1999 Ford Explorer - No Reverse??? PLZ help

[Produce Man]

I highly recommend Lemon Grove Trans. I also lost reverse. Turned out to be the reverse band broke. All bands replaced and a TransGo kit ran me $1300.

 

[Georgie]

This is the low/reverse band:

Engine braking feels like the engine & transmission are engaged, and cause the engine RPM's to slow down (not like neutral or park where it revs & gradually slows down easily).

Thanks a lot.That really clears things up for me.

 

[appealingpit]

No reverse

I heard a loud pop today as I was to back up. No reverse no more, had great forward gears. Talked to tranny shop, they told me how to check to confirm the band broke. I was told manualy put in 1st gear go to 25Mph, let of the gas if rpm go down as breaking not band. If goes to idle as letting up it is the band.
It sounded as 22 bullet went of in fluid. I was heart broken, my baby lost reverse.
Googled my explorer issue guess it is common.

I am still a ford fan no matter what. My 99 exporer has been good to me. Just cheap parts.

 

[McMuddy]

So Guys.....sorry to bring this old thread up once again as it seems everyone is convinced the reverse band is gone. BUT!!! I have a slight variation to this all so familiar problem and looking for any more thoughts.

I experienced the exact same issues as everyone else here with the loudish bang when I put it into reverse but still have all forward gears without any issue. Here is the gotcha point....the missing reverse gear is phantom issue. By that I mean that after this happened, I could not get it to go into reverse for a couple of days and then I had reverse for the next couple of times I tried. No reverse again for a few more days and then a couple of more times it would shift into reverse fine and then nothing again.

So my question is this....if the band is broken, then would that not be an absolute no go into reverse ever again or could it still go into gear intermittently like I am experiencing now. I saw somewhere else on this forum while investigating this issue the someone suggested putting in Sea Foam Tranny Treatment and running with that for awhile and then flushing and refill. Would that possibly fix things or is that just wishful thinking?

BTW, I'm running a 2000 Explorer XLT with the 4.0 SOHC, Automatic tranny if that changes anything.

Any suggestions would be most welcomed.

Cheers guys and thanks for all the valued input from everyone....you all have saved my ass a few times already with other problems I've encountered with this truck. I don't want to scrap the truck as it's in really good shape, engine runs flawlessly and other than a couple of door lock issues the truck has been in tip top shape.

The problem is the costs to repair/rebuild up here in Canada, far outweigh the value of the truck at this point. I was quoted $5500 to rebuild the tranny and the truck is only worth about $1500 at this point.

Thanks all

McMuddy

 

[gijoecam]

It's a 4x4, right? If so, it's not the reverse band its the transfer case. A failed reverse band won't be intermittent. Once it's broke, its broke.

 

[McMuddy]

It's a 4x4, right? If so, it's not the reverse band its the transfer case. A failed reverse band won't be intermittent. Once it's broke, its broke.

Kind of what I thought....so....what could be wrong in the transfer case? Does a transfer case rebuild require pulling everything out of the truck to access it? Doesn't sound as simple as a little Sea Foam Treatment to hopefully correct does it.

Cheers and thanks for your opinion....

McMuddy

 

[gijoecam]

Kind of what I thought....so....what could be wrong in the transfer case? Does a transfer case rebuild require pulling everything out of the truck to access it? Doesn't sound as simple as a little Sea Foam Treatment to hopefully correct does it.

Cheers and thanks for your opinion....

McMuddy

The fingers on the shift girl wear out. The helical cut on the gears holds the gear in place while driving forward, but pushes the gear into neutral never-never land in reverse if the fingers can't hold the gear in position.

Repair requires removal if the transfer case. There is a good wire up on the procedure around here somewhere...

 

[truck4149]

okay I have a 99 eddie bauer 4.0 and reverse went out sound like it goes in gear and is spinning but does not go could this be the fork in transfer case?

 

[koda2000]

Probably the reverse band in the transmission has broken. Fairly common failure with the V6 trans. If it were the t-case you couldn't go forward either.

 

[BrooklynBay]

The low/reverse band is a pretty thick band. It's possible that the rear one way sprag stripped. You could check the band with a long Phillips screwdriver once you remove the low/reverse servo.

 

[truck4149]

Probably the reverse band in the transmission has broken. Fairly common failure with the V6 trans. If it were the t-case you couldn't go forward either.

thanks was hopeing not well guess wife drives the focus and I drive the ram till get thr money for rebuild

 

[truck4149]

Probably the reverse band in the transmission has broken. Fairly common failure with the V6 trans. If it were the t-case you couldn't go forward either.

thanks was hopeing not well guess wife drives the focus and I drive the ram till get thr money for rebuild

 

[truck4149]

can you just replace the reverse band?

 

[koda2000]

can you just replace the reverse band?

Considering how much work is involved with removing the trans and the labor to take it apart, put it back together and reinstall it, you might as well rebuild the whole thing.

 

[Po' Boi MN]

I've read thru this thread and my situation seems slightly unique. Recently eclipsed 300k this summer and have had the tranny take its sweet time engaging any gear from cold starts, especially in the winter, for about the last 100k (year and a half or so).

About a month ago we got our first deep freeze of the winter and just like that I could roll my truck into the street but I would have to kick it into 1st to get the forward drive to engage at all. Then shift to 2nd to actually drive and idle like normal. After a few days I was able to add overdrive back into the mix and it seemed like I was back to normal old age yet reliable operation.

A couple days later, went to reverse down the driveway and she wouldn't budge. Shifted through all gears and could engage and go forward in every gear, but no reverse. HERES THE KICKER: even with the engine off or on, and shifted into neutral or any other gear, she will not go backwards. Even with the battery disconnectrd and shifted into neutral I can't even push it down an inclined driveway. WWTTFF!

I did not hear any pops or feel anything when it first stopped going backwards. There were no signs of any fluid level issues around this time. What is locking up the wheels that I can't physically get this sumbish to roll backwards! She still starts instantly and without audible symptoms.... It still goes forward in each gear, although I've been forced to allow only inches of forward movement each time since I'm now in my garage and have literally 4 feet left in front of my truck with which to move.

I'm too poor to grade up or rebuild at the moment, and she's barely worth a tow to the salvage yard if its not DIY fixable.

1997 explorer, 2dr 4.0 sohc, 302k mi.

 

[Po' Boi MN]

Oh and continuing research it donned on me that the weeks leading up to reverse lock nightmare I thought my brake callipers were ceasing potentially because of the very audible grinding sound when decelerating! So apparently this is emanating from the transfer case somehow?

I kno that the 4x4 was never switched out of the AUTO setting in at least a decade but, eerily, I do recall about a year ago I must have bumped the 4x4 dial on the dash into high setting while cleaning and I didn't realize it until I started the truck as usual but (aww damn it) there was a very violent shift engage into drive, followed by 4 blocks of the most grinding/sluggish/ugly feeling and sounding slow drive before I parked it, noticed the 4x4 light on the dash and the dial position. Setting it back to auto and restarting didnt help but a quick google of it and It was an immediate and easy fix by simply disconnected the battery for a couple minutes. Never was an issue after and I quickly forgot about it until a thread about the grinding noise symptom really shook a lot of memories loose. So now what the hell? I'll be thread searching for what the hell has happened and how to inspect it and HOW WOULD THAT ISSUE LAY DORMANT for 50k miles??

 

[truck4149]

The other day i was trying to reverse and the reverse suddenly stopped working . The vehicle has 129,000 miles on it and has been properly maintained. The drive works PERFECT, but no reverse. It almost feels as though the reverse is in neutral or something. The RPM`s go up, but the tires don`t move. The first thing i did is fluid change, then cable adjustment, and finally range sensor for transmission. None of the above corrective actions worked. The only bit of information I have is when it went out I gassed it a little hard then almost felt as if I hit something. So I am thinking valve body, solenoid, or possible spring or something. I dont`t think transmission needs to be replaced because it runs too good in drive. As a matter of fact i did a cross country drive from el paso,TX to Aiken, SC a week ago(1700 miles). If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate.

Just dropped mine at shop has same problem transmission is toast. My mechanic says it is very common in 2nd generation.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check the shift fork in the transfer case.

 

[acrx7]

Hi guys , this morning I got in to my 99 Ex 2 wdr OHV , and warm it for about 10 min , I put it in reverse and nothing , for about the last 3 month when I put it in reverse and than into drive it would kinda not move for 3 seconds but than it will go forward , but this morning no reverse I did hear a clunk like when you go from reverse to drive with out fully stopping , I did try 1 2 and back to drive then reverse and it would move back a little , is the tranny toast or the link is loose ? I search here but I think its the link , am I in denial I'm in MA so its cold and we are getting snow with rain :-( any help will be appreciated .