5r55e valve body replacement & questions.

[Xplorer82]

Ok, this is gonna be a drawn out process for the next couple weeks probably(hopefully only one week, but we'll see), just want to start a thread for any questions I might have along the way.

Ok little back ground, driving home one night, O/D light starts flashing and I lose 5th. Get it home and check the fluid, gray'ish black.... let it sit for a few days maybe a week and took it up to get the codes read a few minutes from my house. Paid the $40 and got my code (P0741) TCC clutch performance or something along those lines.

If anyone would like a little back history on symptoms and things I will post later.. as of right now im on my phone in the garage, have the pan dropped, filter out and I was examining the valve body while fluid drips out and I came across something that looks strange. Below is pics, missing something?

Haven't found nothing in the pan yet but 1 little sliver and a few shavings on the magnet. Have not strained fluid yet cause she's still dripping, going to do it before I drop the valve body then i'll strain what I get from dropping that. And post any findings of course. Just wanted to see if I was missing something in the photos above.

 

[Xplorer82]

Isn't there a .pdf floating around about the 5r55e? Searching around and can't find it, any help appreciated on that as well.

Thanks.

 

[drdoom]

Xplorer82, could you possibly clarify what you think you are missing?

Check my thread for a little info about P0741:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=316800

PS: You will probably need a torque converter also. Best wishes.

 

[PopRichie77]

You didn't loose 5th gear, you lost torque converter lock up. P0741 is no torque converter lockup, and can be hard to fix, and may require a rebuild as drdoom did.

 

[Xplorer82]

On the valve body at the top of first pic you see the silver "puck looking circle covers" on the left side, well it looks like the one on the right side is missing... maybe there isn't supposed to be one there?

Also found something else strange to me, will post pic in a bit.

Cut the filter open and found some slivers and shavings nothing that worries me too much.

And poprichie, the night the light flashed, I did loose 5th the whole way home. 65mph over 3k+ on the tach, never shifted. But here is a quote from the thread I made back when it first happened, talking about the no lock up as you stated which was my #1 thought, regardless lost 5th, but I understand what your saying tho..

I was thinking about driving conditions the other day and remembered that I did feel 2/3 hard'ish shutters awhile ago at different times(days/weeks/months apart) while trying to shift to 5th gear until I let off the gas.. im thinking that is what caused the gray'ish fluid (probably sheared some teeth somewhere causeing shavings)..

What I think happend is (and im no trans tech by any means, never touched one except for dropping pans to change filters)..... while trying to shift from overdrive to 5th the tcc solenoid failed(not sending signal or whatever) which didn't lock up the TC which caused my shuttering(causeing shavings and gray fluid) till I let off the gas and somehow/someway the TCC solenoid decided to work/send signal which then shifted to 5th gear... but the odd thing is, when the o/d light was tripped I had no shuttering that time, just lost 5th til I let it sit for a few days till code was read.. drove perfect to and from the shop. Been parked since so I do not cause anything further. Hoping I caught it in time..

I could be totally off with my thought, but that is the only thing I can come up with.. I had no other shifting issues other than shift flares which have been the same for years and my fluid has never been off-colored like this..

 

[Xplorer82]

Here is the other thing I found. A hole of some sort in the harness of one of the solenoids. Guessing not supposed to look like that. Not sure which solenoid right now as im still in garage inspecting, it is a end solenoid on the 4 pack side, closest to the rear of the truck/trans.

Edited.. location of solenoid.

 

[Xplorer82]

Xplorer82, could you possibly clarify what you think you are missing?

Check my thread for a little info about P0741:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=316800

PS: You will probably need a torque converter also. Best wishes.

I see in one of ur pics yours is missing as well, ok wont worry about that one being "m.I.a.".

And thanks doom, scrolled thru that thread a few times, very informative. I don't plan on rebuilding the trans just yet, just gonna order a V.B. from Donny and bolt it up, then go from there.

 

[drdoom]

I believe that one bore on the VB is supposed to be like that, IIRC that is the thermostat. I am now curious about the close-ups of the harness, wondering if that is the trans fluid temp sensor.

And in my opinion, the slivers you see are pieces of your torque converter...probably the size of a child's fingernail clippings. No disrespect intended, but I believe that is cause for concern. Best wishes.

 

[Xplorer82]

No disrespect taken man. The trans has 240k on it. I wouldn't put it past being slivers of the TC, with the few shutters I've had, wouldn't hesitate to agree. I have some pics of the pieces, will post in a bit, nothing too big that scares me, just little slivers, no chunks or anything.

Im wondering about the harness as well. Gonna look into it when I get in the house and clean up.

 

[Xplorer82]

Here is a pic of what I found in the filter. There are some "clumps" that look big'ish on my phone but its just little shavings clumped up, I moved them around gently and noticed that after I saw on phone

 

[PopRichie77]

drdoom is correct there is no aluminum plug in that bore and that is the temperature sensor in the EPC solenoid connector.

 

[Xplorer82]

drdoom is correct there is no aluminum plug in that bore and that is the temperature sensor in the EPC solenoid connector.

Awesome, thanks for the info, much appreciated.

 

[Xplorer82]

Do I need a special gauge/tool or anything for when I put the low/rev sero back in? Or just put the plate and new gasket on and tighten her down(to torque specs, and yes a torque wrench, of course)

 

[PopRichie77]

You don't need anything, just put it back in, and torque, be sure the seals are good if you didn't replace them.

 

[BK_89iX]

No special tools needed. With new O-rings it'll be a tighter fit. With D-rings it'll be super tight. Make sure you get it aligned and engaged with the band/tip. I used D-rings and chilled it in the freezer overnight to shrink a little, and lubed with vaseline. Follow the torque spec and also the tightening order.

BK

 

[Xplorer82]

Thanks guys. Yes getting new rings and a gasket. Probably the D-rings.

BK, when you say "get it aligned", do I just spin it till it pops in place(and do I push it in ALL the way to get it aligned)? Should I have made some kind of alignment marks before it was pulled?

Thanks for the help guys, someone emailed me the manual but I can't use it right now cause my desktop is messed up, never ends.

 

[BK_89iX]

Just pop it in place. Don't over think it. My only point was that it might be a tight fit and it does have very close tolerences, so don't go crazy on it if it gets hung up a bit. It does literally pop in if you wiggle it a little. The cover screws might be needed to draw it into place the last little bit. No marks needed. Don't sweat it. I don't even think the manual goes over any detail on the topic.

BK

 

[Xplorer82]

Thanks BK. I do tend to over-think things quite a bit, especially when its my first time doing it. Guess that is a good thing in a way.

Well anyway, thanks again man. Appreciated.

 

[BK_89iX]

Thanks BK. I do tend to over-think things quite a bit, especially when its my first time doing it. Guess that is a good thing in a way.

Well anyway, thanks again man. Appreciated.

I'm the same way. A careful, methodical and well-informed approach to new procedures usually pays dividends. Got my advanced degree from the School of Hard Knocks! Keep us posted on your progress.

BK

 

[Xplorer82]

Ok, putting everything back together to do a top off and flush before I drop a rebuilt valve body in. I know I should have done that in the first place but I wanted to drop the pan and get as much old fluid out as possible (got 6qts. Just dropping pan w/truck on ramps/inclined)..

now what I plan on doing is put a new filter on and replace the 6qts, then flush using the trans cooler line to get what I can out of the converter, lines, ect.. also got a can of kooler kleen for the cooler. After that is done, drop/replace valve body, low/rev servo rings, new filter and new fluid... (Sound good?, just don't want to contaminate new valve body w/what is left in converter/lines/cooler)

In replacing the valve body harnesses I ran across 2 solenoids that have quite a bit of play in them, I uploaded a video of that. Let me know what u think, problem or common for them to have play like that?

http://s577.photobucket.com/albums/...ew&current=photobucket-4269-1339083213721.mp4