1991 Explorer Won't Shift into OD | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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1991 Explorer Won't Shift into OD

PricklyPear

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June 24, 2018
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Year, Model & Trim Level
1991 explorer sport
Last Wednesday, our daily driver Explorer stopped shifting into OD like usual. Normally, it runs at about 1500 RPM at 60 MPH but it was suddenly running at 3000 RPM at 60 MPH. Stopped right away & checked the fluid & it was full, no smell or anything like that. It seemed that overdrive was simply no longer there as shifting between 3rd & OD made no difference to the sound of the engine or RPM. Since then, I've changed the MAF sensor, the speed sensor, the shift solenoid, the modulator valve, the OD servo, the chip in the dash, and changed the fluid & filter in the transmission, all to no avail. I tightened the bands. Fluid looked good & there was no metal or anything in the pan. Took it to a shop & put it on a code reader and it output no codes at all. I'm officially baffled. Any help would be appreciated.
 



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Sounds like you need a professional who can test the fluid pressures and diagnose the problem. Otherwise someone will just tell you "It needs a rebuild" and forget any attempt to find the problem and then when the rebuild doesn't fix it it will be "We found other things wrong so it ended up costing you more" so they get a rebuild out of you and do the diagnostic work to fix the problem afterward.
 












Had the same problem. I replaced the 3-4 solenoid and did a band adjustment. I read info on here about how to do it. I didn't try to see if it worked after just replacing the solenoid. I should have so I'd know if that worked by itself. I did the band adjustment at the same time.I don't know if I just did the band adjustment first without replacing the solenoid if that might have worked by itself. Doing the 2 things I got the OD to work again for about 8 months. Then it started not engaging again. was able to re-adjust the band got it to work for a few months more then it would stop working again. I think you can get it it to work with a band adjustment for a while. But I just finally had my Transmission rebuilt last week. I haven't put it back in yet going to do it tomorrow.
 






Welcome to this forum! How many miles are on it? Is it the original transmission?
Thanks for the reply! It is the original transmission. Not positive how many miles are on it as I replaced the dash many miles ago, but I would say 200K wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. I think I'm going to save my pennies and buy a new transmission and have it installed. Talked to several transmission specialists and they are all talking like the rebuild would be near $1,000 and a new transmission is not much more than that. Figure I might as well.
 






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