funky sounding or grinding noises when it happened. It did bring up a warning light then just gently stalled. She's driving very smooth now, not too worried. She's given me 170K miles already so there's that.