Community Forums

Rob Hentges · 05-24-2005, 04:08 PM

OK, you helped me out last week with the RV fridge. Now lets see if you can help with my rear.
I have a 31ft class A with the 460 ford chassis. I pull a trailer loaded with two motorcycles and four ATV's into the mountains of central PA. Occasionally I get some smoke from the rear. I think what happens is the grease in the rear gets hot and thin. It then leaks out just a little bit and is thrown onto the hot exhaust. I have checked the level and it still seams OK, so it is not a bad leak. Can I change the fluid in the rear. If so, how do I do it, and what should I put in there. Is there a lube that will protect against higher temperatures?

Rob Hentges · 05-24-2005, 04:08 PM

OK, you helped me out last week with the RV fridge. Now lets see if you can help with my rear.
I have a 31ft class A with the 460 ford chassis. I pull a trailer loaded with two motorcycles and four ATV's into the mountains of central PA. Occasionally I get some smoke from the rear. I think what happens is the grease in the rear gets hot and thin. It then leaks out just a little bit and is thrown onto the hot exhaust. I have checked the level and it still seams OK, so it is not a bad leak. Can I change the fluid in the rear. If so, how do I do it, and what should I put in there. Is there a lube that will protect against higher temperatures?

Retired House Husband · 05-24-2005, 06:08 PM

Hi Rob,

The rear end grease in your F53 MH chassis is about as good as it gets. It's 80-140 synthetic from the factory. It may be time to replace the leaking seals. If heat is really the problem, then maybe a finned aluminum rear end cover might be in order.

Dave Fernandez · 05-25-2005, 06:14 PM

Hello Rob:

For my $0.02,

I think it may be the Transmission getting hot and fluid coming out to the vent and hitting the hot exhaust causing the smoke. You may want to install a Transmission Temperature Gauge to determine if it is the transmission fluid overheating. You get more heat from the transmission than the differential! Good luck on finding the problem.

Dave

Rob Hentges · 05-26-2005, 04:56 AM

The fluid is definately coming out from where the drive shaft goes into the rear axle.

In a related question, should I tow with or without the overdrive on? The majority of the drive is on highways at about 65 MPH, though there are some hills that cause me to drop speed to about 55 mph during the climb.

Gary RVRoamer · 05-26-2005, 06:08 PM

Your E4OD transmission pulls fine with overdrive engaged - it will shift as needed. I would not disengage OD except when going downhill (better engine braking) or on the rare occasion that road conditions cause frequent up/down shifting. By "frequent" I mean every few seconds.

Dutch Star Don · 06-08-2005, 05:20 PM

I towed a 4500 pound boat behind a 1991 27' Fleetwood Jamboree with the E4OD for years. I was told and found to be true that towing in overdrive is fine until you can no longer acclerate. For example...if you are climbing a slight grade and can no longer accelerate it's time to turn the overdrive off. This may cause the engine temp to increase slightly, but it will prolong the life of the transmission.

Once you turn the O/D off you can turn it back on again immediately. When the load on the transmission eases up it will shift by itself back into O/D.

P.S. I changed the fluid in the trans every 15000 miles and it ran flawlessly with one exception. There is an electronic position sensor on the driver's side of the transmission. On a couple of occassions at 65 mph it felt like the transmission jumped into neutral and the engine was revving. After a little research I found that this sensor was throwing the transmission into first gear. Ford has a retro unit that solved the problem and you can install it yourself.

MikeT · 06-11-2005, 06:24 PM

Sounds like the pinion seal is going, it should be replaced. Have a good rear end shop check it out.

DriVer · 06-11-2005, 06:30 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I towed a 4500 pound boat behind a 1991 27' Fleetwood Jamboree with the E4OD for years. I.... but it will prolong the life of the transmission. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>If you guys really are serious about helping out your E4OD, the first thing that I would recommend (and that also went on my transmission) is the Banks Trans Command.