1996 4.0 ohv - Transmission goes out at 133,909

[snowburns]

Ok, here's the background of the situation. I haven't had any problems with this car aside from the usual wear and tear stuff (knowing that this car in general has a weak transmission, i'm not surprised this happened now). It rained all day today so the roads have been slick, I didn't have any problems whatsoever earlier today. Tonight I was out driving and I noticed a few things:

-I would come to a stop, and towards the end of the stop when i was almost not moving the car would get real jerky, I thought it was the brakes at first gripping sporadically.
-When just idling in park it would sit there and try to move, like it's trying to jump forward. Not real bad, but definitly enough to notice it.
-For most of the night I noticed that when I would accelerate, the car seemed to be struggling, like the engine would put out and rpms would climb, but the car just wasnt getting the pickup it should have.

I was on my way home, and the road goes uphill (not a steep incline by any means on the part I was on) and I slowed down as the person in front of me was turning off onto a street, and when I went to accelerate again, it moved a little and just dropped into what felt like nuetral but I never physically took it out of drive. Needless to say I couldn't move and was able to roll off onto another side street. Once I came to a stop I tried to get out of the middle of the street by putting it in 4hi, and it wouldnt move, when I put it in 4low it would only crawl and i was able to move enough so that i wasnt blocking the street. My dad was able to come get me and bring the explorer home.

Any ideas about what would have happened? Or what this would cost? First thing I'm doing in the morning is calling a few shops around town. From the information I read here it seems that I have the 4r55e. It is a 1996 4.0 OHV with the 2wd, 4 hi, and 4 low... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Brain]

Yep, that's the 4R55E...electronic solenoid vlaves control when clutches and bands get applied.

You list jerking/jumping when coming to a stop or at a stop. This makes me think that the torque converter is either 1) not filled with enough fluid to keep constant torque applied, or 2) the torque converter lockup clutch isn't engaging (more precisely disengaging) when it should.

You also listed the engine putting out RPMs/power but the tranny not getting that power to the wheels. There are a few things that can cause this. The first thing you need to do (even before calling a tranny shop) is check the fluid level when it is running in park on a flat surface (dipstick enters the front right side of the tranny pan). After you have made ABSOLUTELY SURE that you have the right amount of fluid in there, a stall test will tell you quite a bit about what is slipping.

To do a stall test, get into 2-wheel drive, put the parking brake on, pump the brakes and then hold them (hard), put it into gear and step on the gas (wide open throttle). The engine should stop accelerating around 2000-2500 RPM (in any gear). If it goes higher than that, get off the gas. Put the shifter in neutral and let it idle for about 30 seconds or a minute (to cool off). The speed that the engine stops accelerating is called the stall speed (technically not the true stall speed of the converter, but close enough to see what's happening). Do this test in each of the shifter positions and note the stall speed. Post back after you have done these things (the fluid level check and the stall tests) and we'd be happy to help diagnose the issue.

Did you try different shifter positions to get out of the street, or just the OD position (solid D)?

 

[Brain]

Is it creeping forward in neutral???

 

[snowburns]

Thanks, I'll do the tests in the morning, but no it is not creeping forward in neutral at all. One more thing I forgot to mention is that about two weeks ago I went wheeling and got stuck in a puddle up to the bottom of the doors for about 3 hours. I didn't have any breather lines extended, could that have caused anything tonight?

I also never turned off OD, but I'll give it a try tomorrow morning.

 

[Brain]

Never heard of taking an X offroad before : )

But seriously, it is possible that some electrical connections got dirty, and it is possible that some water made it into the tranny (not a good thing for sure), but the vent tube is "trapped" higher than the bottom of the doors, so I don't think that is your problem.

Do you have a code scanner to see if any engine sensors are malfuntioning? I know the TPS can effect the converter lockup, the sensor on top of the rear differential can effect the shifting, etc...I would definitely run a code scanner (or have an auto parts store run it for you) before taking it to a shop for work to be done on it.

I'm glad to hear it isn't creeping forward in neutral.

 

[off-road97Xplor]

heres how my 1997 XLT went..... we were at a stoplight and when we went to go and hit the gas all that happend was the engine reved up like it was in netural. but it was in drive. then we put it in 2nd and it worked so we went to the next stoplight . This time it went into its neutural like state and NONE of the gears worked. When we hit the gas it started to roll forward then engine lights blinked and it stalled thankfully we rolled to the side of the road... we couldnt restart it though and called for a tow truck. When the mechinac opened it up the tranny fluid was all black and smelled burned. We got a new one put in and it was fine ever since.
Ever hear of a tranny going like this?

 

[off-road97Xplor]

o yeah almost forgot its a SOHC V6

 

[off-road97Xplor]

anyone know anything?

 

[Glacier991]

First off, in this original thread's question posted by Snowburns, I agree fully with Brain's analysis, esp the issues on other components affecting converter lockup..What kind of care and feeding has the trannie had... fluid changes and filter changes wise? Ever? I'm not prepared to call this one a rebuild just yet.

As to the separate question posted in this thread by off-road... there are too many variables to really be able to answer your question unfortunately. You may want to start your own thread asking the Q and see if you might get some ideas and opinions, posting in someone else's thread you aren't likely to get that (partly because no one will know your question is lurking there).

 

[off-road97Xplor]

sorry guys

 

[Brain]

off-road - I'm pretty sure it is possible, although I (with my limited experience) have not heard of it happening....It could be a situation where one part starts to fail, and then causes (through fluid contamination or pressure leaks) a cascade effect throughout the tranny and torque converter. If the torque converter locks up and doesn't allow the motor to spin fast enough without too much torque applied, you wouldn't be able to get it started and could definitely cause it to stall out. Think of it like trying to start a manual transmission in third gear with the clutch out....the starter will burn up before you can get the car to start. That is just my short opinion on why it is possible and reasonable for it to fail like that (although not cool at all). Sorry you had to replace the tranny, but I think it was the right thing to do.

 

[off-road97Xplor]

ok thanx brian

 

[snowburns]

Well, this is basically how it went. I checked the oil level in the tranny and it was fine. Shortly after that I began to realize I don't have the time to be doing all these diagnostics and stuff with my current work/school schedule. So I had it towed a shop (insurance covers that) while I was in class on thursday and for 70 bucks they inspected it and broke the bad news to me. It's gonna need rebuilt as there were metal flakes in the bottom of the oil pan and that also my 4wd is out. I was told that since theres no tranny they can't really tell whats up with the 4wd yet but that it could be a transfer case or it could even be a problem with the wires. At this point in time here is my decision, buy a cheap little econobox car basically for the winter park the x in the shop and see what I can get done on it as time goes by. Since I don't have the money to pay for a new/rebuilt tranny and I do know a few people who have cheaper smaller cars that are in decent shape and I can get for a good price I've decided just to park the x for now. It's so sad thats what I have to do, but at this point in time I can't afford the $2550 quote for the tranny and another (at least) several hundred for the 4wd. Thanks for the help you guys.

 

[Brain]

snowburns, that's exactly how I did it too. Ended up with a small (cheap) Honda for transportation and waited until I had time to dig in and do it myself. You might find that you enjoy the small car and decide to keep it as a part of your fleet even after you get the X fixed. Good luck with work/school/wrenching.

 

[snowburns]

So today we talked to a friend who is a body man (specializes in explorers) and he says he has a 95 rollover in his driveway hes using for parts, its a v6. Does that have the 4R55E also? Or is there another transmission that came that with the 95 - 97 v6?

 

[boominXplorer]

yeah 96 is a 4r55e


BTW: have you seen a really annoying 14 yr old in a snot green limited explorer that has a 1922 bronco hatch on it??

 

[snowburns]

my question is, is the 95 the 4R55E? (it is 2wd).

the kid cant drive but I went to this big gravel pit about a month ago close to my house...turns out he lives right by it. He gets online all the time and sends me pictures of whatever it he's painted recently or stuff like the hatch....

 

[Glacier991]

Yes the 95 is the 4R55E

 

[snowburns]

Okay, i talked to a tranny guy and without seeing the car and donor tranny he doesnt know if it'll work. Here's his reasoning, being that the one is 2wd he says the shaft that comes out the back of the tranny might be different since theres no t-case. My question is, is the tranny identical or are there any differences at all?

 

[yosh18981898]

I don't know about 2nd gens. But I do know that the 1st gens. have different tailhousings for 2wd and 4wd.