'02 Mountaineer Won't Go into Gear

[jamminonthe1]

I have an '02 Mountaineer 4.0 AWD. My transfer case went out a couple of weeks ago. I took it to a mechanic and ended up having to replace the transfer case, front end, and rear end. After having the repairs done, the truck was driving fine for three days. On the third day, the truck took a long time to go into gear but eventually drove fine. The next day it would not go into gear at all. It goes into park and neutral. I checked to make sure the shift cable was connected. The truck has 110,000 mi and the transmission never slipped while driving. The mechanic is saying it needs a transmission but I don't think he looked at it much. Could it have been a bad transfer case that went in? Is there anything else that I should check?

 

[boominXplorer]

Have you checked fluid level when running? It has to be done from the bottom.

 

[Pardue]

Did you find a solution? My truck's transmission just quit working without any warning. I've started the process of elimination, but I haven't found my issue yet. I'll post the steps I've taken to gather more data, along with my findings. Maybe my process will be helpful to you.

1. I listened for an audible shift when attempting to engage in a gear.
I could hear movement while engaging Drive, 2nd, and 3rd.
Complete silence during Reverse, and 1st.

• Conclusion: Shift Linkage is Intact, and functioning properly.

2. When a gear is selected my engine rev's freely.

• Conclusion: Throttle Body Attachment/ Drive by Wire is functioning properly.

3. Engine will only crank when engaged in Park or Neutral

• Conclusion: Neutral Safety/ Transmission Range Switch is functioning properly.

I'll keep digging tomorrow, but I'd love to know if you suggestions.

 

[Joe in NY]

drop into manual 1. This bypasses the electrical function of the transmission. If still no engagement check fluid level.

 

[Pardue]

drop into manual 1. This bypasses the electrical function of the transmission. If still no engagement check fluid level.

Unfortunately regardless of the gear selected the transmission isn't engaging. I inspected the fluid today, and it was about 1 1/2 qt low, thats likely not terribly accurate since I had trouble getting the temps up to the ideal range. After idling for roughly 30 minutes I was still only at 73degrees according to my heat gun. It didn't help that the high of the day was 11 degrees Fahrenheit.

Following the fill up I still have no engagement, but I did find that the back flow fluid I captured during the fill was surprisingly dark for fluid that was supposedly recently changed. I did not find any metal debris during examination. So I'm back at the drawing board for the time being.

I don't mind so much if my end reason is having to replace the transmission, as i'll just grab one from my local salvage yard, but I despise the concept of swapping parts with out a confident diagnosis .