Solved Trans Died - TC seems to be the culprit

[01STrunner]

Well I got the flashing OD Off flashing light of death last week. Pulled codes with my code reader and it said it was the torque converter or TC solenoid (can't remember the code #). I did a trans flush on Saturday and made a world of difference in the shifts. It was shifting smooth and quick, a lot better than before I even had problems. Then I got out of the town limits and noticed the TC wouldn't lock up and the light started blinking again. Needless to say I was screaming down the road only doing 50mph.

This is the 2nd time I've had a trans problem in the truck. The first was about 5 years ago when I had a shift flare from 2-3. I was able to get a whole reman trans from Jasper. About 45k miles later and this one is calling it quits.

I don't have the money to get another transmission and would rather try to fix this myself anyway if for nothing else than to gain a little more knowledge about auto transmissions.

I found a torque converter on RockAuto for less than $150 but haven't looked into the price of a solenoid. Has anyone ever worked on these 5R55e transmissions? How hard is it to replace the TC? What things do I need to be careful of when opening it up? Whats a good price for a shop to fix this?

Sorry for the long post but thanks guys.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Man that sucks. That's why I said screw it and just going with the complete '89 F-250 drivetrain swap. I knew I'd deal with the weak transmission again especially running 37's if I chose to fix this one.

As far as changing the TC it's pretty simple to do that, the hardest part is dropping the trans or moving it back far enough to swap it out. Not sure on prices for shops.

I think a lot of us with 33''s or bigger are having trans problems because the stock tire diameter is only 29". To help prevent this from happening to other members I strongly suggest regearing your axles to compensate for the tire diameter differences. Not only are you turning larger tires but also heavier wheels and tires in most cases putting more strain on the trans and motor. Or you could get the trans retuned to change the shift points to help.

STrunner, hopefully you can get it fixed cheap. Don't want to see another ST go due to trans issues, we've lost a lot of members and buddy's from this board and others form this. I'll look around for trans, and see how much shops charge but it'll be different prices down there.

 

[01STrunner]

Appreciate the help man. Part of me wants to put it all on hold for a while until I can find a 302 with a manual trans but at the same time I don't want to wait to be able to drive this. My buddy has been driving it for the last month since a lady decided to run a red light and put his truck out of commission so I've really been missing the rig.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Awe man, he wasn't hot ridding it, was he? Not saying he torched it but you never know.

 

[01STrunner]

No it wasn't 100% before he took it, kinda shifted hard from drive to reverse. I think that was due to burnt fluid on my part.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Oh ok.

 

[OffTrac]

Sucks. You seem to get things done pretty quickly, though, so I'll check back tomorrow to see your post about how you solved this.

 

[upther]

When I went through my trans issues over the summer, I got a quote of about $330 to replace the TC solenoid, filter, gasket, and replace the fluids. I got charged $720 to replace the actual torque converter. Most of that is for labor to drain and slide back the trans.

Aamco told me that a basic trans rebuild starts at $1800 and a complete rebuild is about $2400.

Good luck!

 

[01STrunner]

Thanks Upther! Was that a local shop you went through or Aamco for the solenoid and TC change?

It looks like I might try to do this myself. Maybe I can save some money that way plus learn a few things. Just not sure if there's some specific way the TC has to go in like if you regear an axle with backlash, etc where I would end up messing something up even more.

Looking back I really wish I hadn't welded my new transmission crossmember onto the frame... Who knew a new transmission would die so quickly.

 

[01STrunner]

Sucks. You seem to get things done pretty quickly, though, so I'll check back tomorrow to see your post about how you solved this.

Haha I wish. It looks like this might take a while. I have to tow my parents boat back to VA to be stored over the winter so sadly the ST has to sit in SC while I'm on break. Which also means I'm missing out on doing this in a garage with a propane space heater and lots of jacks and stands that would make it a lot easier.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Don't you have an offroading club at school, talk with them about helping out. One of them has to has a garage. Does your school have an auto class or any of the highschools around, could get it done for free or cost of parts.

 

[upther]

Thanks Upther! Was that a local shop you went through or Aamco for the solenoid and TC change?

It looks like I might try to do this myself. Maybe I can save some money that way plus learn a few things. Just not sure if there's some specific way the TC has to go in like if you regear an axle with backlash, etc where I would end up messing something up even more.

Looking back I really wish I hadn't welded my new transmission crossmember onto the frame... Who knew a new transmission would die so quickly.

It was a local shop I went to. If it's just the TC solenoid, you should be able to do that yourself. I was going to do it myself but they shop I took it to had a known good solenoid that he swapped out in a quarter of the time it would have taken me to do it. Turned out to be the actual torque converter, among many other things.

 

[01STrunner]

Don't you have an offroading club at school, talk with them about helping out. One of them has to has a garage. Does your school have an auto class or any of the highschools around, could get it done for free or cost of parts.

Sadly all the older guys have graduated and none of us have been lucky to get a house with a garage. No on the auto classes either. That would be sweet if they did and that's a good idea. I know a couple people in the Ag. Mech. major that could have a class that it might translate to but it's a long shot.

 

[01STrunner]

Ok so I didn't quite remember the code correctly. I just went out and pulled codes again and took a picture of what came up (P0741). Looks like it might just be a solenoid issue!

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Hopefully that's it. Reasonably cheap and easy to fix.

 

[upther]

Good luck! That's the exact code mine was throwing and it ended up being so much more than that. Hopefully you have better luck than I did.

 

[01STrunner]

Good luck! That's the exact code mine was throwing and it ended up being so much more than that. Hopefully you have better luck than I did.

You're killin me! Haha. So what else did it end up being?

 

[upther]

Solenoid was fine. That 3 week stay at the shop lead to the torque converter, valve body, valve body plate, computer, radiator, condenser, trans cooler, and trans dip stick tube all being replaced. Also got some band adjustments.

To make you feel better though, the mechanic and I are pretty sure that my Trac was a Katrina vehicle or had been in some sort of other flood. It definitely sat in water for a bit and the transmission had been apart previously. I think you'll have much better luck than I did.

 

[boominXplorer]

Does the fluid smell burnt? Any fluid come out the vent tube? If not I would definitely drop the pan, swap the tcc solonoid and re torque the valve body bolts and see what happens before I would pull the trans.

 

[01STrunner]

It was burnt before I flushed the system last week. It got over heated (~225)when I broke an axle shaft in a very inconvenient place on a trail and the winch I was hooked to didn't have quite enough juice to pull the heavy ST up the cliff I was stuck on.

Now the fluid looks and smells fine, but after working in Bosch's trans control department I can see how heat would fry one of the solenoids.