'03 XLT: transmission noise and hesitation

[75ohm]

Hello all, new member here, first post, great forum!

On the '03 Explorer XLT 4.0 2WD 125K miles, original transmission.

History:

Have had this vehicle since new; however, it was a company vehicle and I purchased it outright. I have been the only driver since new and have had all the services performed at the regular service intervals, including transmission fluid/filter replacement 28K miles ago.

I've read 20+ posts on a "transmission slip" search and have learned a lot about this transmission and its pitfalls and troubles -- most not encouraging, unfortunately!

Issues:

Problem 1: hearing a "rattling" noise when putting in drive. Most prominent when next to something, of course, so you can hear it more profoundly.

Problem 2: at 35MPH the vehicle feels like it is "pulsing" as I'm steady at that speed.

Other than that, it still runs well and has no issue under any driving condition except it seems to take a moment to slide into second coming off a stop. Does fine with a little more spirited acceleration.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks!
75ohm.

 

[75ohm]

No thoughts?

 

[mranderson214]

75ohm,

I am having the same problem as you. except i have a 2002 explorer. i get like a grinding sound when sometimes when the vehicle is in Park. When i shift into Drive and go at a constant speed, the grinding sound is there. and when I go 35-40 MPH, i get the hesitation and it sounds like something is dragging behind me -__-

...i'm sure someone on this forum knows something about this problem.

 

[75ohm]

Agreed, will wait for the experts to chime in!

Also, one thing I didn't note...

I find it unusual how much the vehicle will roll back after I park it in my slightly inclined driveway... it's unnerving to me. Drive in, put in park, turn off the engine, take foot off the brake, rolls back and "clunk"... weird.

 

[Dwelves02XLT]

Agreed, will wait for the experts to chime in!

Also, one thing I didn't note...

I find it unusual how much the vehicle will roll back after I park it in my slightly inclined driveway... it's unnerving to me. Drive in, put in park, turn off the engine, take foot off the brake, rolls back and "clunk"... weird.

My 02' shifts pretty hard from 2nd to 3rd gear, but aside from that no serious issues. What you state above happened to mine also, so one thing I started doing to prevent putting futher more stress on the tranny is apply parking brake before putting vehicle in park. Since doing that, it doesn't roll what so ever, I figure its cheaper to replace brakes than a transmission. Being in the Air Force and working on the flightline, were trainned to use parking brakes on all vehicles when parking near aircraft so its sort of a force of habit for me. Just food for thought if it helps any.

 

[75ohm]

My 02' shifts pretty hard from 2nd to 3rd gear, but aside from that no serious issues. What you state above happened to mine also, so one thing I started doing to prevent putting futher more stress on the tranny is apply parking brake before putting vehicle in park. Since doing that, it doesn't roll what so ever, I figure its cheaper to replace brakes than a transmission. Being in the Air Force and working on the flightline, were trainned to use parking brakes on all vehicles when parking near aircraft so its sort of a force of habit for me. Just food for thought if it helps any.

Not a bad suggestion at all, thanks!

 

[75ohm]

Well that was fun... severely worn planetary gear and bearings; rebuilt with new torque converter... good shape, now the rest of the vehicle is falling apart.

 

[speedracer g37]

how much?