Transmission problems 1997 4r55e

Glacier991 · July 25, 2003

I am correcting earlier misinfo. The Pump alignment tool for the 5R55E is NOT, repeat NOT, the same one as for the A4LD. It is quite different. The OTC/Rotunda part number is 307-431 and 432. I can post pics of both if anyone is interested.

Happy Exploring

Chris

zems · July 28, 2003

Thanks Chris for heads up on the tool. I was just getting ready to order one. Can you tell me where you can order this tool at. I agree that the transfer case has been making the noise. Can anyone tell me if a newer transfer case will bolt in and wire up without code problems. Also are the newer transfer cases better or has the problem been eliminated since there was a redesign in 1998. Anyway according to the Transtar catalog there was a redesign. I would switch to the BW 1345 manual transfer case but since it is the wife's explorer I would rather keep the control trac. Has anyone rebuilt their transfer case. Could you tell me what parts you replaced and at what cost. How has it held up and how many miles are on it since you fixed it. I believe you have JMEJAMES, please share your experiences.

Glacier991 · July 29, 2003

Try calling OTC tool at 1-800-533-5338, or if you like email me for other options.

Glacier991 · July 31, 2003

And now, delving further, it appears that up to 99 or so the A4LD alighment tool is STILL the one. It's a little confusing.... somewhere along the way the set up changed... still trying to figure out how and when..... damn. Sorry.

Confusing Exploring

Chris

Glacier991 · August 1, 2003

Ok here's what I have NOW. The 74 alignment set appears to have been used up til the 2002 model of this transmission. So if you are pre 2002, the old C-3 set is still the rage <g>. Geeze. Sorry to have confused myself and everyone else.

Confoozed Exploring

Chris

drw18 · August 1, 2003

Transmission Screwed

Hey... I had that same problem on my Transmission in my 1997 Explorer 4.0 SOHC around 85,000 miles. It died for a good a few days later. It cost me around 1900 to replace the entire setup because I kept on driving it when it was bad. It ended up chewing up the casing as well. Go get it fized

dogfriend · September 11, 2003

Originally posted by coled43
. Dogfriend posted a link to an article in Gears magizine by someone from Rockland Standard Gear about troubleshooting the control trac t-case.

Here is the thread with the link to the article:

Control Trac Problem

christiang2005 · May 7, 2004

all of you are wrong about the whole transmission thing...i had the same thing on my 1999 ford explorer 4x4 limited and it is the transfer case that is slipping a gear out and when you press the gas it pushes it back into place..you have to have to transfer case rebuilt

zems · May 10, 2004

Your right

Thanks for the reply. I didn't make it clear that that is what I figured out also. I rebuilt the transfer case and the problem went away. I cheated and did a little work to the cases and replaced a few parts to save some money. I spent about $250.00. So far at 25,000 miles it is still holding along with the transmission. I went ahead and rebuilt the transmission anyway since it had 145,000 miles on it and there was a lot of wear. Spent about $850.00 on the transmission.

ScottT80 · May 17, 2004

I had almost identical problems with my '97 sohc with 110k miles on it. I was a good ways from home and tried to drive it a little further finally managing to get it into a safe place. It seems to be stuck in 4wd low now. No lights on the dash or anything, and the 4wd switch is in the auto position, but from the feel of it its in 4wd low.

Aside from replacing the transfer case, is there any way to for the transfer case into 2wd and make it stay there? Any chance of attaching 12V to the motor, moving it to the 2wd position, then doing the switch installation procedure for the dash switch as outlined in another post in order to make it stay in 2wd? For the time being, I'm just looking for a cheap way to make the car driveable again as I won't need the 4wd for some time now. Has anyone tried this approach, or has mechanical damage already been done to the transfer case such that it won't stay in 2wd regardless? Thanks for any help and input guys.

zems said:
I have gotten some good advice from searching these forums but I haven't found a situation similiar to mine. I have a 1997 Explorer 4x4, 4.0 SOHC with the 4r55e transmission,145000 miles. The transmission has started to grind when you let off of the gas going 35mph or faster. I have noticed that the grind doesn't start until the engine rpms drop. When you let off of the gas the engine holds its rpms for a while then drops to 1000 rpms then the grind starts. If you bring the rpms back up to close to where they were, without accelerating, the grind goes away or shifting it into neutral will stop the grind noise. Also when you put it in reverse you get the same grinding noise until it goes into gear. The reverse thing only happens once in a while. Otherwise the transmission seems to shift fine through all gears and does not slip. There are no codes when I scan it. This noise started as a once in a while thing to all the time in a weeks time. I will be running a pressure test on it soon and I do have the ATSG manual. Does anyone think the valve body or its gaskets could cause the problem. A transmission shop said it was probably the overrun sprag, but I realize they are in the business of selling rebuilt transmissions. I can not afford the quoted rebuild ($2000) so I would have to do it myself. What do you guys think.
Sorry for the long post,
zems

dogfriend · May 17, 2004

ScottT80 said:
.

Aside from replacing the transfer case, is there any way to for the transfer case into 2wd and make it stay there? Any chance of attaching 12V to the motor, moving it to the 2wd position, then doing the switch installation procedure for the dash switch as outlined in another post in order to make it stay in 2wd? For the time being, I'm just looking for a cheap way to make the car driveable again as I won't need the 4wd for some time now. Has anyone tried this approach, or has mechanical damage already been done to the transfer case such that it won't stay in 2wd regardless? Thanks for any help and input guys.

You can make the transfer case go into 2wd mode by doing the "brown wire mod" on your 97 Control Trac. I don't know whether this will be successful in bypassing your problem though - if you have internal damage to the t-case it may still be undriveable, but it sounds like it would be worth a try.

brown wire mod

zems · May 18, 2004

ScottT80 said:
I had almost identical problems with my '97 sohc with 110k miles on it. I was a good ways from home and tried to drive it a little further finally managing to get it into a safe place. It seems to be stuck in 4wd low now. No lights on the dash or anything, and the 4wd switch is in the auto position, but from the feel of it its in 4wd low.

Aside from replacing the transfer case, is there any way to for the transfer case into 2wd and make it stay there? Any chance of attaching 12V to the motor, moving it to the 2wd position, then doing the switch installation procedure for the dash switch as outlined in another post in order to make it stay in 2wd? For the time being, I'm just looking for a cheap way to make the car driveable again as I won't need the 4wd for some time now. Has anyone tried this approach, or has mechanical damage already been done to the transfer case such that it won't stay in 2wd regardless? Thanks for any help and input guys.

Hi ScottT80
Was yours making the noises that I described? Did your transfer case just go into 4wd low on its own or were you switching it to 4wd low and it would not disengage? The transfer case motors are known to not be reliable after that many miles. If you did not switch it to low then there probably is internal damage. This is not a hard transfer case to rebuild and not that expensive either. Also I can tell you what I did to mine to fix the grinding noise it was making.
Zems

ScottT80 · May 21, 2004

zems said:
Hi ScottT80
Was yours making the noises that I described? Did your transfer case just go into 4wd low on its own or were you switching it to 4wd low and it would not disengage? The transfer case motors are known to not be reliable after that many miles. If you did not switch it to low then there probably is internal damage. This is not a hard transfer case to rebuild and not that expensive either. Also I can tell you what I did to mine to fix the grinding noise it was making.
Zems

Zems,

Mine is making the same noises that you described in your first post. I eventually had to put it in 4wd low in order to get it to move. How much effort and cost am I looking at to rebuild the transfer case? What did you have to do to stop the grinding noise? Any idea if doing the 'brown wire' mod would do any good at all in this situation? Once its in 2wd of course.

Thanks,
Scott

ScottT80 · May 21, 2004

Okay, I went out and cut the brown wire under the driver's seat. It still seems to be in 4wd low. Should I now try to force the motor on the transfer case to move it back into 2wd?

Thanks,
Scott

97LTD · May 21, 2004

Anyone had problems with electronic overdrive for the transmission? Well my Overdrive works fine... BUT it can't kick out of Overdrive, (downshift from OD) even I press the OD on/off switch.. The light didnt come on and tranny didnt kick out of OD. The techman says it is transmission problem other says something with switches. So any of you had that similiar problem any ideas? Thanks for the input.

cjbarron5 · May 21, 2004

yes i have rebuilt 5r55e and the 4r55e very very similar to the a4ld and not very hard

dogfriend · May 22, 2004

97LTD said:
Anyone had problems with electronic overdrive for the transmission? Well my Overdrive works fine... BUT it can't kick out of Overdrive, (downshift from OD) even I press the OD on/off switch.. The light didnt come on and tranny didnt kick out of OD. The techman says it is transmission problem other says something with switches. So any of you had that similiar problem any ideas? Thanks for the input.

Are you getting a check engine light? If so, scan for code P1780, if not check wiring from PCM to instrument panel and/or bulb in instrument panel.

97LTD · May 22, 2004

dogfriend said:
Are you getting a check engine light? If so, scan for code P1750, if not check wiring from PCM to instrument panel and/or bulb in instrument panel.

Dogfriend, There is no check engline light coming on it is fine the bulb is fine, Only the OD light does not come on at all. I will look in to that.. thanks

dogfriend · May 22, 2004

More info

zems · May 26, 2004

ScottT80,
Sorry I haven't had time to post a reply. Really all the motor on the transfer case does is select the high/low range on the 4505 transfer case. The 4 wheel drive is controlled by an electric clutch in the transfer case, like a big air conditioner clutch. You can take the motor off and see if you can change the range by turning the shaft. I have a feeling the shifting fork is broke. On mine I replaced the shifting fork, the shifting fork cam, and the range gear (the one the shifting fork moves). I also replaced the bearings. You will notice the shaft the shifting fork slides on will be loose in the case, the cases have worn where the shaft goes in. You can check this after it is apart with bearings removed. What I did to fix this was I had a machine shop install bushings in the both halfs of the cases. ID of the bushing was smaller than the OD of the shaft. The shaft was turned down on both ends to fit the bushings. This way the shaft also held the bushings in place. I can not guarantee this will work for anyone else but it is working for me. If I was you I would see if I could manually change the high/low range. If the shaft turns but you can not change the range, then it sounds like something inside is broke.
Good luck
Matt

Transmission problems 1997 4r55e

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