1996 Explorer 4R55/44E has gone totally weird...

[fahrout]

Last night my daughter went to back out of the driveway and found that reverse was not responding. No clunk or anything else, just unresponsive. Forward gears seemed to work, although they felt like the ebrake was on. Fluid level O.K.

This morning I went out and found that, to my horror, the only direction it would move was forward. Now, that might be what you'd expect, given my description, but it even wanted to move forward when I put it in Park (although not very energetically)! Reverse is nowhere to be found, but that particular gear selection now feels akin to neutral 'cause the little bugger just sits there...even with RPMs above 2000. Just for grins I also tried the 4WD selections, figuring there might still be something working in the transfer case (reverse-wise), but to no avail.

I'm reasonably handy at fixing a vehicle once I've identified the problem but admit that I'm mystified when it comes to transmissions. I've already accepted the fact that this little puppy may now be a piece of cr.., er, toast, but would anybody have any other ideas?

Thanks!

 

[transman304]

What does the fluid look like/smell like. Cancel OD and see if it will move forward. If it does than the OD sprag has failed.

 

[fahrout]

Thanks, Brad!

The fluid has a slight brownish tint to it, not the bright red you see coming out of the bottle, but to my nose does not smell burnt. There's been a small leak for some time so it regularly gets fresh fluid added.

Turning OD off had no effect either way. I just went through all the gear positions again with and without OD and found that it definitely wants to move forward regardless of the position selected, including "P" (and even "R" a couple of times), although the "R" movement doesn't have the same strength as the other positions. The selector feels normal as you move it in and out of each detente.

 

[JK080]

Thats is a indication that the forward drum cant release, usually because the clutches and steels have welded themselves together most likely due to running it low on fluid because of the leak.

It will have to be rebuilt to repair this.

 

[fahrout]

Thanks so much, James:

Not good news, but not unexpected, either. My local Ford dealer said they weren't making the 4R55E anymore and quoted a price to rebuild mine that was about 2-3 times what the old girl is probably worth. Looks like charitable donation time...

I respect greatly your years of experience and appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me.

Have a fabulous holiday!

Gary