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No Trans gears

special_k1979

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June 27, 2004
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City, State
NJ
Year, Model & Trim Level
95 eddie bauer
He guys, need some help before I lose my mind. I have a 95 Eddie Bauer with about 146K on it, 4.0 with a 4r55e trans. I m a mechanic by trade, not so much on the Trans side though, I baby my truck and religiously maintain it. The other day I was driving and at about 40mph I lost my trans, all of a sudden I start getting a whine from my bell housing when I put in drive or reverse. I feel the trans kick into gear when I shift from P or N into any gear but wont move unless I start to rev the engine then it slowly rolls. I never had an issue with late shifting or anything, shifted perfectly. Thought it was a valve body gasket leak, feels like the clutch wasn't getting enough pressure. No O/D,Check engine lights. Worth mentioning it's an OBD1. So I bought the Valve Body rebuild kit and filter kit, rebuilt it, put it back together, added fluid. The whining has quieted down, but still having issues with engaging gears, it doesn't take as much rpm to start rolling but still not engaging like it should, could it be trans pressure solenoid stuck open?? Any thoughts???
 



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The first issue sounded like a low fluid condition. After you rebuilt it, did you use an In/Lb 1/4" drive torque wrench on the valve body bolts? Did you check to see if the cooler is partially blocked?
 






Have you ever change the solenoid switch? Loosing or delay in gear is sometimes caused by seal attached to the valve body. If your trans havent serviced yet, have it done before you drop the whole trans.
 






No trouble codes. I used a torque wrench and followed the bolt sequence. Thought about the solenoid switch, but I have no gears, no reverse and no forward. So i eliminated the solenoids or belts as a possible issue, I'm planning on installing a gauge to the trans lines and find out the pressure in the trans, found another post that sounds similar to mine and it turned out to be a broken gear on the front pump. Also with the engine off, i disconnected the bottom cooler line, and then cracked the top one and the fluid flowed out with no restriction, so I'm not thinking the cooler as an issue, but after I get a gauge and if I have any pressure, I m planning on checking both the inlet and outlet of the cooler. As for the trans service, do you mean with a flush machine like BG, if so I'm not wasting the money, I replace the fluid and filter every 20k-30k miles, always use synthetic, there were no shavings or burnt fluid when I rebuilt the valve body. I did the trans service less than 20K ago. Never had any issue with slipping, check eng light or anything, it just happened out of no where, while traveling about 40 mph.
 






So I don't know the problem, but if you still want to drive it, turn off overdrive and shift manually. To use reverse, turn off overdrive, shift to first, wait for engagement, then shift to reverse. It will not have enough grab to back up hill so be careful where you park. I've been driving mine like that for over a year now.
 






Also, if on the highway, you should be able to turn on overdrive once over 55. Let off throttle and wait for it to shift.
 






Hey guys, so I jumped the gun and dropped the trans hoping it was the trans pump, turns out it's not the pump gears, also looked in the torque converter and it looks clean. Blademr2 I didn't have a chance to try your idea, I really want to get to bottom of this before I put the trans back in. If I figure it out I will get back to you. Or I might just say F*** it and get it rebuilt or get a used one to throw in.
 






Does anyone have any idea if the a stuck solenoid in the valve body could cause an issue like this?
 






Is it 4x4? I have seen these t-cases pop into neutral when a front driveshaft is going bad so its possible yours did too for some unknown reason.
 






Hey guys, sorry for the late responses, I was preoccupied with a few other things and waiting for seals and such, so today I reinstalled the pump to the bell housing, followed a video and did it without an alignment tool, just raised the TC high enough for the bell housing to sit about 5 inches off my bench, installed the pump, installed the input shaft and snugged down the pump, after while it/s still raised off the table, I spin the housing and I get a clicking noise, sounds like it's coming from the from the TC, after a few spins it stops, but then when I spin it opposite it starts up again in either direction, does this sound like an internal TC problem? Just a note, I did not drain the TC, still the same amount of fluid that was in it when I dropped it out. Should I add fluid and see if it goes away? Also it should be noted that although when the issue occurred I wasn't driving aggressively, but I usually do have a heavy foot on the accelerator. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 






Hey Boomin, I can feel the trans gear engage, you know that initial pop, but I start getting a really loud whine from what sounds like the bell housing area, and if i rev up it does start to role very slowly at about 4k rpm. Not really sure if would be caused by the transfer case. But if the TC turns out to be good I will def look into it, thanks.
 






A front pump alignment tool is recommended. I know that it's possible to use the torque converter, but if it's a little out of alignment, you might end up doing damage to the torque converter, pump, bellhousing, and the input shaft. Go to a transmission shop, and ask one of the mechanics how much he will charge for aligning the pump for you.
 






I would say your torque converter has failed. That whine comes from a sprag in the converter not holding. Good luck.
 






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