1990 Dodge Roadtrek

[minddroool]

Ooooooh no....black water drainage isn't working... Not linked to the handle... Soon new battery isolator, wires, and house battery...

Tips on black water repair?

Ty.....

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[B and C]

I hope you haven't made any "deposits" in the black tank yet. The black tank should never be stored dry. As soon as it is emptied, they recommend adding a gallon of water. Maybe it was just put up with the tank dry. Enough on maintenance.

My Roadtrek has a long rod from the driver's side to the black tank valve. I haven't looked in ages as to how exactly the rod is attached to the valve. My guess is the valve is stuck and someone pulled hard enough to break the connection to the valve. Valve replacement is not easy or clean. You could try to hook up the drain hose and wriggle under the passenger side to try to open it from there. If you can't get it to open that way, it may well be worth the money to pay someone to change it. I know for me it would be anyway.

IIRC, the valve is just bolted in with 4 bolts. Remove the bolts and pry the connection apart. Be ready for whatever may come flowing out (hopefully dry in your case). Have a new valve (and bolts) ready to put back in. Reconnect the rod. It should be apparent how it connects at this point. I have not needed to do this repair so YMMV. I have only replaced the drain hose because it had pin holes which was a pretty good job in and of itself.

[minddroool]

Find out what transmission you have. The worst thing about these is the damn transmission, especially if you have the smaller one. There's a thread in Mechanical Problems, titled Transmission life optimizers that has some really good advice.

Ed and I lived for the better part of two years in ours, and were perfectly comfortable, had everything we needed. You're going to be a happy nomad.

Hi.... I hope you see this. I have a transmission leak. Can you link me to the Mechanical issues place you mentioned? I don't know how to find it...

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[minddroool]

Transmission pictures.... Scary...

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[sternwake]

Your rear axle Pinion bearing seal is gone. not an Easy fix. If it has been run low on fluid the gears inside might be worn badly. It is making a whining/whirring/howling noise on the freeway?

I think your axle has already been replaced with one from a laer model dodge, as I see the Vehicle speed sensor bracket atop, and I don;t think they started putting them there until the mid 90's, but don;t quote me on that.


The first picture seems to show the transmission output shaft? The roadtrek plumbing is throwing off my mental picture. The Tx output shaft seal is not a difficult fix, I don't believe. Hope you did not run Tx low on fluid because of it.

https://vandwellerforum.com/thread-3221-...l#pid54509

For the rear axle, you got to keep it topped up with gear oil, which means add fluid when parked level until it drips out the fill port. perhaps 85w-140 will slow the leak and lessen any howling. You can likely drive it for many miles before complete failure as long as you keep it topped up, which can be a pain in the heiny as access is kind of limited with a big old gas tank in the way.

Regarding Axle prices, Mine 8 3/8" often called 8 1/4, was thrashed around 180k miles and I bought a junkyard 9 1/4" with same 3.55 gear ratio for 500$, and it was louder than the 8 3/8 I had removed. I then spent nearly 800$ to have a driveline shop install new bearings into the 9.25. Having the 8 3/8 rebuilt I was quoted 1300$, and I wound up right there, but got the more burly 9.25 in the end.

[Blacktank]

leaking as in a couple drops or a puddle?

[B and C]

That is a 30 year old vehicle. Personally, I would not attempt to replace the pinion seal myself. There is a crush sleeve where the yoke attaches to the pinion IIRC that sets the depth of the pinion in the ring gear. The driveshaft has to come out to replace either one so replace both at the same time. The transmission seal is a quick job for a shop.

[sternwake]

Back in 2008,my axle swap nightmare occurred, and the last time another mechanic touched my Van, other than the guys who do the california smog checks every two years, but they don't turn any wrenches. The alignment guys too, after I rebuilt my front suspension.

I did not have the confidence to take on the task of replacing the Axle's bearings myself, and the driveline shop also found the axle tubes slightly bent and straightened it. No issues in 35k more miles, but I am due for new gear oil soon.

More recently My rusty driveshaft's U joints were developing some slop. The yoke which slides into TX was bad too. i removed it, wirewheeled the rust and applied Ospho, took it to the same driveline shop for new U joints and to be balanced and painted. That was 168$. Whatever paint they used in 2008 on my 9.25 Axle is still holding up well and painting the driveshaft on their balancing machine is likely the best way to paint a driveshaft.

[minddroool]

A mechanic told me it appears to be leaking from the pan. He will be over for a closer look tomorrow. No work gets done unless I am under it with him. More info soon. He wondered if the over drive had been added after market.... Hhhmmm....

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[sternwake]

I've had a leaks from  transmission pan gasket, it never made the output shaft appear to the be source of the leak.

This is a pic of my a-500/ 42re transmission on my 1989 taken just now from below my side doors

My TX pan is painted silver and has a drain plug added to it.  Quite some distance from output shaft.

   

If your guy removes the pan, use a rubber, not a cork gasket. The filter comes with gaskets for both the A518 and A500.

Add a drain plug kit too, as dropping the pan is a messy nightmare of a job without one. With one, dropping and replacing 4 quarts is easy and will prolong the life of the TX. Use only ATF +4, nothing universal trust nobody who says its not important or that the dipstick itself says dexron on it therefore it is fine. It is not. ATF + 4 only, and anything  brand labelled ATF+4 is equally good as any other. they have to use the same basestocks lubrizon add pack to meet ATF=4 specs.

Redline C+ has the same addpack but uses more expensive  group 4 and 5 basestocks, but is more than 2x as expensive per quart.

Not using the right ATF will have the transmission start shuddering in overdrive in about 10K miles, it will feel like driving across rumble strips from torque converter clutch chatter.