2001 5R55W Trans Failure

[Splata]

Greetings from Australia... I have a 2001 4.0lt UT - Hit 80k miles (130k Kilometres) Nov 06.... Hasn't done hard miles, mostly highway travel with some towing of ski boat during summer months.... Trans had performed ok until almighty thump from 2nd to 4th gear - 3rd gear band crapped itself... Went straight to Fo Mo Co, got it back "2 Weeks Later" with no explanation of what went wrong or why it failed, with a charge of Aus $4,000 (US $3,000)
Approached the dealer and Fo Mo Co who basically said the vehicle is out of warranty and "This is not a manufacturing issue"..... Car has had a full service history with Fo dealers.... Can any of you shed some light on this sort of failure and is it known to any of you....

Regards,

Les

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! The 2002 models came with the 5R55W (except for the sport models). The 2001 came with the 5R55E. The 5R55W has been known to have solenoid block failures around 60K miles. I'm suspiciuous about them rebuilding the entire transmission. It's possible that it was the block which might have failed, not the band. It's hard to determine at this point since it was already repaired. Bands have been known to break for no apparent reason. Did they show you the broken parts? What code # came up when they put it on a diagnostic machine?

 

[Glacier991]

The 2-3 shift is made by applying the intermediate band. Intermediate band breakage is sadly a little more common than one might think... and for no apparent reason usually. (Although I have some not well thought out ideas as to why this seems to be more comon in the 5R's than say the A4LD). What you have described certainly sounds like a band failure alright.

I would have to agree with FORD that this is not a manufacturing defect and at 80,000 is not a warranty item.

Further, if I had the transmission out (which would be necessary in order to open it up and replace the band,) and knowing the tranny had 80,000 miles on it, NOT to rebuild it might be false economy.

Sadly, I think you had something unexpected and unfortunate happen. I do not fault the dealer on this one at all.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Is it possible that the larger servos put more stress on the bands when they apply? The higher pressure of FMEM mode also applies higher pressure to them. The servos on the 5R55W are even bigger with more apply pressure.

 

[Glacier991]

Yes, exactly, and the intermediate band during the 2-3 shift plays the dance with the OD band releasing simaltaneously.... if there is any momentary glitch where they might both be at least partially applying/unapplying at the same time, that could add further stress.

 

[Splata]

Hi guys,

Appreciate the feed back... Am still disapointed though with failure of this trans and I am still chasing a report on the internal damages... I had requested progress reports from the dealership as soon as they pulled the box down - they outsourced the rebuild and communication between the 2 worshops has been fairly poor to say the least.... Can you tell me if there has been any mods or upgrades of the bands or solenoids from the originals that were fitted???

I have previously been a GM owner for many years and really like this exploda, except I don't plan on budgeting for another rebuild in the next 80k

Cheers....

 

[BrooklynBay]

There is another EPC solenoid being tested now which is a 2 stage design like one on the 4R70W. The previous design was a single stage design. Look at the sticky called a modest proposal. Glacier991 is looking for people to test it. It will be provided free of charge.

The bands on the C3/A4LD/4R/5R series are the same. The older C4, and similar transmissions had a thicker band. I don't have first hand experience with the kevlar bands, but it might be possible that they are stronger. From what I've read, the kevlar has a little less grip, but with the added apply pressure from these servos, it might not be noticeable.