(97 Explorer sohc 5r55e) I am going to do some maintenance and repair to solve my delayed reverse problem and while I am in there I figure I will be proactive in solving any future problems that I have seen posted like delayed shifting and slipping. My questions is whether to get the Ford seperator plate which is supposed to fix those problems or install the Transgo shift kit which is also supposed to fix those problems? Also any comments on the use of Lubeguard supplements? Which one to use with the Mercon V? Thanks for the help!

Go to a transmission parts store. They should carry both the TransGo correction kit, and the Lubeguard. I have used them in many cars. Plan on the kit to take two or three times longer than you originally plan. Good luck,
DonW

If you have the 5R55 valve body out, I would recommend several things. First upgrade the boost valve using the Sonnax replacement. 2nd, I'd buy the parts listed in the FORD TSB 03-22-10 (which includes a different separator plate) and for that I'd contact Torrie at Ford Parts Network (a site sponsor and easy to find and great to deal with). I would also get the Superior upgrade kit and install it at the same time... it allows you to make mild modifications.. it is not some HOT rod thing, just a fix of a few known trouble spots.... Ok cost... Sonnax Boost valve... in the neighborhood of $40 (WELL WORTH IT) the Ford TSB.. again about $40 to 50.... DO IT ! The Shift Kit? another $50.... your call. Me, I'd do it...

(thinking out loud... we NEED a detailed photo thread of all this in a 5R VB rebuild methinks... anyone got a spare ?)

I got a Superior shift kit in my '99 and it made quite an improvement. It did fix the delayed reverse also. This shift kit in combonation with my custom flasher made this tranny pretty near perfect. Alot smoother shifts and better shift points.

I should also add that if you do this buy a factory service manual on CD from e-bay. It saved my @$$ quite a few times. The valve body has like 26 bolts that are 5 different sizes and a special torque pattern for them because they can warp very easy. And there are retaining pins that can easily fall out when you have the seperator plate off-there is a pic on the CD manual that shows where they go. Also don't forget to get a new gasket for the seperator plate-mine was broken in 2 places.

Thanks Dirty Dog... all very excellent advice from somoene who has been there!

Thanks for all the great advice definately sounds like the way I want to go. Two questions; anyone no of a good online supplier for the Superior Shift Kit and what the part # is? And two, Dirty Dog do you remember what vendor on e-bay you got the service manual from and approx cost?

I bought my Supirior shift kit off e-bay from roadmastertranz. Sorry I don't remember who I bought the CD from though, I bought it about a year ago. It is a burnt copy and I payed around $13 shipped.




Edit:Shift kit was $35+shipping

Greg, the part number of the Superior kit is #K4R/5R55E. If you do an eBay search, you should find several.

You might check your local trans parts stores. They usually carry these common things. I'll be calling here today. LOL,
DonW

Thanks for all the info! Has anybody put both the seperator plate and shift kit in a tranny yet? My only concern is that if the seperator plate is reprograming the tranny via the oil circuits (which is my understanding and correct me if I am wrong) and it looks like you drill a few holes in the oil circuits for the shift kit, will this be a problem? I would hate to drill the valve body and find out that it wont work with the new seperator plate, and does the shift kit do the same thing the seperator plate is doing? Thanks for the help!

Good questions, I'd ask that also.
I am planning on adding the plate($12), the TSB kit($12), a TransGo kit($36), a Sonnax boost valve, and an inline filter.

Do buy a 1/4" torque wrench, a cheap one can be had for about $25.

What fluid is required for these, can regular Mercon be used? I'd prefer to run normal fluid firsst, and change to something better on my next servicing.
DonW

Be sure to fill the transmission when you finish. Start it after adding about five quarts of fluid. Immediately check the level, and add more fluid at just a half quart at a time. It can go over full quickly.
When it stabilizes, slowly shift through the gears, stopping it at each position for several seconds. Recheck the fluid level and add more, until it is full. Don't drive it until you are sure that the fluid is full.
Recheck the level a couple more times after driving it. Good luck,
DonW

hey all....

wow lots of new faces...its been a while since ive been on...but i need you guys....my 96 (4r55e) slips...well it seems to. the thing is that its like it comes out of gear. if i hit the gas a little it slams back into gear. now i have almost 130k miles on it with out any work to the tranny which i know is rare so when it first started doing it i thought it was the classic worn bands and stripped star washer...but if it was that it would always slip and this doesnt cause when it goes into gear it really thumps and it chirps the tires if im on the gas too much (when it really pisses me off :fire: ) so then i thought well maybe the valve body is crudded up or the intake screen is clogged.

what do you guys think....i dont really have the time or money to replace the damn thing since its 2200 after the core charge rebate!!!

I did a little more investigation on the shift kit vs seperator plate. First I checked e-bay and didnt find the kit listed but checked with roadmastertranz and he has it available and relisted it on his e-bay site. Then I emailed him about it and the plate and he says they put the kit in every trans. they remanufacturer and it does what it says it will do. He also said they also tried the seperator plate instead but had to many problems and complaints. So with that I think I will stick with the kit only and add the boost valve and gaskets, filter, etc. and maybe some Lubeguard additive.

I've found the plate and TSB kit at my Ford dealer. I'm headed to my ABC Transmissions parts store for the boost valve, gaskets, shift kit, filter, and Lubeguard.
Don

Hello, I have bought a TransGo shift kit, along with a Sonnax boost valve, inline filter, etc. The total was just over $100, for everything but fluid. :thumbsup:

I just called TransGo, and asked about using their kit with the Ford TSB kit, and separater plate. I was told that the Ford parts are compatible, but not necessary. I will skip the Ford TSB parts, and see how the TransGo kit works.

I also bought a bottle of Lubeguard, the version which is made to use with normal Mercon III, basically the equivalent of Mercon V(synthetic). I have liked the Lubeguard , and used it in power steering pumps also. LOL,
DonW

I am going to go out on a limb here.... separator plate "cures" (bigger holes etc) are a good thing to do when appropriate... but.... They do NOT substitute for the shift kits, but are in addition to it. In fact in the A4LD, Transgo has you drill the sep plate anyway when you put in their kit! So it isn't necessarily an either/or situation. I have not rebuilt a 5R valve body (so take that to heart, I have been begging for one to play with), but I think I'd consider the TSB sep. plate AND a shift kit as both being worthwhile fixes each in their own right. If the shift kit had me drilling, I'd check the plate and compare. Make sense ? In other words DO the entire TSB AND add a shift kit is my thought.

Glacier, the big dogs at Ford have requested all those valve bodies I had to be returned. Sorry.

Eneurb - my little note in the above post wasn't aimed your way. I appreciate your even considering it, and I understand... Thanks for thinking of me though! (and rats)

Chris, with any other company, I'd agree, and I would be doing both the Ford TSB parts, and an aftermarket kit.

The reason I have always liked TransGo better than all of the others, is because the primary goal of TransGo has always been different from everybody else. All of the other companies started by making kits to firm up the shifts. Their primary concern was the WOT shifts.
TransGo always, first deals with the inherent problems with a transmission, fixes those, and then improves the shifts. This 5R55E kit is not a high performance kit, like many that they do sell. It is though, like all of their kits, designed to fix the factory problems.

When TransGo told me that I wouldn't need the Ford TSB's if I install their kit, I believed them. If any other company told me that, I'd be very skeptical.

If anyone uses another company's kit, you ought to install the Ford TSB, and Ford separator plate also.

TransGo's instructions suggest replacing the EPC solenoid, because they wear out. I'm hoping to get to Ford and get that today. Maybe I can get to my 5R55E today. :thumbsup:
Don

My flare was getting much worse, so I installed my parts this afternoon. Upon teardown, I found NOTHING wrong. The gaskets were good, solenoid bracket was good, pan was clean, and the bolts were at the proper torque.

I installed the Ford updated plate and blowoff valve kit per instructions. Then I installed most of the parts from the Superior kit; (some were not pertinent to my trans, and others required a more detailed teardown). I did enlarge the separator plate holes per instructions. :eek: (This took a lot of courage to modify my new plate.) I also installed a new EPC solenoid with a new bracket.

After a quick test drive, the shifts seem to be normal. I got it up to operating temp, and no flares so far. Shifts seem to be 'slightly' firmer.

A couple tips for someone considering VB work: First make a template from the updated separator plate detailing the position of the bolts. A cardboard box bottom is ideal. This way you can keep the bolts in the proper position, since there are about 4 different sizes. Also when re-installing the VB, make sure the manual shift pawl is inserted into the spool groove. (I missed this, and had to do some work over). An in/lb torque wrench is a must (it's better to know the torque rather than to just guess.)

My thanks to all of you for sharing info on VB work, giving me the confidence to tackle this job. It's not hard at all, just takes some time to accomplish. I'll post back when I get some more miles on these modifications.

My concern was with the idea that Ford is modifying the plate to solve the problem while Superior and Transgo are doing other modifictions to solve the problems and whether it would all be compatible figuring that Superior and TransGo designed their kits before the Ford TSB. Question for Runnin on Empty, did you check the new plate against the old to see what Ford had changed? Did the Superior kit have you drill holes thru passages in the VB? I thought I had saw a post a while back with pictures and you had to drill thru two passages with the supplied drill bit. Also what comes with the blow off valve kit from Ford? After all the discussion and numerous members doing the updates we should be able to come up with a concise procedure to help others in the future.

Greg, I was disappointed when I found nothing wrong with mine. I was hoping for blown gaskets, or something. That's why I installed the Superior kit, I was more or less experimenting.

I did compare the plates. The updated one had one hole deleted, plus having bonded gaskets to each side. A limit screen, limit valve and spring are also deleted in the old VB. The new blow-off valve looks a lot different than the old one, and it comes with a new keeper. I suspect the new valve re-routes the pressure, thereby keeping new gaskets from blowing.

The Superior kit called for enlarging two holes in the plate, and the drill bits were included. I was hesitant to drill them into the new plate, since their purpose wasn't explained, but did anyway. No drilling into the VB itself was required.

The Superior kit includes a steel modulator valve, to replace an aluminum one. I thought this was good, since alum on alum tends to gall, whereas steel on alum shouldn't. Maybe this was sticking in mine, I just don't know. I'm keeping my fingers crossed until more miles go by. My problem might have simply been a worn-out EPC valve, I just don't know since I replaced everything at once.

I agree, we need to find a solution to this VERY common flare problem. If Don did his install today, I'm sure he'll post the results. It'll be interesting to compare the two kits.

Fire away if there's any other questions. This is not too bad of a job, just takes some patience.

I just got home from working on mine at a friends house. I had several other things to do to it, so I ended up with it draining. I loosened the valve body bolts, to drain as much fluid as possible. Everything looked and smelled good, very clean.

My 99 is a roll over wreck, which I am going to use for the drivetrain. I got it started when I first bought it, and it would move around. I don't know if anything was wrong. I often do trans maintenance on a new vehicle. It may be weeks before I finish my big project.

Runnin'OnEmpty, did you remove the left cat pipe. I did that first, to make more room. It was tedious to remove the four corroded bolts, but they did come out.

The TransGo kit does have you drill one hole sideways through a valve body passage. I've done that on the AOD's before. There are actually very few things to do, for a TransGo kit. I think just pulling the VB, bolts and solenoids will be the biggest part of the job.

While under the truck, I noticed that the right axle seal and pinion seal are leaking. I have a lot of work to do, before I can start my project.

Good luck to anyone doing this trans work themselves. Be sure to get the $12-$15 5R55E book from a trans parts store. That will help greatly, especially with the bolts.

Runnin'OnEmpty, did you remove the left cat pipe. Don, no I didn't need to. Mine is a 2WD and the pan drops straight down, luckily with no clearance problems.Be sure to get the $12-$15 5R55E book from a trans parts store. That will help greatly, especially with the bolts. The ATSG manual is almost a necessity. I drew a template of the VB separator plate on cardboard, and punched holes that corresponded with the bolt locations. When I removed the bolts, I placed them in the appropriate holes in the cardboard. This made re-assembly very quick, and I didn't have to worry if the right bolt was in the right hole or not. (There are about 4-5 different sizes to keep track of.)

The Superior kit instructions reference the tailshaft, when describing the plate holes that are to be enlarged. They're toward the rear of the plate, so maybe the purpose of the bigger holes is to provide more lube to the tailshaft bearings.....???

We put a whopping 20 miles on the Explorer today, still no flares and the shifting is perfect. The shifts are slightly crisper than before. I plan to add a bottle of Lubegard Red in a couple days. I wanted to wait before adding it to prevent it from masking anything.....

Sounds great, I'm glad you have apparantly fixed your problems. This kind of trans work is wise maintenance for every vehicle, because rebuilding a transmission is so expensive.
It's good for you that you didn't have to play with the cat pipe. It took a while to remove, and if not careful and lucky, the bolts could have stripped, broken or rounded off. I was patient, and fortunate this time.

When I asked for the Lubeguard, I was given the green capped version, for Mercon V vehicles. They evidently have good success with using this with Mercon III. The bottle suggests that together it works better than just Mercon V. I don't know that anything would be gained by using it and Mercon V.

I will likely change the fluid again in a couple of years, so I have bought Castrol Mercon III to try first.
Regards,
DonW

I got a 4X4 and didn't have to remove my cat pipe either. I just took the front driveshaft off the front diff ans I sneaked it out. I wanted to see if I could get the pan out without taking the cat off cause that would have been a PITA and it worked. The only thing I didn't put in with the Supirior shift kit was the 2-3 servo spring cause I didn't have the tool but I wanna add a few more thing after reading this thread so I'll borrow the tool from my uncle and do it then.

Good luck, I also didn't want to pour trans fluid on top of the catalytic converter. Night,
Don

The only thing I didn't put in with the Supirior shift kit was the 2-3 servo spring DirtyDog, I left out this spring too. It was just too much of a pain to reach, and I figured I could replace it later (if needed) without having to drop the pan again.

All the shifts feel to be of uniform firmness with the spring omitted, so I won't bother to change it unless I have a reason.....

All the shifts feel to be of uniform firmness with the spring omitted, so I won't bother to change it unless I have a reason.....

My thoughts exactly

Has anyone bothered to adjust the bands while they were working on the trans? Anyone know what the procedure / torque is?

i think i saw in a manual that only the a4ld has band adjustment....4r55e and 5r55e are fully computerized and not adjustable...just like you cant set your idol speed and mixture....but hell ive been known to be wrong in the past :D

My 5R55E does have band adjustment screws, although I didn't touch them when I did my work. Looked in the ATSG manual, and it gives the procedure:

Intermediate Band: Loosen lock nut, tighten screw to 10 ft/lbs, and then back off screw exactly 2 1/2 turns and hold that position. Tighten a NEW locknut to 35-45 ft/lbs.

Front Band: Loosen lock nut, tighten screw to 10 ft/lbs, and then back off screw exactly 2 turns and hold that position. Tighten a NEW locknut to 35-45 ft/lbs. (The manual cautions to use only NEW locknuts, and suggests applying petroleum jelly to the locknut seals)

Greg, were you the one with a delayed reverse? The Superior kit has a double lip reverse servo seal, which I installed. That took care of my delayed reverse; it now goes in reverse within 1-2 seconds where before it sometimes took 4-5 seconds. (Got about 80 miles on the trans work now, and still shifts perfectly.) Knocking on wood with fingers crossed..... :D

And there are pictures of the procedure in the A4LD Diary (in useful threads). The cases are identical in this regard so the pictures are very relevant.

Yes Runnin on Empty, the delayed reverse is my primary problem. I am glad to hear that the superior kit includes the reverse servo seal. Also glad to hear that everything is working well with your tranny, maybe we will get these problems figured out and be able to help others out with some good info. By the way, what tool was required to install the 2-3 servo spring that you left out? Thanks

By the way, what tool was required to install the 2-3 servo spring that you left out? Thanks It's called a servo cover compressor, Ford tool #T95L-77028-A. In the book, it looks like it has to bolt onto two of the pan bolt holes, so maybe the pan does have to come off to use it....?

I'm not sure if Glacier used one or not in his (excellent) rebuild thread, since he had better access with the trans out of the vehicle. It's probably a worthwhile tool, especially if you're working from under the vehicle.

By the way, Glacier's thread calls for 2 turns out on both band adjustments, (for the A4LD). Apparently the specs for the 5R55E are slightly different; 2 turns out for the front band, and 2 1/2 turns out for the intermediate band.