1983 Chevy silverado tranny problems...

[kyleholt11]

I have a 1983 Chevy silverado with a TH-350C tranny, every time i drive for more than 10 minutes the tranny starts to overheat...when I stop, put it in park and turn off the truck the transmission fluid pours out of the dipstick, the fluid appears to be a light/milky pink color...What is the problem?

[maxwedge]

Milky, check into that, the trans cooler may have failed in the radiator. Does the unit slip, shift ok?

[kyleholt11]

yeah it has been slipping quite often, i thought it was because of all of the transmission fluid that i have lost through the dipstick...I noticed tonight when i drove the truck that when i had it in drive it would'nt shift out of 1st gear, i had to manualy shift through the gears in order to get out of first...

[67chevypickup]

the reason it wont automatically shift is because the sprag is shot I wounldnt drive it like that for too long or its gonna cause a lot more problems

[kyleholt11]

How much does a tranny rebuild run these days?

[Torch]

Drain your tranny fluid and then undo the two cooler lines coming from the radiator, put a short piece of steel fuel line between them or find the right fitting if they are screw on fittings and splice/connect them together then refill the tranny (probably Dexron III), zip tie them some where where they won't get damaged. DON'T tow anything with it this way.

Your antifreeze level in the radiator is probably a little (or a lot) low from it over filling the tranny, top off the anti-freeze and then let the engine warm up to normal. If there is a problem with the cooler lines in the bottom of the radiator you should have antifreeze coming out of the cooler lines (where it shouldn't be).

If they are leaking you have a couple of options...

1 - Permanently cap them off and don't use them and install a tranny cooler in front of the radiator.

2 - Pull the radiator out and have it repaired.

But to answer your question, not sure what a tranny rebuild is going to cost, this really isn't actually a tranny problem it is just the end result of inter-connected systems causing each other problems, you may be able to get away with just a tranny flush and replacing the tranny filter.

[kyleholt11]

What if they are not leaking, could it be another problem...tranny ect....

[Torch]

The tranny cooler lines are the only place where the radiator and tranny are in contact with each other.