5R55S to rebuild or not

[Krater]

Hello all,

I have a 04 Ford Explorer XLT which I have gathered has a 5R55S trans. The other day I lost 2nd gear. About 4 years ago I replaced the solenoid pack due to harsh rev. shift. Anyway that fixed that problem then, now I'm faced with this new one. I have pulled the trans. and tore down. First the pan had allot of grey sluggish metal in it but no brass that I can see. The grey crap is all over throughout the trans. and I'm not exactly sure where it came from as the frictions and bands all look good. The forward planet also appears good. So could all this grey metal be coming from the torque converter? This is the first auto trans. I ever dove into so I'm gonna need some advise. I'm not opposed to rebuilding myself as I am mechanically inclined and the truck owes me nothing, so I can stick a little money in it just as a secondary vehicle. Need to know what to look at specifically for wear so that I may make a decision on weather to rebuild this one or get another one to rebuild.

Thanks in advance for any help that the forum may be able to provide.

 

[transman304]

Can you post some pictures? May help determine what’s going on.

 

[Krater]

Sure, are there any photos in particular you would like to see? I have washed some parts, but not pan. I was also thinking about trying to separate the filter to see what's in there. There was one thing I found interesting. I think what is the forward planet gears seam to be "sharp", and there appears to be a nick in all the gears, on one side, however they are not notably broke. I doubt a camera will pick up on it as the're so small. I try to get pics of all this tonight.

Also I have the ATSG rebuild man. for this and the tag in the book is different from the tag on my trans. Is that something to be concerned about?

To let you guys know where I'm at, here's what I am thinking about as far as a rebuild goes: New frictions/steels, New bands, servo bore update, seal kit, torque converter, shift kit(already done 4 years ago but may do again), line pressure valve update, lip seals and molded forward piston, new bushing kit, thoroughly clean and ohm test the solenoid pack, cleaning the bushings also and reuse if ok(replaced 4 yrs ago already). I am not sure about bearings and the Servos look good(not cracked anyway). Bearing kit is ok, but I just don't see guys replacing them on the www so it make me wonder if it's necessary if there still good.

Anyway I'll get some photos up later.

Thanks

 

[Krater]

Here are some pics of my concerns.

 

[imp]

Hello all,

I have a 04 Ford Explorer XLT which I have gathered has a 5R55S trans. The other day I lost 2nd gear. About 4 years ago I replaced the solenoid pack due to harsh rev. shift. Anyway that fixed that problem then, now I'm faced with this new one. I have pulled the trans. and tore down. First the pan had allot of grey sluggish metal in it but no brass that I can see. The grey crap is all over throughout the trans. and I'm not exactly sure where it came from as the frictions and bands all look good. The forward planet also appears good. So could all this grey metal be coming from the torque converter? This is the first auto trans. I ever dove into so I'm gonna need some advise. I'm not opposed to rebuilding myself as I am mechanically inclined and the truck owes me nothing, so I can stick a little money in it just as a secondary vehicle. Need to know what to look at specifically for wear so that I may make a decision on weather to rebuild this one or get another one to rebuild.

Thanks in advance for any help that the forum may be able to provide.

@Krater
IMO, if you get another trans to rebuild, you have no assurance it is not in worse condition than yours. Not certain, but see no reason why the torque converter clutch could not generate debris. At any rate, Ford will not sell a reman trans without a reman TC replacement also. Get yourself one of the rebuild manuals so you will have the important specs on axial clearances controlled by a variety of thickness shims and washers.

This is the one I use:

See: ATSG Search results for: '5r55s'

 

[Krater]

imp,
Thanks for the reply, You mentioned exactly what I am afraid of. Another yard trans could be worse than mine, so I really wanted to stick with what I know, and that is only how mine acted when I pulled it. And that was that I lost 2nd and had a noise that sounded like I was sanding something. My wife drove this maybe 15 mi to get home, that's when I parked it and began the pull.
I struggle with the question, would a failing TC alone make me lose 2nd? Probably lost other gears also but didn't try to get it there so I don't know.

Drum's to me don't look burnt and the bands don't look chipped or particularly worn in a irregular fashion, so at least I think these parts may be good, however I'm changing the bands anyway. I'm concerned about the sun shell gear as indicted by the pick in the photo. There are tiny nicks around the entire gear. Can also see them on the forward planet assembly.

I have the ATSG rebuild book already, but as good as it is, it doesn't really go into detail about what wear to look for.

I'd seen guys on tube actually diagnose just by the material in the pan and visually inspection. My prob. is differentiating between friction material, TC material and metal from other parts. Obviously there are only a few brass parts. so with exception to the bushings I think I can deduce that all my brass is ok.

 

[transman304]

Can you get a picture of the front planet showing the side that goes over the sun gear? The best I can tell from the pictures of the marks you are pointing at are ID marks. They will be on every tooth in the same spot entirely around. Some will have one line and some have 2 lines others none. Just marks made in manufacturing to identify the machinery used in making it. To keep tolerance in check between different equipment.

 

[Krater]

Hope this is what you need, not real good pics to see anything.

 

[transman304]

Good picture, wanted to see if thrust bearing was intact. I would look at the pump cover and gears close for wear as when a converter fails this is the part that acts like a garbage can. If you don’t have or know where to get the cooler flushed you will need to bypass and run external cooler. I’ve had customers bring me in their radiator with the carry in build just to flush the cooler. Or just buy new radiator. Good luck
Brad

 

[Krater]

I've read that about the pump getting trashed when the TC fails. I rebuilt some hydraulic pumps on a mower a couple times and was told then to look for scratch on the gears and where the gears actually rides, and if they were scratched then the pump was toast as there wasn't a real way to reman them. I suppose that's the same with this. I actually have looked at the pump, but not good enough to call it good yet, but I'll keep that in mind. I seen on the net about can's of cooler flush, will they do the job or is it more of a don't waste money on them and just get it professionally done. There are few trans. mechanics around that I know of and in fact one said he would do the servo bore update for $80 so I may check in with him about the flush.

 

[Krater]

Oh yea, not that one is creditably better that another, but with all the differing rebuild kits out there, is there any one that you would recommend? I'm looking for a kit that has all the frictions,steels, seals(paper/rubber), bands, bushings,bearings. But I'm not finding one that offers all this. Seems like I can get most except for bushings and bearings which I guess I can order separately if I had to. Also I will need the shift kit with updated line pressure relief valve.

 

[transman304]

With the kind of contamination from the pictures I would not trust cooler flush to get that out. My preference on kits is a Transtec overhaul with Raybestos frictions and steels. Borg Warner bands all 3. Bushing kit or each separate. Just be aware of poor quality bushings being sold. When buying any transmission parts don’t shop for the cheapest prices. Also Superior Products make a great line pressure relief valve. I also only use OEM servo pistons. These are just what I have used over the years with good results. There certainly are other great products out there. I also disable the thermostat valve for cooler flow so it’s always open. Good luck
Brad

 

[Krater]

Thanks for the info. I start my shopping list.

 

[Krater]

ok, finally got the cash together to start the rebuild. Now I have a question regarding the coast clutch assembly. On pg 44 there is a diagram of the lip seals, I swear that my originals were installed opposite of the diagram. Can someone verify if the the book is correct?

 

[transman304]

 

[Krater]

Great, your diagram and the ATSG book show the same configuration.
While cleaning parts I think I found a possible problem, no a problem. The oil pump stator shaft near the splines is chewed up pretty good. Even had a small piece of metal almost welded to the smooth part near the splines. So i'm getting more confident that the TC is bad. I had bushing installed into the servo bores, just in case that was an issue for good measure.

Thanks allot for the diagram.

 

[Krater]

I know I'm digging my old post, but I just now finally got the tranny rebuilt. Took it out for a test drive and found it shifted oddly, but had all gears. Thought there I go being cheap for not replacing the solenoid pack so I ordered a new one a installed it. Since it was on the ramps I don't now how much forward it had but it had NO Rev. I could tell it engaged in D,1,2,3 but again I couldn't tell how much forward torque it had.
Dropped the pan and Rev. servo to see it I had something wrong there, Put back together with same. Dropped pan and VB to check out if there was a stuck valve, everything seemed fine, except when I put it back together I lost all gears. I did notice the connector seemed broke but did fell like it connected. How common is the connector being bad cause all these problems. Also had something like 16 P codes. After clearing a few time it dropped down to a consistent 8 P codes which all pointed to solenoid issues.

Any Ideas?

 

[Krater]

Ok so I unhooked battery again, crossed terminals to clear PCM. Rolled it back off the ramps and started engine. It had enough forward in D to pull it back up on the ramps but still no Rev. Code set now are
P743 TCC Solenoid circuit Electrical
P760 Shift Solenoid C.
P962 Pressure control Solenoid A Control Circuit Low
P970 Pressure control Solenoid C Control Circuit Low

 

[transman304]

The external plug is known for giving issues, did the bolt tighten down? May want to take it back off and check for broken or damaged pins. The transmission is designed to have reverse with out any input from PCM. Reverse is strictly a hydraulic circuit. The only time I have had something like what you described was the MLPS switch was bad. Could be out of adjustment also. You need to get a line pressure reading before much more or you could be chasing your tail in diagnosing.
Good luck
Brad

 

[Krater]

The bolt seemed to dig down into the plastic, to the point there was no head left to grab onto with a wrench. Weird thing is that when I took the first test drive it had reverse and all other gears, although it flared and shifted funny, that's what lead me to believe the original solenoid module probably got toasted due to contamination in the oil. TC I believe went out. After I cleared PCM, and it cooled down a bit it seemed to have the forward gears.