Ford Explorer Issues

[ZackaryOX]

Hi, this is my first time posting to a car forum, sorry if I sound ignorant about cars or anything.

I recently started having issues with my ford explorer, it is a 4.0L V6 4WD 1996 Ford Explorer. It started when I took my car home for the holidays, the transmission was slipping a little bit (but not anything I was immediately concerned about), I came home and the issue persisted. Over the course of around 2 months the transmission started slipping more and more until one day I put it into reverse, reversed it out of the drive way and then tried to put it into drive. It initially didn't do anything for about 2 minutes then it started moving forward and responding to the accelerator pedal, but it seemed as if something was stuck or pulling the car back. This persisted for about a week and I definitely should have taken it to a mechanic but it's my first time having a car and I assumed it was just cold weather and I had to let my car warm up. Each time I would go to drive the car the same issues were there but each time it engaged into reverse rather quickly but would take longer and longer each time I started my car to engage into drive, it sometimes would take more than 15 mins, but reverse always engaged rather quickly. Each time I would start my car I would drive it around the neighborhood to "warm the engine up" after waiting the time for it to engage, the warmer it got the better the gears shifted while driving. If I had just started it and didn't drive it around the neighborhood to "warm up" it would shift extremely poorly and would be unresponsive past 2k RPM(I believe thats when the gear shifts), but as the engine warmed up it would become more responsive. Unfortunately the last time I was able to drive the car I was taking it for the drive around the neighborhood to warm up, the car was feeling like it did the first time the issue came up and felt like something was pulling it back or something was stuck. I would stop the car and turn off then turn on the engine to see if that fixed anything, it didn't. I was driving it back to the house and the O/D light started flashing so I decided to just park it at the house and call a mechanic. When I was parking my car at home I tried to reverse into the spot and soon found that my car would not reverse at all, no matter how long I waited. I was able to get my car parked but ever since then it has not engaged into any gear, not even neutral. When I put my car into any gear now(neutral, reverse, 2nd/1st, drive, park) and try to rev the engine it jumps forward slightly as if the engine wants to pop out, but only when I put it into drive and rev the engine the car shakes a little bit. My car got way too close to the garage when I was testing and so I tried to put it into neutral and have my friends help me push it back a little, we had 4 decently built guys push it and it didn't even budge a little bit, I tried multiple times in different gears(reverse, neutral) and still nothing. So that leads me to believe I may have a stuck solenoid, but I'm unsure. I checked my transmission fluid multiple times when the engine was hot and the level was correct but the color was brown with a little bit of orange. During this ordeal I've called about 3-4 different mechanics and one of them told me to put DOT-3 brake fluid into the transmission fluid, but he also said that my transmission fluid should be brown rather than red because of the type, but on my dipstick it says to use mercon which I believe is red. Each mechanic has told me I would need a whole new transmission, but I don't want to jump the gun and spend a bunch of money that I don't have without going through all the steps to figure out if I need it replaced. I'm leaning towards a bad solenoid at the moment and that's just because the car wont engage into neutral and actually moves a little bit when I rev the engine in park/neutral. Can anyone confirm/deny what I'm saying or lead me to another possible problem rather than the solenoid? Thanks!!!

 

[imp]

Hi, this is my first time posting to a car forum, sorry if I sound ignorant about cars or anything.

I recently started having issues with my ford explorer, it is a 4.0L V6 4WD 1996 Ford Explorer. It started when I took my car home for the holidays, the transmission was slipping a little bit (but not anything I was immediately concerned about), I came home and the issue persisted. Over the course of around 2 months the transmission started slipping more and more until one day I put it into reverse, reversed it out of the drive way and then tried to put it into drive. It initially didn't do anything for about 2 minutes then it started moving forward and responding to the accelerator pedal, but it seemed as if something was stuck or pulling the car back. This persisted for about a week and I definitely should have taken it to a mechanic but it's my first time having a car and I assumed it was just cold weather and I had to let my car warm up. Each time I would go to drive the car the same issues were there but each time it engaged into reverse rather quickly but would take longer and longer each time I started my car to engage into drive, it sometimes would take more than 15 mins, but reverse always engaged rather quickly. Each time I would start my car I would drive it around the neighborhood to "warm the engine up" after waiting the time for it to engage, the warmer it got the better the gears shifted while driving. If I had just started it and didn't drive it around the neighborhood to "warm up" it would shift extremely poorly and would be unresponsive past 2k RPM(I believe thats when the gear shifts), but as the engine warmed up it would become more responsive. Unfortunately the last time I was able to drive the car I was taking it for the drive around the neighborhood to warm up, the car was feeling like it did the first time the issue came up and felt like something was pulling it back or something was stuck. I would stop the car and turn off then turn on the engine to see if that fixed anything, it didn't. I was driving it back to the house and the O/D light started flashing so I decided to just park it at the house and call a mechanic. When I was parking my car at home I tried to reverse into the spot and soon found that my car would not reverse at all, no matter how long I waited. I was able to get my car parked but ever since then it has not engaged into any gear, not even neutral. When I put my car into any gear now(neutral, reverse, 2nd/1st, drive, park) and try to rev the engine it jumps forward slightly as if the engine wants to pop out, but only when I put it into drive and rev the engine the car shakes a little bit. My car got way too close to the garage when I was testing and so I tried to put it into neutral and have my friends help me push it back a little, we had 4 decently built guys push it and it didn't even budge a little bit, I tried multiple times in different gears(reverse, neutral) and still nothing. So that leads me to believe I may have a stuck solenoid, but I'm unsure. I checked my transmission fluid multiple times when the engine was hot and the level was correct but the color was brown with a little bit of orange. During this ordeal I've called about 3-4 different mechanics and one of them told me to put DOT-3 brake fluid into the transmission fluid, but he also said that my transmission fluid should be brown rather than red because of the type, but on my dipstick it says to use mercon which I believe is red. Each mechanic has told me I would need a whole new transmission, but I don't want to jump the gun and spend a bunch of money that I don't have without going through all the steps to figure out if I need it replaced. I'm leaning towards a bad solenoid at the moment and that's just because the car wont engage into neutral and actually moves a little bit when I rev the engine in park/neutral. Can anyone confirm/deny what I'm saying or lead me to another possible problem rather than the solenoid? Thanks!!!

@ZackaryOX

TMI. First, there are a bunch of solenoids, so which one? Second, I missed whether or not you added brake fluid to your transmission, but if you did, the dozens of rubber sealing rings in clutches and on shafts will likely be destroyed.

Third "stuck solenoid": rarely happens, quit working, yes, break, yes, but I've never seen one "stuck".

I think even a major tear-down with EVERY part removed and every last visage of brake fluid (if it was added) washed off all metal parts, as well as the transmission case completely cleaned of it, (torque converter another story, to get it all out requires multiple washing internally with strong solvent), would be necessary to retain internals effectively.

I learned of incompatibility of brake fluid and transmission fluid when I was an early teen: my Dad added ATF to his master cylinder: soon, all the fluid puked out past the wheel cylinders, about 1966. imp

 

[ZackaryOX]

@ZackaryOX

TMI. First, there are a bunch of solenoids, so which one? Second, I missed whether or not you added brake fluid to your transmission, but if you did, the dozens of rubber sealing rings in clutches and on shafts will likely be destroyed.

Third "stuck solenoid": rarely happens, quit working, yes, break, yes, but I've never seen one "stuck".

I think even a major tear-down with EVERY part removed and every last visage of brake fluid (if it was added) washed off all metal parts, as well as the transmission case completely cleaned of it, (torque converter another story, to get it all out requires multiple washing internally with strong solvent), would be necessary to retain internals effectively.

I learned of incompatibility of brake fluid and transmission fluid when I was an early teen: my Dad added ATF to his master cylinder: soon, all the fluid puked out past the wheel cylinders, about 1966. imp

Thanks for the response. I never added any brake fluid because I didn't think the mechanic knew what he was talking about, glad I listened to my gut now. I'm sorry again for any ignorance on the matter, I read on a few sites that if a solenoid is stuck closed then I wont be able to shift into that specific gear, but if its stuck open then I wont be able to leave that specific gear. Since my car is unable to be pushed in neutral and moves slightly forward in park/neutral(when it 100% shouldn't) when I rev the engine that's why I believed I had a faulty solenoid. I'm not a mechanic, I don't have any tools or anything that I can use to check much, but is there anyway a novice/inexperienced person could check to see if this is the case? Or any other things I could to do figure out if my transmission is done for? I'm only asking because I'm currently in school and far away from home with no known trustworthy mechanics nearby, they all just want to straight up replace the tranny rather than diagnosing it at all. I've read online that many people have been screwed over paying 2k+ for new transmissions, and after that their new transmission fails and they take it to a genuine mechanic only to be told that their new transmission is screwed and they didn't even need to replace the old one because the issue is something else.

Sorry for TMI, I'm just trying to give the whole story so that no crucial info is missed.
Thanks!

 

[transman304]

The flashing OD light is an indication of a trouble code for the transmission is stored. Not going to be a solenoid problem. You are dealing with a 25 year old vehicle and I may have missed if you listed mileage. I don’t know what condition the rest of vehicle is in but you need to decide to go used or remanufactured/rebuilt unit. The way you describe “holding back” could simply be that it is in failsafe mode and having 3rd gear starts or planetary gears that have failed.
Brad

 

[C420sailor]

Concur with it not being a solenoid problem. There is no pressure in the valve body with the truck not running, so solenoid position does not matter. Getting the codes read will shed some light on what is going on in there. That said, I doubt it's going to be an easy fix.

And please, for the love of god, if you don't think your auto trans is engaging a gear, NEVER STEP ON THE GAS. At best, you'll be greeted with a bang. At worst, you'll grenade something.

 

[Gary Crist]

It sounds like the forward clutch pack took a dive.
Here is a list of codes and help but, be prepared

4R55E transmission troubleshooting help, 4R55E rebuilding tips, 4R55E technical service bulletins, and 4R55E diagnostics from TRNW

 

[96eb96]

No, No, No on the brake fluid. If you are going to add something, try Lucas Trans fluid, at it is at designed for the purpose, tested, etc!

Like other said, get codes.
But judging by the age of the trans and being on this forum so long the trans is probably toast.
There are servo bores that can wallow and and not allow pressure to the bands. There are domino effects from that. Many other failure points on this unit.
Try putting in manual 1 or 2 and see what happens. There are pressure test points on the transmission too.

A solenoid WILL NOT lock the vehicle at rest.

 

[koda2000]

Short answer is... you need to have your transmission rebuilt or replaced with a reman'd trans.

From your very long description of you symptoms, I would guess you minimally have a valve body or leaking VB gasket issue, but considering the age of your vehicle (I didn't see where you mentioned the number of miles on it) stuff eventually wears out and the 4R55E transmission is not considered particularly hearty.

IMO rebuilding/replacing the automatic transmission on a 24+ year old vehicle isn't worth the money ($2200-$2500). For than kind of money you can buy an newer, more reliable vehicle with fewer miles on it. A salvage yard transmission for your vehicle, while a cheaper alternative at around $400, isn't a good choice either.

If you just love second generation Explorers/Mountaineers and want to look for a replacement I'd recommend a 2000-2001 V8 with around 150,000 miles on it. If you don't need the AWD I'd look for a 2WD version, though considering where you live (ON) you likely want an 4WD/AWD. They're getting harder to find, but you still see them pop up on CL occasionally.

Stay away from the SOHC V6/5R55E models as they're less reliable than what your driving now and way more expensive to repair.

 

[ZackaryOX]

Thank you all for the help, I just bought a OBDII reader online and I'm gonna hook it up as soon as soon as it gets here Monday. Sorry again for the longest description you'll probably come across. I'm hoping for the best but honestly expecting the worst at this point, but thank you all for the input.

 

[koda2000]

Thank you all for the help, I just bought a OBDII reader online and I'm gonna hook it up as soon as soon as it gets here Monday. Sorry again for the longest description you'll probably come across. I'm hoping for the best but honestly expecting the worst at this point, but thank you all for the input.

Don't know what scanner you've purchased, but only higher-end ODBII scanners will read things like transmission, air bag and ABS DTC's.

Whatever your trans problem(s) are, don't expect them to be something minor that can be repaired easily/inexpensively.

As far as the length of your posting, I've seen longer ones, but I typically don't read them. Including lots of detail can be helpful, but I would suggest you start with a brief paragraph stating a short summary of your issue.

 

[96eb96]

Thank you all for the help, I just bought a OBDII reader online and I'm gonna hook it up as soon as soon as it gets here Monday. Sorry again for the longest description you'll probably come across. I'm hoping for the best but honestly expecting the worst at this point, but thank you all for the input.

You want an Forscan compatible scanner. There are many inexpensive Bluetooth and wired ones. Forscan covers the 96 very well. I even helped the author with some internal features.
If anyone reads their door code in Forscan, it can be traced back to my Fords, we did lots of logging to get that to work :lol:

BUt what you bought will likely read Trans codes, we will see.

 

[koda2000]

You want an Forscan compatible scanner. There are many inexpensive Bluetooth and wired ones. Forscan covers the 96 very well. I even helped the author with some internal features.
If anyone reads their door code in Forscan, it can be traced back to my Fords, we did lots of logging to get that to work :lol:

BUt what you bought will likely read Trans codes, we will see.

Agreed, the free download version of ForScan is way better than a ODB II scanner. All you need is an inexpensive ELM327 dongle, your smart phone, or a laptop to get all kinds of info.

 

[EB4X]

Being it's a true 4x4 and has bulletproof 4.0 ohv (as long as you don't overheat it - replace thermostat prematurely to avoid this) and if your mileage is below 200K it might be worth it for trans rebuild cost.... these engines are known to go to 300- 400K no problem if taken care of. Not sure of repair shop competition but here in So Calif I have a shop that will rebuild most auto's (90's to mid 2000's) for $1,400- $1,500....that's everything - parts / labor / removing -installing tranny.
Also being a '96 there's a 90% chance you have a L.S. rear in it instead of just Open diff....

 

[koda2000]

Being it's a true 4x4 and has bulletproof 4.0 ohv (as long as you don't overheat it - replace thermostat prematurely to avoid this) and if your mileage is below 200K it might be worth it for trans rebuild cost.... these engines are known to go to 300- 400K no problem if taken care of. Not sure of repair shop competition but here in So Calif I have a shop that will rebuild most auto's (90's to mid 2000's) for $1,400- $1,500....that's everything - parts / labor / removing -installing tranny.
Also being a '96 there's a 90% chance you have a L.S. rear in it instead of just Open diff....

You're not considering that the OP lives on ON. I would think this means he likely also has a lot of rust to deal with due to salted winter roads.

 

[ZackaryOX]

Hi all, I think I have good news. So I was reading that when my O/D flashed it would've thrown codes, and that it did. I got my OBDII scanner today and it does read transmission issues, there's a special option just for transmissions. I only got one code, P0756, I read online that this could cause no movement/stuck in a gear. I'm sort of hoping for the best here, I know that it could also be the valve body breaking and blocking sensors with debris. Any thoughts? Thanks all!

 

[Gary Crist]

I found this...
Kind of sounds like what you described.
2000 3.0l 4r44e shifting problem - Page 2 - Ford Ranger Forum

 

[transman304]

A solenoid code will not cause a no move condition. It would be in failsafe mode or 3rd gear only forwards and would have reverse. Check the fluid level first thing before you start the engine. Note the level of the fluid will be above the full mark by 1/4-1/2”. Start the engine and then check the fluid again to see if the level has dropped below the full mark. If after starting the engine level does not drop is an indication that it’s not pumping fluid. If it drops you may have broken planetary gears or splines striped on forward drum. Or failed converter.

 

[kimwa]

I currently have a 2006 Eddie Bauer with a bad solenoid, it drives well but jerks at reverse when driven for a while. It’s delaying shifting but it’s moving forward and reverse. I just ordered anew one.You probably need another transmission. However given the age of the car, you may be having a money pit-hole. I would consider another car. You will end up spending a lot of money fixing “other” stuff with this vehicle you have.

 

[J5hort]

Welcome Zach, This is the place to visit for all your Explorer discussion. Your post is loooooong, no worries but you'll learn that brief back and forth might work best. BTW, check my posts uot, I'm pretty long winded. Pleae dont take any comments the wrong way, people here are helpful and have great experinece and ideas.

So far as your trans problem, I have a gen 2 and Gen 4, Gen 2 is a manual transmission, so not what you have. I can teell you my Gen 4 had tons of issues with go-no-go shifting and getting into gear properly until I replaced fliud, filter and fluid level to exact specifications. Even tried aftermarked filter that did not work. There sounds like there are other issues, but just food for thought as these transmissions can be very finiky.

 

[jaxcycles]

change the fluid,suck it out if you have no wrench turning skills,fill with the lucas trans fluid.i have done this with trannys that had more metal in the pans than i have ever seen! see what happens imo the trans was never serviced.if you do get it to move in a few weeks do it again.the lucas is a lot more costly than atf but you might be just as surprised as i was! this was a buddys truck that he wanted to drive it to the junkyard and used for another year. when you get back home have the filter changed and the converter drained also and use the lucas again.i do not know what is in that stuff but i have seen transmissions rise from the dead after completely using that stuff than the atf. good luck, cheap fix compared to a rebuilt!!