Transmission Sounds Strange

[krward]

This is a little late in coming but thought I would put it out here anyway. The "strange" sound in my transmission was caused by restricted water flow through the transmission. Several weeks ago I found myself with an itch to figure it out. Started by pulling all the water hoses off after the water pump. First hose I pulled was the one from the pump to the transmission cooler and guess what fell out? Part of the remains of a prior impeller. After removing all the rubber I am thinking that there could have been remains of two impellers.

Once again I am reminded of another lesson. NEVER just accept something from a prior owner at face value, take the time to confirm what they are telling you. The prior owner said the malibu dealer performed all the service on his boat, which could be true and this was an oversight. I am still amazed that my bu was still getting enough water to keep cool.

After discovering this I found several other things that were just plain neglected. Fortunately for my stupid self I came out of this so far without additional expense.

Edited June 3, 2007 by krward

[doughickey]

I could be wrong here...... but.....

In my boat, the tranny sends tranny fluid up to the tranny cooler. I don't think the cooling system (not in my boat anyway) sends water down to the tranny.

So, in spite of the clogged filter in the tranny cooler..... it doesn't explain any tranny noise. The clogging would be stopping water flow..... not tranny fluid flow. Also, if you had a clogged filter, I assume your temp rose above 160 degrees..... potentially causing other problems.

[Big Mac]

Any chance you would be willing to post a pic of your 'hand made device'? I have been considering doing this, but could use some ideas. My idea is to just put in a tee connected to some kind of valve (that you can close) that has a female garden hose connection to hook up the hose to.

Here's what I made...it works great, but does require that the raw water intake hose be pulled off of the intake strainer)...kind of a PITA). Do use a non-collapsing hose like spa tubing if you're going to use it to suck water out of a bucket instead of a garden hose supplying positive pressure.

Here's a more elegant solution, although a little more cumbersome to install. Fortunately you only have to install it once. It's assembled from parts available from a couple of different online boat places. And one must not forget to make sure the valve handle is in the right position for boating vs flushing.

Edited June 3, 2007 by Big Mac

[krward]

I could be wrong here...... but.....

In my boat, the tranny sends tranny fluid up to the tranny cooler. I don't think the cooling system (not in my boat anyway) sends water down to the tranny.

So, in spite of the clogged filter in the tranny cooler..... it doesn't explain any tranny noise. The clogging would be stopping water flow..... not tranny fluid flow. Also, if you had a clogged filter, I assume your temp rose above 160 degrees..... potentially causing other problems.

Yep you are correct. I missed a few words in my last post. Meant to say "....transmission COOLER" My temperature did rise slightly above 160 but I never noticed any real problems. Was simply throwing it out there to say if you haven't checked the screen on the transmission cooler you should.

Edited June 4, 2007 by krward