Is my tranny goin?

[PCGUY112887]

96 GP, 3100.

Commin up on 113k miles, original tranny. I replaced the fluid and filter maybe 6 months ago, all looked no metal shavings was still red in color. Used Valvoline MaxLife fluid for High-Milage trannies.

Anyways latelly i'll get a hint of a burning smell commin from the car, not sure from where of if it's comming through the vents. Tonight I took it on the highway (first time in a LONG time) and I could smell the smell almost the whole time. On the way back I was cruising at about 90 (no hard accel, just a gentle ride up to 90) for a few min then got off the highway, and could smell it again on the way back.

Parked the car and we were just sittin around in the parking lot so I decide to check my tranny fluid, and I pull it and I don't know if it was the bad light but it looks more like motor oil, slight brown/clear not the red it used to be. I smelled it and it doesn't smell like it used to.

I mainly started noticing the smell after I added a little over a quart over the line in the tranny so it would stop tryin to come out of gear in left's (suggested from here). No idea if this had anything to do with it...

Anyone have any advise? I was getting ready to sink some money into heads/headgaskets/lower intake/LIM gaskets/65mm TB/3500 upper but now I don't know if I should be saving my money for the tranny...

[sharkey]

you have a couple things going on there. the smell isnt your tranny, you wont smell it burning up. im thinking mabey you have a heater core problem, or some oil leaking onto the exaust. if after only 6 months the fluid is starting to turn brown and smell, the tranny is starting to come apart. did the fallinbg out of gear stop after you added the extra oil??? if it seems to work on, id just keep driving it till it starts to act up, and start putting some money away to put towards the tranny, cause it eventualy will need rebuilding.

[PCGUY112887]

Heatercore... is that really going to hurt anything? I've always seen people talking about heatercores but never really understood/knew what they are/do and how they go bad.

I do have a fairly good oil leak goin on from the oil pump drive seal, I guess if i'm running it hard it could be getting a good ammount of oil out of there and it burning on the exhaust?

As far as tranny I went outside and took a real good look, color on the rag is sorta orangeish/reddish/brownish and smells more like hot metal and tranny fluid then actual burning... maybe it's just starting who knows.

[SappySE107]

There are quite a few of us who have overfilled the trans, so I think its coincidence. 120k range is usually when these start to go downhill. My old 4T60 was past 167k when I swapped it out and it still shifted great. It started slipping on turns occasionally around 80k or so. I overfilled it and it happened very rarely.

[PCGUY112887]

Ah yes forgot to answer that... it totally stopped slipping out after the overfill.

[sharkey]

on the 440t4/4t60, gm actualy had a bullitin to overfill the tranny as much as 3 quarts, and had instructions on marking the dipstick. the reason for this was to keep the planets bathed in oil and keep combat the falling out of gear while going around a corner.

im guessing you were smelling engine oil off the exaust manifold. and fyi: the heater core is what provides you with heat inside the car. its kinda like a mini radiator.

[PCGUY112887]

Ah ok thanks. Other things to worry about now, car died today in a drive through, then started it back up then it died in the middle of a very busy interection. Had it towed to a shop, fuel pump, he showed me the PSI guage goin all over and when it finally got to runnin PSI was only about 30-35.

$340 to replace, also having him flush out the fuel system with the fuel injector cleaner machine thing (was having some misfire probs with an injector).