While towing my boat, I had a bad transmission fluid leak. 1993 Ranger

[Angry Possum]

I sprung a really bad transmission fluid leak yesterday towing my boat in hot temps here in the east on my way home from the beach. This had never happened towing my boat in cooler temps. So I'm suspecting high pressure from the heat.

The leak is coming from where the engine meets the transmission I think. It's not coming from the radiator. And it's a lot of fluid. I'm gonna get under it in a lil while, and see wtf is going on..

What should I be prepared for. Ughhhh.

 

[superj]

The input seal on the trans went bad?

Happened with my son's bmw. We put a five speed in to fix it sow we wouldn't have that issue again

 

[Angry Possum]

The input seal on the trans went bad?

Happened with my son's bmw. We put a five speed in to fix it sow we wouldn't have that issue again

Yes, torque converter seal.

 

[bcschief]

You do know you should tow in drive not overdrive right?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

You do know you should tow in drive not overdrive right?

Ehh, it’s a 93 so he has the infamous A4LD which hates heat. Hopefully he wasn’t trying to use overdrive, but I wouldn’t be particularly surprised if it fried even using just drive. Best things I’ve done to help those transmissions is extra/bigger cooler and a shift kit with valve body mods. If/when I ever rebuild one, I’ll use the upgrades to things all through. Bunch of big write ups over on the Explorer forums.

 

[oldgeek]

I know I've learned a lesson here. I'm not going to own a boat.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

You are brave and foolish towing a boat with a 1993 ranger. Although I did manage to get a few jet skis to the lake once in my '93 4.0 5 spd back in my 20's during the early 2000's. It was sketchy at best...one of those times I look back and wonder how I survived my youth. Cheers.

 

[oldgeek]

You are brave and foolish towing a boat with a 1993 ranger. Although I did manage to get a few jet skis to the lake once in my '93 4.0 5 spd back in my 20's during the early 2000's. It was sketchy at best...one of those times I look back and wonder how I survived my youth. Cheers.

Father in law towed everything, including a big boat, with his 83 Ranger, 4 cyl, 5 speed. And actually did fine. While nobody had ever accused him of having a lick of sense, in some things he knew when to be patient and not hurry things. So he drove slow, took his time thinking things through. Wish he did that with other things in his life.

 

[Blmpkn]

I know I've learned a lesson here. I'm not going to own a boat.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Nothing wrong with towing with a Ranger. I’ve towed a bunch of things with mine over the years.

Just the autos (even the 4R44, 4R55, 5R55) are not super durable in stock form. Better cooling capacity and a shift kit (especially with other valve body mods) will significantly help with shifting and keeping the transmission cool. Keeping it cool will help a lot with durability. Sloppy shifts increase heat, which is why the valve body and shift kit help.

Another often overlooked part is adjusting the bands. Usually nobody talks about it, but I’ve heard that it should be checked every 20k and fluid and filter replaced every 20-50k on the A4LD. Slippage from the bands being worn and not adjusted makes… heat.

 

[sgtsandman]

Outside of towing a light trailer, upgrading the transmission cooler on most any automatic transmission unless it came with a factory tow package that includes one is a good idea. It’s better to have some excess capacity that feeds into the factory cooler in case it cools the fluid too much. Usually, that is enough but it depends on the situation and how much you tow.

If you end up towing a lot, a more complex system with a thermostat might be needed since many newer vehicles can have issues with the transmission fluid being too cool as well as too hot.

The Ranger tends to behind the curve on things. So that might be over kill until you get to the 2019 and up Rangers.

There are a number of vehicles that jeep the vehicle in a fuel rich warm up mode if the transmission temperature is too low. That can cause low mpg issues in the short term and potentially catalytic converter issues in the ling term if the transmission is cooled too much.

In any case, it’s something to consider.

As far as the transmission leaking while towing. As long as the fluid level was kept about where it should be and the transmission didn’t get too hot, it should be ok.

I don’t know what Rangers have a transmission temp sensor and when or if you can read the temperature with a scanner. My 2019 does and I was able to program the Scangauge II to read it. So, I now have a temperature gauge I can monitor for the transmission. Scangauge lists the codes by manufacturer and how to setup the scanner so you can read the temperature. You may have to try a few different ones until you get the right one for it to work. I have mine setup to read intake air temperature, coolant temperature, transmission temperature, and volts. My 2011 has a manual transmission, so no temperature sensor to read but if it had an automatic, might have been new enough system wise to do it.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

I wouldnt tow more than say 3500 lbs. But I baby my ranger. I only use the bed hauling for bikes and drunkards. They appreciate my cushy leaf springs.

 

[superj]

my dad used to tow our ski boat loaded with all our camping stuff with a 70 vw transporter van. we would go three hours to the lake every friday and stay till sunday evening. it was around a three hour drive through virginia and it was a slow drive, ha ha ha. that little 2.0 or 1.8 did great.

i tow a small 5x8 trailer with my little 3.0 five speed. it does fine

 

[Eddo Rogue]

my dad used to tow our ski boat loaded with all our camping stuff with a 70 vw transporter van. we would go three hours to the lake every friday and stay till sunday evening. it was around a three hour drive through virginia and it was a slow drive, ha ha ha. that little 2.0 or 1.8 did great.

i tow a small 5x8 trailer with my little 3.0 five speed. it does fine

Yea out here is mostly steep grades and incompetent drivers all bunched up like JV soccer team. My 4,0 struggles. I'm heavy on throttle and brakes, drive it like a stolen go kart....

 

[oldgeek]

I only use the bed hauling for bikes and drunkards.

Oh the humanity. You embarrass your Ranger by hauling bikes?