The Burro and the bad tranny

[MyronL]

Saturday my Burro was ready for its first "See Trials." We would take our first overnight trip to see how everything is working, see if any travel-camping needs are amiss. Perfect weekend for a getaway, really hot and sunny. Decided on a 3-4 hour drive up into the Catskills, to a place called Gilbert Lake. The plan included avoiding that miserable, sure-to-be-a-blitz of escape traffic metropolitan New York produces on weekends: we drive west and go north.

Hooked up to the black, '92 Ford Explorer, my running good, new tow vehicle, packed with sandwich fixin's, burgers, beer, chips and the rest, we hit the road at 8 am. It was a beautiful drive out of NJ alongside the Delaware River, and into the Catskill Mountains. No traffic at all, 87 degrees in the Explorer but, windows wide open, the breeze, the smell of pines, it was all great.

Burro was towing beautifully, though I did sense a tad of strain under the hood and gas mileage wasn't looking real good. Of course, we were going north, to higher elevations, so everything was up hill. Kept checking my side mirrors for tail gaters. Felt I needed to know if anyone was close behind me. I pulled over once, to check on things inside. All the curtains had fallen down. Must be the elevation.

We had just crested another long hill. At mile number 148 of the trip, when I glanced again at the side mirror, I saw smoke. Pulled over immediately. Fluids dripping everywhere underneath the car. Engine oil was fine. It was the tranny. Blown seals? Was able to get down the hill to the exit to Sydney, NY, and a gas station where we pulled in to assess our options.

Nancy called AAA for help. We have Plus service. After the first 100 miles of towing they would charge $3 per mile, but would not tow the trailer under any circumstances. That is their policy. I went under the car and wiped off the transmission, then bought fluid, plus a quart of Gunk transmission sealer. (What the hell, I thought, at this point I'll try anything.)

There was this big parking lot across the street. I drove the rig around it a few times to see what would happen after the refill. One small drip. It looked worth a chance, so, 20 miles short of Gilbert Lake, we had a sandwich, sucked it up, and turned for home.

I stopped every 20 miles and added more fluid. Got it to New Jersey and within 18 miles of home when the end finally came. Up this long slope of newly paved blacktop it started chugging and slipping big time. Wouldn't you know it, guardrails and no shoulder to pull over onto. We were in the right lane and could not go on.

That is when we got affirmation there are many good people out there. Flashers on, I was standing behind my Burro, waving off oncoming light traffic with a red towel while Nancy was on the cell phone. A motorist stopped behind us, set up a flare, told me he'd been in a similar situation. Then a biker pulled up with two large orange cones he grabbed from a nearby construction site.

Soon the state trooper arrived. She said our location was too dangerous to let us stay until our AAA tow truck came. She had checked all the local tow people on her computer to verify one was coming but none had been contacted by AAA for us. That meant our tow was coming from a long distance. Not good. Evidently the AAA dispatcher is not even in NJ, so would not know the area. Actually, that was good for us, since AAA was not going to tow the Burro anyway. (Houston, we have a problem.) I had called my brother to tow Burro for us, but he was even farther away.

The local tow guy who arrived on the scene, and who did tow us, said he thinks the problem is AAA hires too many under trained people who they won't trust with a complicated tow situation. OK, take that for what it is worth, but what's a better reason? Local tow guy brought a flat bed truck and actually never loaded either the Ford or the Burro on it. He just slipped a hydraulic lift under the Ford's front wheels, locked in and pulled my entire rig like that, right to our door. We were home safe by 8 pm, delighted.

We will submit our bill to AAA for reimbursement, and see what happens.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Myron, out of curiousity, which engine, tranny and rear-end ratio does your Explorer have, and what is Ford's tow rating for your buggy as equipped?

At least you got close to home; that sort of problem is really bad when you are away!

[Benny K]

Hi, don`t know if you towed a RV trailer before, but if it`s your first, that is one heck of introduction to RV`ing...sorry to hear about your experience and hope that the damage to the Ford isn`t too bad but most likely will be a few bucks.....two questions....were you towing in OD with the transmission shifting up and down,(hunting)?....do you have a additional tranny cooler in the truck? .....sounds like the truck was working hard....I know that I would be totally put off.....kinda sinking feeling in the stomach when that happens......Benny

[Gina D.]

Well, that bites, eh? Sorry your maiden voyage was an adventure you would rather have not had.

AAA vs. Good Sam.. Good Sam does all the roadside assistance things AAA does.. BUT, they will tow your trailer too.

Look up thier benefits. I decided I could buy maps if I needed them, go to DMV if I had to in trade for getting my rig out of hot water if needed. I went with Good Sam.

Most likely, if I am going to get in trouble, it will be towing. Good Sam gave me the warm fuzzies for that.

[Per Walthinsen]

Now that would get my stomach in knots!

Never experienced anything like that, but I have come to expect that it could, "things" being what they are. At least the Burro didn't quit on you, even though you could hardly have camped right where you were and eased your blood pressure down a bit.

Gina has a point which I will consider again about the Good Sam plan. We have the same AAA plan you have, but leaving the Burro alone and exposed could be more than I could put up with.

Glad it ended up tolerably and near home. Hope your Ford will end up well and able.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Nancy called AAA for help. We have Plus service. After the first 100 miles of towing they would charge $3 per mile, but [b]would not tow the trailer under any circumstances. That is their policy.

It must be a regional thing. When I blew the crankshaft bearing in my Toyota while towing my Compact Junior, AAA contacted a contract towing firm who offered to tow [b]BOTH car and trailer 200 miles, dropping the trailer at my home and continuing to my mechanic's shop with the car, for only $50 over AAA's reimbursement. It was a totally different experience for me!

[Gina D.]

But you had to pay 50 extra. With Good Sams, it's part of the deal. Trailer goes where you want it (Home or to a safe campground if away from home) and car goes to shop. No extra charge.

[Lizbeth]

Sorry about your troubles Myron.

Ya need AAA RV and motorcycle coverage to get either towed. We have it and have used it twice for other peoples rigs we were traveling with (shhhhh! I became a passenger).

Just to be safe we have AAA and are signing up for Good Sam's in addition since we drive old TVs.

[MyronL]

So the smoke has cleared some, and there's good news and bad news. The bad news is I have a transmission problem. The good news is at this moment it don't look like I fried the transmission after all. It is looking like bad seals. I put 6 quarts new fluid in it the morning after, it drove normal down the street and back, had all my gears, but was leaking underneath.

This is a '92 Ford Explorer XLT, 4 door with 106K+ miles on it. Engine is the standard 4.0 EFI-V-6 with standard 4x4 transmission. The vehicle class is rated (gross vehicle weight) D, or 5001-6000 pounds.

The car has a transmission cooler but there were no signs of leakage in the lines to it. Got to get it up on a lift to really see the extent and scope of the leakage.

Actually, before the seals blew at mile 148 I had no cause for concern while driving, other than irritation because I didn't like the gas consumption rate. A seat of the pants calculation at the time indicated it was going to be around 13 mpg. Otherwise, the tow was going beautifully. At no time was the transmission hunting or shifting, or acting strange in any way. Was never in four-wheel drive, in fact the 4x4 dashboard switch is not working, which I attribute to dirty contacts inside the 4x4 transfer box, a common problem often mis-diagnosed by profit hungry mechanics, I am told.

I was driving the entire time in....circle-D......."overdrive?" Would that have been a contributing factor? (Holy Moley.........!) Tell me more.

Just spoke with my mechanic in town but he can't deal with it until Wednesday so I'll have to wait 'till then for answers and repairs.

[Brian B-P]

We have the "RV" option on our auto club coverage (with Alberta Motor Association, a CAA/AAA affiliate) in order to cover towing the Boler. If $50 is a typical extra fee for trailer towing (and I would expect to pay more than that from any camping location), a tow every three years would justify the $20/year extra fee for RV coverage (above the Plus level). I think it's worthwhile just for peace of mind.

Although my wife and I are both listed Plus members, we added RV to only her coverage, since she is always along on a Boler trip. There is no need to add it for each member, only for one who will be present if services are needed.

AMA's Membership Coverage web page makes the trailer coverage quite explicit, so we knew to add RV to our existing membership when we bought the trailer, but not all clubs may be as clear.

[jasoncarder]

I was driving the entire time in....circle-D......."overdrive?" Would that have been a contributing factor? (Holy Moley.........!) Tell me more.

I'm sure others will chime in here, but I would not recommend towing in overdrive, especially not with a V6. My truck has the GM "tow" mode (which keeps it out of overdrive), and I tow our 13' in tow mode. Even then, it does occasionally downshift when on an upgrade (it is a 4.8L V8). For what it's worth, I have towed it in overdrive just to measure the gas mileage, and have found that gas mileage is essentially the same either way. To me, it's not worth the slight improvement in gas mileage to risk possible damage to the transmision. In your situation, it's hard to speculate as to whether towing a relatively short distance in OD did anything to contribute to your transmission troubles, however.

[Benita]

It must be a regional thing. When I blew the crankshaft bearing in my Toyota while towing my Compact Junior, AAA contacted a contract towing firm who offered to tow [b]BOTH car and trailer 200 miles, dropping the trailer at my home and continuing to my mechanic's shop with the car, for only $50 over AAA's reimbursement. It was a totally different experience for me!

. Plus AAA changes their coverages, translates to diminishes service offerings, from time to time. When I first got them I think it was 6-8 tows per year allowed. Now after 4 service calls you have to make arrangements to pay the tow driver. I've had Plus for years simply because the metro area is so large, I'd still be in town on my home ground and would go over the regular membership's allowed tow mileage to get home if a tow was needed. AAA RV service will not tow a trailer here. They will tow the tow vehicle and leave your trailer on the side of the road. Its really a moho plan. They give no consideration to travel trailers being RVs.

So, I bit the bullet and signed up for Good Sam two weeks ago.

[Benny K]

As an aside to Jason...you tow a 13' with a full size GM 4.8L...what is your mileage towing on level ground.....also my manual says that tow/haul is only for larger/heavier loads than the 13' would be normally and using that mode is of no benefit with light loads...........Myron, you never know with the OD in the Explorer and if you aren`t the original owner, you possibly don`t know how it was used/abused in it`s younger years....my manual says tow in OD unless the tranny starts to hunt, then tow in 3rd instead......also noticed that your trailer sits with a front high attitude which would increase your windload a fair amount I would guess, and in my opinion, windload is possibly a main governing factor for torque/power required for highway towing.......Benny

[jasoncarder]

Benny, I average 16-17 mpg towing. I agree that using the tow mode with a 13' is probably not necessary, but since my gas mileage doesn't decrease with it off, I would rather have the peace of mind knowing that I'm not putting additional strain on the tranny. I agree with your assessment that, with a 13 footer, wind resistance probably contributes more to engine strain than does the trailer weight. I've come to that conclusion with my setup, since gas mileage is essentially the same whether I'm traveling west (and thus on essentially flat terrain) or east (over the Appalachians).

[Lizbeth]

FYI from the AAA website;

Roadside Assistance for RVs, Motorcycles and Recreational Trailers
Feel more secure traveling in your recreational vehicle, towing your boat or riding your motorcycle with our optional RV and Motorcycle Towing and RV Tire Change service.

With a AAA membership, you already receive lockout/locksmith assistance and emergency fuel delivery for your RV and motorcycle. Our optional RV and Motorcycle Towing and RV Tire Change service extends these services to include:

A total of four RV or motorcycle towing or RV tire change service calls per household, each membership year. These calls are in addition to the four roadside assistance calls each cardholder receives per membership year.
Up to $200 in service per disablement for Classic and AAA Plus members (up to $800 per membership year).
Up to $300 in service per disablement for AAA Premier members (up to $1,200 per membership year).
Applies to RVs, recreational trailers or motorcycles you own, borrow or rent.
Benefits extend across the U.S. and Canada.
These RV and motorcycle benefits apply to vehicles and trailers used for recreational purposes, and motorcycles that are licensed for highway use. Vehicles eligible for our optional RV and Motorcycle Towing and RV Tire Change service:

motorcycles
motor homes
camper vans
cab-over campers
camping trailers
fifth wheel trailers
boat trailers
personal watercraft trailers
horse trailers*
ATV trailers
utility trailers carrying recreational equipment
Add RV and motorcycle towing and RV tire change service online or call 1-800-222-8794 or visit your local Auto Club office. For more information, please see the Guide to Recreational Vehicle and Motorcycle Roadside Assistance brochure available at all Auto Club offices.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You'll be eligible to call for an RV or motorcycle tow or RV tire change as soon as you receive your valid new card(s) noting "RV/Motorcycle" or seven days after receipt of your payment, whichever is earlier. Motorcycles that are licensed for highway use and are not altered, constructed or customized in such a way to cause damage or create a hazard when being serviced are eligible for service under RV and Motorcycle Roadside Assistance. Certain limitations on motorcycle towing apply. Service will not be provided except on hard road surfaces regularly traveled by private passenger automobiles. For example, open fields, beaches, creek beds, private logging or forest service roads and snow-filled lanes or driveways are excluded. Service will not be provided when the disabled vehicle cannot be safely reached or serviced without damage to the vehicle or servicing equipment. You or your adult or dependent associate must be with the RV or motorcycle to receive service. Service is generally provided by independent service providers. You are responsible for fuel charges. RV and Motorcycle Towing & RV Tire Change benefits are subject to the provisions of the Guide to Roadside Assistance brochure.

*This service does not include transportation for horses.

[MyronL]

Ah, me. Guess that proves you just can't believe what you read on a website, Lizbeth.

I couldn't believe it when my wife called AAA for help and they said they could not tow the trailer so I had her call them back immediately. As I recall, I said, "Ask them if we can ammend our policy right now to include the trailer and we'll gladly pay any premium." The clear, unmistakable response was "Sorry, no, we cannot tow trailers but we will tow your car."

Ask them why not, I said. The answer was "That's AAA policy."

Anyhow, I just found out my car's rear axle ratio. It is 3.27 (4x4 only). Max GCWR 7,500 pounds. Like I said, there was no noticable indication of any transmission stress of any kind during the ride. Page 166 of the owners manual says this:

• Never drive faster than 45 mph when you tow in hilly country on hot days.
• With a vehicle equipped with an A4LD Transmission, operate in Drive rather than Overdrive. This will eliminate excessive downshifting and upshifting to maintain speed.
• When descending a steep grade with a trailer operate in Drive rather than Overdrive. This will eliminate excessive downshifting and upshifting to maintain speed.

That last reference implies using Overdrive is ok under other conditions, wouldn't you say?

...Benny, do you have an Explorer? I'm not the original owner of mine. Bought the car at 104K miles a couple months ago. Was told the previous two drivers were dealers who used it to transport antiques. (None of you guys say what your TV is.) I will buy the "wind resistance is increased due to trailer angle" theory. It could account for the poor gas mileage. The trailer weighed 1130 pounds before being loaded for the trip and I think I added no more than 200 pounds to that. I will be generous and say the car had an additional 150 pounds, plus my wife Nancy in it (weight classified on a need to know basis).

[Frederick L. Simson]

FYI from the AAA website;

Roadside Assistance for RVs, Motorcycles and Recreational Trailers
Feel more secure traveling in your recreational vehicle, towing your boat or riding your motorcycle with our optional RV and Motorcycle Towing and RV Tire Change service.

With a AAA membership, you already receive lockout/locksmith assistance and emergency fuel delivery for your RV and motorcycle. Our [b]optional RV and Motorcycle Towing and RV Tire Change service extends these services to include:

A total of four RV or motorcycle towing or RV tire change service calls per household, each membership year. These calls are in addition to the four roadside assistance calls each cardholder receives per membership year.
Up to $200 in service per disablement for Classic and AAA Plus members (up to $800 per membership year).
Up to $300 in service per disablement for AAA Premier members (up to $1,200 per membership year).
Applies to RVs, recreational trailers or motorcycles you own, borrow or rent.
Benefits extend across the U.S. and Canada.
These RV and motorcycle benefits apply to vehicles and trailers used for recreational purposes, and motorcycles that are licensed for highway use. Vehicles eligible for our optional RV and Motorcycle Towing and RV Tire Change service:

motorcycles
motor homes
camper vans
cab-over campers
camping trailers
fifth wheel trailers
boat trailers
personal watercraft trailers
horse trailers*
ATV trailers
utility trailers carrying recreational equipment
Add RV and motorcycle towing and RV tire change service online or call 1-800-222-8794 or visit your local Auto Club office. For more information, please see the Guide to Recreational Vehicle and Motorcycle Roadside Assistance brochure available at all Auto Club offices.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You'll be eligible to call for an RV or motorcycle tow or RV tire change as soon as you receive your valid new card(s) noting [b]"RV/Motorcycle" or seven days after receipt of your payment, whichever is earlier. Motorcycles that are licensed for highway use and are not altered, constructed or customized in such a way to cause damage or create a hazard when being serviced are eligible for service under RV and Motorcycle Roadside Assistance. Certain limitations on motorcycle towing apply. Service will not be provided except on hard road surfaces regularly traveled by private passenger automobiles. For example, open fields, beaches, creek beds, private logging or forest service roads and snow-filled lanes or driveways are excluded. Service will not be provided when the disabled vehicle cannot be safely reached or serviced without damage to the vehicle or servicing equipment. You or your adult or dependent associate must be with the RV or motorcycle to receive service. [b]Service is generally provided by independent service providers. You are responsible for fuel charges. RV and Motorcycle Towing & RV Tire Change benefits are subject to the provisions of the Guide to Roadside Assistance brochure.

*This service does not include transportation for horses.

As I recall, I said, "Ask them if we can [b]ammend our policy right now to include the trailer and we'll gladly pay any premium." The clear, unmistakable response was "Sorry, no, we cannot tow trailers but we will tow your car."

Ah, I see the problem here. I neglected to say that I already had the optional extra [b]RV-motorcycle endorsement on my AAA account. Apparently, Myron did not. That would make all the difference in the world.

[Lee Hillsgrove]

Got it to New Jersey and within 18 miles of home when the end finally came.



Local tow guy brought a flat bed truck and actually never loaded either the Ford or the Burro on it. He just slipped a hydraulic lift under the Ford's front wheels, locked in and pulled my entire rig like that, right to our door. We were home safe by 8 pm, delighted.

Unless I'm mistaken, towing almost any vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission for any distance with the drive wheels on the ground and the engine off is a definite no-no. Very few vehicles are equipped with oil pumps in the transmission which are driven off of the output shaft; almost all are driven off the input shaft only. What this means is that all the internals of your transmission were spinning around for 18 miles without the benefit of normal lubrication. The fact that the fluid was already considerably lower than normal couldn't have helped matters any as it would have reduced whatever splash lubrication you might have had.

Be wary of the health of the transmission until you get some time on it and see if it actually shrugged it off or not. You may have gotten lucky, or it may come back to bite you.

I'm surprised that the tow truck operator pulled it like that with the wheels on the ground - unless he figured that the transmission was already toast and he wasn't going to worry about it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.... I'd be interested to see what your owner's manual says about towing with the drive wheels on the ground. I'm going to bet it says something like a maximum of 10 miles and 30 mph.

[MyronL]

Hmm, we shall see. Could find no reference in owners manual to towing with drive wheels on ground. When towed, ignition was on, car was in neutral.

That AAA person on the other end of our cell phone left us with only one impression, and that was this: they don't do trailers.

Left us no wiggle room. You can be certain I will call them on this.

[Benny K]

...Benny, do you have an Explorer? I'm not the original owner of mine. Bought the car at 104K miles a couple months ago. Was told the previous two drivers were dealers who used it to transport antiques. (None of you guys say what your TV is.) I will buy the "wind resistance is increased due to trailer angle" theory. It could account for the poor gas mileage. The trailer weighed 1130 pounds before being loaded for the trip and I think I added no more than 200 pounds to that. I will be generous and say the car had an additional 150 pounds, plus my wife Nancy in it (weight classified on a need to know basis).

No Myron, don`t have an Explorer......with my 90 GM truck, I used to pull a car trailer and put a flat front on the trailer to protect the car we used to tow to shows.....I used the trailer empty to go home from my cottage and if I drove at 60 mph and tried to accelerate higher in Drive the truck just sounded like a ghost`s Whoooo, but no acceleration...had to let it shift down to 2 nd and then could accelerate to 70 and then it would hold that speed in Drive.....the front I put on was 8' wide and 3' high with another 1' at a slope back at 45 degrees.......the truck has a 305 engine.....when I`d towed it empty when we first got the trailer, and had no front, I could accelerate at will....the wind load amazed me.....guess you know what it`s like to carry a full or part sheet of plywood with a wind blowing.. .....Benny