2001 explorer 2wd tranny qeustion

[zx6enick]

ok after searching numerous sights and getting different opinions and info about the same vehicle i joined this forum to try and get some straigh answers to witch i am thuroughly confused on? i am a pretty good mechanic but my uncles tranny went out on his 2001 explorer 2dr 2wd. he got a transmission and we installed it to find out it was missing a plug on it and it would not go into forward gears. he took it back. now he has a tranny from an 02 explorer witch im pretty sure isnt going to work because the input shaft is to long, but it has all the plugs we need. SO..... what transmission is in this vehicle and what model years will work in this 2001 explorer 2wd. Are there any distinguishing marks on the tranny that i can look for to tell that it will fit oris the same as the one that came out?

 

[zx6enick]

if it helps the vin in the dash is 1fmyu60e01ub31909. i was led to believe it is a 5r55e but some sights say they stopped in 2000 and some say they stopped in 2001 so im really not sure and after being told by two salvage yards that the last two would work im sure both my uncle and i are extremely frustrated. thank you for your help it is greatly appreciated. i had him look at the door tag and he thinks the tranny code is d. and assembly date is 08 or 2000. but it is a 2001 model year.

 

[PopRichie77]

Do you still have the original trans, there should be a tag on it with the model number, also the one you have now should have a tag on it.
Quoting from the book.----The 5R55E is found in 1997Aerostar Van, 1997-2001Ranger trucks, both 2WD and 4WD, and 1997-2001 Explorer vehicles equipped with the 4.0L engine.
Your vin shows a 4.0L engine
You can not use the 1997 5R55E as it has an extra sensor also you need the 2WD version.

My mistake the metal tag does not have the model number on it, also the paper tag on the bell housing only has the year and 4.0 on it.

 

[zx6enick]

have you ever seen 5r55e's with diffferent length input shafts?

 

[PopRichie77]

NO,
the shaft may have fallen out and been put back in backwards, the splines on the ends of the shaft are different lengths. Pull the shaft, the end with shorter splines go in first. Turn it to make sure it goes in all the way.

 

[zx6enick]

does the input shaft just pull out?

 

[PopRichie77]

Yes,
But if someone shoved it in tight or taped on it, it will be hard to remove as the spline on the long end does not match (fit) the internal part spline in the trans it only matches the spline in the torque converter.
It looks the same but it isn't.

 

[zx6enick]

thank you for all your help turns out we have the right tranny but i think someone at the salvage yard shoved the input shaft in backwards so they re giving us another one. thank you for all your help it was so much appreciated.

 

[PopRichie77]

You are most welcome. Hope you get it in and all works ok. Let us know how it worked out.