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2007 XLT in horrible shape

MunawarKhalid

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October 31, 2015
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Year, Model & Trim Level
2007 Explorer XLT
Hi there,
I am just new to this forum though I have been reading various posts for a while. I have owned 2007 XLT for about three years with approx. 120k miles on it now.

It was a good experience except a few minor problems that I could fix quickly, though it always beeped 25 times in start ever since I bought it (I could not find a reason until now). There were no serious messages and codes at all.

All of a sudden, one day, when I shifted to "N" and tried to drive again, it did not; though it did drive after a few trials between "R", "N" and "D". On a closer check it revealed that the coolant color was odd; yes, some oil was in there. It turned out that AT oil cooler inside radiator punctured mixing up oil with coolant. I immediately got the radiator changed, transmission washed and filled up with new oil. It went smooth for some time (except a little jerky behavior, reverse not responding sometimes or slamming).

Then a few days ago, the transmission completely failed. I got it completely rebuilt (very expensive) with an AT expert(!!) and tried for a few days, but it was not good. The gears were hitting especially in reverse and it was not a smooth drive. I took it back to the workshop and he said yes there could be a wrong sensor and he would replace. The vehicle stayed there for a couple of days and then he called saying the sensor is changed but the vehicle did not start or shut off after starting. What? I had left it there in perfect shape (at least engine). Now the vehicle is in horrible state with all the following symptoms.

- Very heavy engine sound that remains there even when engine is fully warmed up; high frequency vibrations throughout the vehicle
- After a while engine becomes jerky too, rpm goes up and down; it takes a lot of time until rpm settles down, but engine still heavy.
- If I accelerate (idle) it will never go beyond 2000 rpm and quickly die down with completely uncomfortable behavior (break and make situation)
- But if I switch off and restart again, just for a few seconds the engine does accept the throttle input, ramps up and down normal (though heavy), and then returns to same jerky situation
- Gears slamming very hard (forward and reverse both) just like you try to shift between the gears without pressing the clutch peddle in a MT vehicle
- In "R" the reverse lights do not lit
- Cruise control is completely dead
- AdvanceTrac RCS light is lit permanently
- There is a list of logged codes (for a vehicle which didn't have even a single one just a few days ago).

In short, the vehicle is in a horrible shape and not at all road-worthy now. The expert(!!) is scratching his head and putting blame on different engine parts and sensors and asking me to get them fixed/replaced. But I know just a few days ago it was a faultless engine. Studying through the logged codes and other symptoms, I could make out that, at least, many of these problems are linked to a bad Shift Lever Position Sensor. Yet, I could not establish a link between this problem and heavy engine sound, vibrations, malfunction, failure of cruise control and RCS.

I will be grateful if you can help me out of this situation. Thanks a lot.
 



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Thanks "asull85" for your attention. There are plenty of codes; some of them keep coming and going. These were the mostly appearing codes:

P1702 Transmission Range Sensor Circuit Intermittent
U2023 Fault Received From External Node
B1231 Crash Detected
B2987 Deployable Steering Column Circuit Resistance Low on Squib
B2290 Occupant Classification System Fault, Front Passenger Side
P0135 O2 Heater Circuit (Bank 1 Sensor 1)
P0155 O2 Heater Circuit (Bank 2 Sensor 1)
P0403 Exhaust Gas Recirculation A Control Circuit
P0443 Evaporation Emission System Purge Control Valve Circuit
P0705 Transmission Range Sensor A Circuit (PRNDL Input)
P0708 Transmission Range Sensor A Circuit High

B1231 is the most astonishing code and I think it got logged because of big jumps
due to gears slamming.

I got the Transmission Range Sensor changed yesterday and all its related codes
are gone; AdvaneTrac RCS error is also gone. However, the drive is not smooth
yet; when you decelerate the gears really jump-slam, you hear clear sound and
feel jerk. On highway, the engine rpm is much higher than normal and, therefore,
the engine temperature goes up and radiator fan is running all the time; making
a lot of noise. It think the 4th, 5th gears are slipping at higher speeds as the rpm
does not remain constant with constant speed; it jumps between approx. 2100 rpm
and 3200 rpm (too high!!) "suddenly" or "gradually." Cruise control is still inactive
though its switch with brake lever seems fine.

The engine is still jerky especially in idle; I checked the EGR valve and Evaporation
Purge Valve and both of them look really fine.
 






One comment I will add is you had the transmission rebuilt yours the one that took on coolant! That was a mistake I would have gotten a junkyard one and have it rebuilt cause I bet you the tech didn't replace the trans pump and he didn't replace the valve body! I had a problem where my truck was in shop for 4 months back and forth argued with me that it's normal and then tried to blame it on a electrical issue guess what it turned out to be the pump something inside it wasn't right and the valve was sticking even though the valve was replaced. Ask your tech if he replaced the trans pump and valve body I would be shocked if he did ! My problem was slamming into reverse and drive almost like the engine was going to come out of the truck that's how hard it was they replaced pump after rebuilding it 10 times and swapping parts multiple times.

Also if he is a good trans tech ask him if he ever put a pressure gauge on it and checked the readings from the computer to the solinodes and if they match the gauge readings +-15psi

I would clear out all the codes to see which codes come back some in there are prob bs codes that are stored over long time by resetting it within 1-3 attempted drives you'll get codes and those would be the ones related to current problems.

Tom
 






Thanks a lot "08Exploder."

I am indeed grateful and astonished to see that your experience with the
"gearbox master" is word-by-word true; I exactly faced the same situation
and despite all the jerks and problems, he is insisting that it is not a
gearbox problem but the electronic/program issue. I am sure he did not
replace nothing; he just cleaned the gearbox and that is it. Because even
the range sensor he changed, it was a used one; though it is working but
I am really afraid it might fail some day.

Anyway, I am fighting for the gearbox problems but the engine problems
are still there. I am trying to find if there some link between the gearbox
issues and engine problem. At least there seems a bigger probability of
cruise control failure linked to gearbox condition!!
 






If it were me, I would be looking for crushed/damaged wires under the vehicle since the transmission and transfer case were pulled out. Maybe one wiring harness was still connected when it got dropped out or one got crushed when they got put back in. Possibly a damaged wiring harness at the shifter area too if for some reason they didn't pull it before dropping the transmission or a piece of trim got put back in wrong and crushed a wiring harness. Honestly that is where I would be looking since you have so many different and seemingly unrelated codes.
 






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