Was hoping somebody could point me in the direction of a cooperative dealership\part supplier. My transmission went south last week and 2 shops have said the oil from the tranny went into the transfer case (i.e., one was overly empty while the other was overly full I guess).

Both have said that I need a "remote shifter update" kit that can only come from an Isuzu dealership. The Bakersfield, California dealership closed in '03 and several days have gone by with no luck in obtaining this part.

Has anybody run into this issue before or have some suggestions on who I might contact in central\southern Californiain to try and get this part?

Scott Denney

Does the tranny still shift? If so, leave it alone. This is a relatively common issue.

Nope, not beyond 1st gear. Tried putting in 2nd twice. It "locked up", lurched and the rear tires skidded. Its in the shop to be fixed.

you don't have a remote shifter, so I'm skeptical. this is what they usually call a remote shifter web page

They are found on Amigos. maybe just a mixup in terminology.


What is definetly not a mixup is the MUA5 has a problem after many years of abuse, is the oil running from trans to case during highway miles. Ultimately killed my trans when this happened to the point where the trans input shaft bearing runs dry from low oil and fails. keep your eyes on the level... also, most recommend buying a jy trans and case rather than fixing if teh problem is intense enough. hard enough to open these things up and take them apart

Thanks for the info and pics. 8 days later the shifter kit has been "found" and I'll have the truck back tomorrow. Despite the cost, after 13 years of driving it, I just can't bring myself to part with this truck.

In the meantime I'm headed back to the shop that did the oil change 2 months ago with my service record. I want them to explain how I "lost" that much transmission fluid after they checked all the fluid levels. I'm begining to think they're just "checking" the boxes.

Thanks again for all the help. It is appreciated.

Scott Denney

hey with two months of highway driving you could easily move a quart from trans to case. That is enough to start forcing oil out the case vent. if the trans gets a quart or two low, you start having problems. juts fyi before you start yelling at those guys--may have been fine 2 months ago...

I had thought after reading about this problem that the oil would run back to the trans after you stop driving... you mean it doesn't ? it stays up there in the trans case ? What's the solution, if any ?

Thanks,

The solution lies in properly venting the transmission. The pressure builds up in the trans housing and has nowhere to go. So it forces it's way through the seal between the transmission and the t-case. This happens partially because the t-case has a vent on it.

So the fix is to remove the shift block and vent it.

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/102

Joe

Up vs. down... actually the transfer case is lower than the transmission, and the seal has to fight gravity, pressure, and shaft-pumping to keep the transmission fluid from draining to the transfer case. If the seal fails or has its effectiveness sapped by over-pressure conditions, the fluid flows between the transmission and transfer case... but unless you regularly park on an INCREDIBLY steep hill, nose-down, it won't equalize on its own.

Randii

Glad I came back to continue reading the follow up posts . .

For what is worth my freeway\highway driving consists of 12 miles each way with ~10 hours parking in between and the truck has 107k miles on it.

The factory fix, for the early models, evidently is an updated shifter that sits on top of the transmission that incorporates what was explained to me as a drain tube. I didn't get a good look at it as it was already installed and the transmission shop was holding up the old one while explaining the differences.

Frankly for the time and effort it took to get the factory part, if the article at: http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/102 works I'd try it first.

And as for going back and "arguing" with the guys who changed the fluids, that's not what I said nor meant to imply. I said:

"In the meantime I'm headed back to the shop that did the oil change 2 months ago with my service record. I want them to explain how I "lost" that much transmission fluid after they checked all the fluid levels. I'm begining to think they're just "checking" the boxes."

I've been working at my 12 mile distant job for 17 years now and making the trip in this truck for the last 13 years. I still think they owe me an explaination and I want to "discuss" it.

Scott Denney