Artbaileyjr
Member
- Joined
- November 26, 2011
- Messages
- 32
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- So Cal or S.E. Idaho (Depending on the season)
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 Eddie Bauer
Hi all.
Just a little tidbit on an old subject and my experience with it.
I recently picked up an 02 Eddie Bauer 4.0L V6/5r55/4 wheel drive, 153,000 mi. I bought it and used it for my annual migration to a warmer climate for the winter. It was picked up and immediately delivered to the local Ford store for service. (oil, filter, transfer case fluid replacement, etc.) It was packed to the roof with our gear and I headed west (some 700 miles) the morning after. It ran perfectly.
What I "later" noticed is that after the transmission warmed up, it neutraled out when it should have been shifting into third. A release of the "go fast" pedal and it would shift solidly into third and continued to shift properly through the rest of the gears and OD. A manual shift through the gears worked well and there was no third gear slippage, even under full throttle. I had no warning lamps and no codes. (I scanned it upon my arrival)
I read through this board and the archives and noted a number of posts regarding the intermediate servo issue. (Great board, BTW!) I contemplated replacing the servo with the o-ring style, but decided that a routine service should come first.
I took it to two different shops and asked for a service. After a test drive by each, both told me that a complete rebuild was the only cure. One told me that they wouldn't even drop the pan, unless it was rebuilt. (Neither were Aamco, as we all know what happens there!!!)
I continued to drive it and contemplated my options, reading as much information as I could digest.
There is a small, one man, general repair shop nearby, and on a whim, I stopped by and told him that I simply wanted the filter replaced and the fluid in the pan replaced regardless of any diagnoses. (There is no dipstick on this model as I'm sure that most of you know.)
He agreed and put the thing on the hoist. The oil fill/check plug had been striped so my wife was dispatched to the local Ford store for a replacement.
The drain plug was removed and the fluid was pretty discolored; it smelled, but not the smell of burnt fluid; It was the smell of OLD fluid. The pan had no residue and the magnet had a tiny amount of very fine filings on it. (Nothing that I wouldn't expect)
The pan was replaced and it took just shy of 6 quarts of Mercon V before the fluid reached the standpipe/upper fill, with the engine running in park.
Within a few miles of traffic driving, the shifts gradually became more firm and eventually, they became very smooth. The 3rd gear flair was history in less that 20 miles.
I will drive it for a hundred or so miles and once again drain and refill the pan to further dilute the old fluid that was still in the torque converter, now 50% new. I'll simply do this at home, costing me only a small plastic pump, (Zone/Pep/Reilly's/Napa), an 1/8" npt barb fitting and 7 quarts of fluid. It still won't be 100%, but it will be close to a full exchange of fresh fluid.
This whole process cost me less than $150.00; Far less than the $2,200.00 or $1,500.00 respectively, that I was quoted, and ready to shell out for a rebuild.
I just thought I'd pass my experience along to anyone who ~may~ be encountering a similar issue. Perhaps your issue is simply a matter of maintenance. I think I'd try that first.
Good luck,
Art
Just a little tidbit on an old subject and my experience with it.
I recently picked up an 02 Eddie Bauer 4.0L V6/5r55/4 wheel drive, 153,000 mi. I bought it and used it for my annual migration to a warmer climate for the winter. It was picked up and immediately delivered to the local Ford store for service. (oil, filter, transfer case fluid replacement, etc.) It was packed to the roof with our gear and I headed west (some 700 miles) the morning after. It ran perfectly.
What I "later" noticed is that after the transmission warmed up, it neutraled out when it should have been shifting into third. A release of the "go fast" pedal and it would shift solidly into third and continued to shift properly through the rest of the gears and OD. A manual shift through the gears worked well and there was no third gear slippage, even under full throttle. I had no warning lamps and no codes. (I scanned it upon my arrival)
I read through this board and the archives and noted a number of posts regarding the intermediate servo issue. (Great board, BTW!) I contemplated replacing the servo with the o-ring style, but decided that a routine service should come first.
I took it to two different shops and asked for a service. After a test drive by each, both told me that a complete rebuild was the only cure. One told me that they wouldn't even drop the pan, unless it was rebuilt. (Neither were Aamco, as we all know what happens there!!!)
I continued to drive it and contemplated my options, reading as much information as I could digest.
There is a small, one man, general repair shop nearby, and on a whim, I stopped by and told him that I simply wanted the filter replaced and the fluid in the pan replaced regardless of any diagnoses. (There is no dipstick on this model as I'm sure that most of you know.)
He agreed and put the thing on the hoist. The oil fill/check plug had been striped so my wife was dispatched to the local Ford store for a replacement.
The drain plug was removed and the fluid was pretty discolored; it smelled, but not the smell of burnt fluid; It was the smell of OLD fluid. The pan had no residue and the magnet had a tiny amount of very fine filings on it. (Nothing that I wouldn't expect)
The pan was replaced and it took just shy of 6 quarts of Mercon V before the fluid reached the standpipe/upper fill, with the engine running in park.
Within a few miles of traffic driving, the shifts gradually became more firm and eventually, they became very smooth. The 3rd gear flair was history in less that 20 miles.
I will drive it for a hundred or so miles and once again drain and refill the pan to further dilute the old fluid that was still in the torque converter, now 50% new. I'll simply do this at home, costing me only a small plastic pump, (Zone/Pep/Reilly's/Napa), an 1/8" npt barb fitting and 7 quarts of fluid. It still won't be 100%, but it will be close to a full exchange of fresh fluid.
This whole process cost me less than $150.00; Far less than the $2,200.00 or $1,500.00 respectively, that I was quoted, and ready to shell out for a rebuild.
I just thought I'd pass my experience along to anyone who ~may~ be encountering a similar issue. Perhaps your issue is simply a matter of maintenance. I think I'd try that first.
Good luck,
Art
