Solved 5R55E - No First Gear Problem

[mbryda]

Hello All!
Just got my truck back Friday from the dealer and I thought I'd post the part #'s of the revised transmission gaskets for those who have problems with the 5R55E not staying in first gear when the selector is placed in the 1 position.

F5TZ-7C155-A Gasket - Trans Vlv Body Sep Plt
D4ZZ-7L173-A Gasket Trans Rev Srvo Sep Plt
F5TZ-7A191-A Gasket Asy Trans Oil Pan

Also, the Cause on my invoice lists this:
Verified Concern, diagnosed. Removed pan, Valve Body and Low, Reverse servo. Replaced gaskets and reinstalled all components. Test Drove.

Hope this helps any and all with a similar problem. Now dropping the truck into 1 will shift into 1st at about 20 MPH and stay there!!!! YAY!!!!

Please check your transmission's operation of the 1 position, as this is a very important safety issue.

-Matt

 

[David Pratt]

Thanks Matt. I made a copy of the parts list you gave everyboby.My wife is going to take our sporttrac in this month for that very same problem.How long did the dealer have your explorer to make the repairs? Thanks again for the Info!

 

[GJarrett]

Thanks for all of your help. I'll be turning mine in in a week or two.

This is beginning to sound like a very common problem that most people never notice because they do not use engine braking in first gear in normal situations. Is anyone aware of an extended warranty or special TSB issued on this problem?

 

[slow-demon]

In fact I have repaired a few of these already. What happens is either the servo cover gskts leaks or the valve body gasket leaks. I have been replacing both gaskets. the low reverse servo isn't engaging the band for engine braking. No tsb yet but I bet there will be one coming out.

 

[mbryda]

Interesting...

Sorry I didn't get back to you all sooner...

Interesting what's going on here. Did they get a batch of bad gaskets or what? Anyway, now the truck will shift into 1 but there is a lengthly pause as the trans figures out how to get it into 1st. Then it just slides in there, a REAL soft shift. Definately different than other auto transmissions, but I guess I can't complain as at least it works. My guess is that Ford wanted to avoid a sudden shift into 1st to prevent a possible loss of control?

-Matt

 

[mbryda]

Whoops.

I'm guessing for the transmission it will takethe dealer about a day to fix the truck. On mine they also had to replace a bad oil pressure switch. They had to order the gaskets so that may make it longer.

-Matt

 

[GJarrett]

Question for tranny guys

Mine's out of warranty and I'm outta money. How easy would this job be to do myself? I've never opened an auto tranny in my life but I can turn any wrench I've ever gotten my hands on. Would this require special tools or involve some other circumstance that would tell me it's best left to the Ford dealership?

 

[SteveVB]

tranny guy- no ... but

Im no tranny guy- hell Im no mechanic, but I can turn a wrench. If it is a matter of removing the valve body and replacing the gaskets then you shoulkd be able to do it. Just keep everything really clean, label the electrical connections , etc. I dont think there is anything special you need to do to remove the VB. Now if you were to replace tghe pump or something more, I think then you need some alignment fixtures, but for the valve body shouldnt be to difficult- probably take a couple of hours, and most of that will be dealing with the ATF and the mess when you remove the pan.

Good luck

 

[Makita Man]

Matt,

The Ford Service Dept. in Chico was glad to get the Info on the gaskets that took care of the 1st gear problem. I was the first to come in for the repair they said. In addition to the three gaskets listed in your first update they also replaced a gasket with the part #F5TZ-7D100-B Gasket-Trans V

They wrote: INSPECTED FOR CONCERN, CHECKED FOR CODES, FOUND TSB, REMOVED PAN AND FOUND GASKET BLOWN OUT AS OUTLINED IN TSB, SEPERATOR INSTALLED INTO PARTS WASHER, JET SPRAY TO LOOSEN GASKETS, CLEANED AND REASSEMBLED, REFILLED, ROAD TESTED, OPERAION NORMAL AFTER ROAD TEST.

It worked just like it did when first bought as soon as I pulled it into 1st after pulling out of their driveway.

Thanks Again !!

 

[GJarrett]

Originally posted by Makita Man
INSPECTED FOR CONCERN, CHECKED FOR CODES, FOUND TSB....,

Is there a TSB on this now? Please tell me yes. I paid to have it done.

Makita Man, I would GREATLY appreciate it if you could have your service guy identify the TSB so I can get a refund.

Thanks!!!

 

[Makita Man]

I don't know what "identify the TSB" means but I will be going back to Chico in the next week or so and ask the service advisor just that. He did say he was under the vehicle and saw where the gasket was blown out. I was under warranty and the bill was stamped WARRANTY and $ 0.00 where the price would have been. I guess all TSB's have a certain number or some code name for each one ?? .......................as I keep reading the invoice I see in a comments box: C# 91751 and that is not my customer number so maybe that's what you are looking for !!

 

[GJarrett]

Originally posted by Makita Man
I don't know what "identify the TSB" means but I will be going back to Chico in the next week or so and ask the service advisor just that. .....as I keep reading the invoice I see in a comments box: C# 91751 and that is not my customer number so maybe that's what you are looking for !!

Thanks for your help. I'll wait and see what you find out from your service guy. I have 50,000 miles on my '99 so it was out of warranty and I had to eat the cost.

 

[mbryda]

Originally posted by Makita Man
Matt,

The Ford Service Dept. in Chico was glad to get the Info on the gaskets that took care of the 1st gear problem. I was the first to come in for the repair they said. In addition to the three gaskets listed in your first update they also replaced a gasket with the part #F5TZ-7D100-B Gasket-Trans V

It worked just like it did when first bought as soon as I pulled it into 1st after pulling out of their driveway.

Thanks Again !!

Just one question - when you put the truck in 1st at, say 25MPH does it just go into first or is there a little pause and then it slowly goes in there? Mine is now holding in 1st, but it will stop a sec, shift into what seems like Neutral and then slowly slip into 1st. I'm guessing this is normal, as they are trying to prevent you from loosing control. But, I want to make sure.

-Matt

 

[Makita Man]

Smooth Downshift

Hi Matt,

Since I don't drive the Explorer everyday it took a while to answer your questions about how it downshifts now. No matter how or when or at what speed I shift to low manually, the downshift is smooth. No matter if I hit 2nd first or go straight to Low it catches as high as 45 MPH and has that slight pause then the tach climbs slowly higher and makes a nice easy grab into low. I would even say it has that 1 sec pause you mentioned. Hope this helps and thanks again for pointing this out so I could get it fixed. The 4 mile drop into the Middle Fork of the Feather River is a low range, first gear kind of area where the hold back is needed.

 

[Jefe]

Bringing this thread back alive since it was mentioned in another thread.

Is there a TSB out there for this? I just now found this thread and have the same symptoms stated here, and, believe it or not, just went out of warranty a week ago.

 

[lonewolf]

So is there a TSB number out yet? I havent gotten to the dealer to fix the problem with my first gear yet.

I know that GoOffRoad (Wade from Utah) said he thought there was a TSB, but I havent seen anything from him yet (unless I've been looking in the wrong place).

Since CCR I have been trying to get things wrapped up at my old job and preparing to look for new employment. So far I have been spending this last week getting my home computer up and configured to work from home to do a couple of free lance projects for a former collegue and to be able to email/fax out reseumes.

Hopefully I can get the truck in to the shop soon.

 

[Roland]

I had another thread going but this seems like the place to update:

Had no engine braking in first gear. I had bought the 98 X from a Dodge dealership and had taken out 24x24 Chrysler extended warrantee.

They told me to take it to any Ford dealership for warrantee work, which I did.

Ford dealership technician said he had never encountered before, there was no TSB on it, Trans. diag found no DTCS. Went with technician and service manager for road test.

To make a long story short, Ford technician confirmed problem. Chrysler said replace tranny with a remanufactured unit with a new 24 month Ford Warrantee. This was done at a cost of $1985.00 for reman. tranny and $800.00 labor.

While there Ford took care of other problems they found covered by warrantee. for a total cost of $3400.00. It cost me out of pocket ( deduct. ) $100.00 with Chrysler picking up the other $3300.00 .

Engine braking in first gear, transfer case in auto, high or low range now works great.

To change range of transfer case into or out of low range. Make sure you have the transmission in neutral ( not park ) with the brake pedal depressed. It works great for me this way, any other combination is a mess, if it works at all.

Chrysler was great with no hassle, told me if I ever had another problem to take it to any Ford dealership in the US or Canada. That their extended warrantee was good at any authorized service center.

 

[mmpc]

Well, I had my 1st gear issue fixed today. Here's the scoop as it was told to me by the service guy. #1) There is no TSB for this problem, yet, but he said service centers are well aware of it. Indeed, they had the parts on hand to fix mine and had it finished up by mid afternoon! #2) I don't yet have my receipt for the work to confirm part #'s, but I did print out many of the posts from this thread (thanks especially to Makita Man and mbryda) and brought them in with me this morning. He said the parts listed in them were correct.

Evidently the fix concerns new, heavier duty gaskets. I know mine works - hopefully won't have this problem again. Interestingly, he did say they typically see this problem more in Rangers, not Explorers... Oh well, I'm always happy to break the mold!

If you have any questions, let me know. When I get a copy of my service order, I'll confirm the parts listed and the work done. Thanks everyone!

 

[pbzmag]

This TSB(Technical Service Bulletin) is for the 1999 Explorer 2WD V6-245 4.0L SOHC vin E SFI. The number is: 99-16-10. It was issued on Aug 99. Title: A/T - Slipping Shift/Delayed or No Engagement. I found this on the ALLDATA web site. You can search all recalls and TSB's for any car. But it won't give a full detail, just a list of TSB's and recalls.

 

[Campo]

Would this problem be in relation to.. say sitting on a 5-10% incline, waiting at a stop light and the truck rolls backwards, while in drive, like it's in neutral?