2003 Mountainer Premier tranny problems

[Gumby3791]

We have a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer Premier Edition with the 4.6L engine. We bought it used last December with approximately 130K on it now. Only problem we had from begining, besides A/C the dealer replaced the whole system before we bought it, is the ABS coming on.....and it shifting rather hard into the gears which some told us that it was because it was AWD vehicle....until now. Over a week ago, Sat, my husband was driving the car and the O/D off light started flashing then a few minutes later CHECK TRANSMISSION came over the Driver Informatino Display, and it started having problems shifting. After a couple starts and stops and about an hour later...it came up with a check engine light. The code that came out was P0775 Pressure control solenoid B circuit malfunction. We started researching on the net and found that this is one of the common problems with Mountaineers this year range and this much mileage. This is the only problem we have had since we got it, and after reading online all the horror stories we are afraid that we made a bad decision in purchasing this vehicle. We are also afraid that w e may have to replace the transmission. We emailed MBayarsky and he gave us some sites for part replacements a lot cheaper than the dealer and we appreciated that, but we decided to start a post. So are questions are what to do about trouble code and ABS light going on and off...sometimes the light comes on then several days can go by without it coming on again.

Forgot one thing....the only problem he has about replacing the solenoid pack on the transmission is that the transmission is sealed and how to get the fluid back in. He was told by a mechanic at a land rover placed that you can just attached a hose to a dawn bottle filled with tranny fluid and squeeze the bottle until you have it filled up through the drain plug.

BTW my husband is mechanically inclined.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I wanted to add all of the information from the email into this thread.

I have more information on this code in my list of useful threads. Don't buy it from the dealership. They are the most expensive place to get it from. WWW.800700Tran.Com, WWW.TransmissionPartsUSA.Com, WWW.BulkPart.Com, WWW.FastPartsNetwork.Com or WWW.RockAuto.Com are sources for parts. How many miles does it have? Did you start a thread on this issue? If so, could you send me the link?

The transmissions section has a thread called the 5R55W fluid fill which has step by step pictures, and information on adding fluid to a "sealed" 5R55W transmission.

The reason that the solenoid block is so much cheaper in the first link is because they are "like new". They are either used, but tested or rebuilt. I remember when they were under $100. They keep raising their prices.

 

[Gumby3791]

okay...was reading in the sticky on filling the fluid in the sealed tranny's....and someone posted asking about slipping and needing to rebuild the tranny...someone replied with

"I suggest that you research the valve body kits and parts available for that trans. Likely your trans needs those things done, upgrades which help any trans of any mileage. Do those and the fluid/filter change, that takes care of 95% or more of those issues. "

since I will be replacing the solenoid pack...shoudl I do these too? and anyone got any quick info or links on these?

okay just found out that a valve body kit is the same as a "shift kit" I used to do more GM stuff than I have Ford and names of things are obviously interchangeable. Anyways can they be installed with the tranny still in the vehicle or does it have to be dropped? Since we hope to have this vehicle for a long time I would like to do as much as I can to make things last. So if it can be done in the vehicle. Which kit should I go with from this site?

http://www.transmissionpartsusa.com/Valve_Body_Kits_s/11801.htm

 

[Gumby3791]

what's the difference between this part http://www.800700tran.com/prod.itml/icOid/159

and this one

http://www.800700tran.com/prod.itml/icOid/505

 

[zerodevil]

you dont need to drop the trans unless your planning on doing a full rebuild with new bands and the likes. I watched my trans shop put my sylanoid pack in in about 4 hours, with the trans still on the motor. BUT i sugjest you put it on a lift and not jack stands, or this will be one MISERABLE job. According to your links the first one is "upgraded" not sure what that means, if i had to guess its just a heavy duty sylanoid, will likely provide smoother shifts.. i wouldnt skimp on trans parts.. when mine goes again im upgrading to a level10 bullet proof trans for 600 bucks on the price of a rebuild...not a bad deal. do the shift kit if your going to be in there anyways.

 

[Gumby3791]

Thanks for that info zero devil...didn't think that I would need to drop the tranny for the shift kit...only done one before on a turbo 350...but it was really easy to do...next question is which shift kit should I get?

 

[zerodevil]

as far as I know there is only one actual shift kit. The reprograming is all computer related. If you want that kind of service I'd recommend james at hensonperformance.com. But the tuner will run almost 500 bucks. If performance and smooth shifts is what you want it's worth it.

 

[Gumby3791]

well I guess Ill just call the site tomorrow...or later today and find out what the difference is...I'll post what I find out.

 

[ahicksof4]

My inlaws are having the same problem

Hello my inlaws came and visited us this past weekend, unfortunately their mountainer did the same thing as what I read yours did..did you finally get yours fixed and if so please tell me what you did to fix it...my mother n law is going to lose her job if they don't get back home soon..not that I would love for her to stay..but she does need her job...their o/d light was flashing and everything that you described..please let me know..tyvm..Angie

 

[Gumby3791]

My husband has ordered the parts but has not yet put them in. Ours only has the problem shifting into first gear. Not that I would recommend to anyone else to do the same, but we have been driving it very easy on the transmission and as limited as possible. He ordered the part from www.800700Tran.Com. From all his research he feels that it is the solenoid pack as it seems to go out at around 100k miles on the transmissions in these vehicles. He is also going to flush the transmission, and replace the filter. He is also going to add an external transmission filter as it seems this has helped many people with theirs. The dealership wanted almost 400.00 I think for the solenoid pack, plus labor of course. You can get the pack with a 5 year warranty for under 120.00 plus shipping from that site.

Not sure if you have had the computer scanned but if you have the same trouble code I'd be willing to bet that's what it is. We got ours scanned at a local parts store and then looked it up. It appears the job would take about 4 hours, in fact this link explains how to do it and what tools are needed to do the job. With pictures.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164055

feel free to email me if you have anymore questions gumby3791@aol.com good luck and post back to let us know how it goes.