advice needed re. 5R55S parts swap . . . | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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advice needed re. 5R55S parts swap . . .

Drewmcg

Elite Explorer
Joined
August 27, 2015
Messages
735
Reaction score
99
Location
Michigan
City, State
Ann Arbor, MI
Year, Model & Trim Level
2010 XLT 4WD
2002 XLS 2WD
I have two 2002 Ford Explorers built in June 2002--a 4wd XLT (doner vehicle, 116k miles) and rwd (restored XLS, 177k miles). I pulled the (good) engine from the doner truck, replaced all timing chains/cassettes/guides/tensioners; and am about to install in the 2wd XLS. Both vehicles have the 5R55S (not W), confirmed with door tag and VIN lookup.

I drove the XLS about 60 total miles on a prior (unsuccessful) engine rebuild, and the transmission seemed fine. I drove the donner (XLT) a total of a few hundred feet (to reposition for engine pull on my yard; no brakes!), and the trans seemed fine, but I don't believe I ever got out of first gear. I hooked a decent OBDII tool (Bosch 1350) to the donor car and there were no engine or tranny codes.

Neither transmission has been worked on insofar as I can tell, or from either Carfax report. I bought the restored (XLS) Explorer from the original owner, who did not report any trans service.

I had hoped to pull the donor trans and hang onto it to replace the XLS trans if it goes bad, but have since learned that this won't work without a complete transmission disassembly (beyond my comfort zone).

Questions: (i) I understand that torque converters do fail on the 5R55S. I can easily pull the torque converter from the bell housings with the engines out without removing either trans. Should I swap the 177k miles XLS tc with the 116k miles one to have the lower-miles unit in the restored truck?

(ii) I can also access the pump from the engine compartment side of the bell housing without dropping the transmissions. Is it worth swapping pumps? I understand that there is an upgraded flow control valve (Transgo?) and have watched a couple of videos on installing it. I could probably handle that upgrade with the pump out of the vehicle, on a bench.

Thoughts? TIA, Drew.
 



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I have two 2002 Ford Explorers built in June 2002--a 4wd XLT (doner vehicle, 116k miles) and rwd (restored XLS, 177k miles). I pulled the (good) engine from the doner truck, replaced all timing chains/cassettes/guides/tensioners; and am about to install in the 2wd XLS. Both vehicles have the 5R55S (not W), confirmed with door tag and VIN lookup.

I drove the XLS about 60 total miles on a prior (unsuccessful) engine rebuild, and the transmission seemed fine. I drove the donner (XLT) a total of a few hundred feet (to reposition for engine pull on my yard; no brakes!), and the trans seemed fine, but I don't believe I ever got out of first gear. I hooked a decent OBDII tool (Bosch 1350) to the donor car and there were no engine or tranny codes.

Neither transmission has been worked on insofar as I can tell, or from either Carfax report. I bought the restored (XLS) Explorer from the original owner, who did not report any trans service.

I had hoped to pull the donor trans and hang onto it to replace the XLS trans if it goes bad, but have since learned that this won't work without a complete transmission disassembly (beyond my comfort zone).

Questions: (i) I understand that torque converters do fail on the 5R55S. I can easily pull the torque converter from the bell housings with the engines out without removing either trans. Should I swap the 177k miles XLS tc with the 116k miles one to have the lower-miles unit in the restored truck?

(ii) I can also access the pump from the engine compartment side of the bell housing without dropping the transmissions. Is it worth swapping pumps? I understand that there is an upgraded flow control valve (Transgo?) and have watched a couple of videos on installing it. I could probably handle that upgrade with the pump out of the vehicle, on a bench.

Thoughts? TIA, Drew.
@Drewmcg "I can easily pull the torque converter from the bell housings with the engines out without removing either trans." "I can also access the pump from the engine compartment side of the bell housing without dropping the transmissions."

??? Do not understand, perhaps you are pulling the torque converter out off an engine having the transmission already removed? Same with pumps?

Or, yer a pretty good magician! :banghead: imp
 






As I explained, the transmissions are still in each car. The engines are out. D.
 






As I explained, the transmissions are still in each car. The engines are out. D.
@Drewmcg
Sorry! Somehow, I just didn't read it that way. Life littered with mistakes......imp
 






Any actual advise?
 






Any actual advise?
@Drewmcg
Converters in the day, rarely "wore out", but today's with clutches in them do fail. 177K is a lot of miles for one, and if it were me, since everything is already apart, I would use the converter having the lower mileage, assuming of course it's known to be good.

By flow control valve, I take it you mean the pump relief valve, old time name for it. They are a source of trouble according to various entries here. @JK080 knows a lot more than I do. imp
 






Change converters if you choose. Removing the pump is not doable while installed in vehicle. As you pull it out of case a lot of other parts will want to follow and you would never get them aligned to re install pump.
 






Thanks; these replies are helpful. FYI, the flow control valve issue with pump is described in some detail at 29:25 of this video: .

Also, one removal technique for the pump is demonstrated at 10:30 here: .
 






Follow-up question:

I just pulled the trans case on the XLS (restored) 'ploder. The fluid is predictably black (177k miles), but does not smell burnt. No metal shavings or bits whatsoever. Typical (from what I can tell) small deposit of mushy gray coating on magnet. Good news!

Here's the question: Should I swap the solenoid pack from the 116k miles 4wd? I realize solenoid packs are frequently replaced on these trans--but often, from what I've read, in effort to solve an unrelated problem (e.g., valve issue; servo bore issue). But it would be pretty easy to drop the 4wd pan and pull the solenoid and swap, if solenoids ware out with the miles....

Any thoughts?
 






Update: I swamped three items: (i) torque converter; (ii) pump; and (iii) solenoid pack. The torque converter and solenoid were not too tough, but getting the older pump out of the recipient vehicle was a bear (had to buy a tool on ebay to attach to a slide hammer, which worked great).

Used the Transgo kit to replace the pump flow valve, and the white plastic ring tool in it to center the stator (?) upon re-assembly.

The truck is back together now and shifts wonderfully (even with 179k miles)--once I figured out how to get enough Mercon V into the trans.

While I'm glad to have replaced the filter, wiped off the grey shavings from the magnet, removed more of the fluid, and gotten the solenoids swapped--I'm not sure a pan drop is really worth the trouble if all you're really trying to achieve is to renew the fluid. The OEM filters are quite good; even at 179k miles it looked like it was holding up fine. And though I did not do it, I suspect that you could fish a tube down into the well of the pan through the drain plug to get the extra quart or so of fluid out without a pan drop (which is a hassle).

Now that I've been through this, I'll probably drain 3+ quarts from the pan and replace with fresh Mercon V every 30k miles or so to keep the fluid somewhat renewed going forward.
 






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