4R44E, No forward gears

[fletcher969]

Hi all,

Huge problem as my primary vehicle isn't moving. I'm pretty handy with the tools, and I'm a quick study, so any advice will be helpful. I'm hoping there might be something in what I describe that will help somebody identify the primary (possible) causes of what's described below. Here are the basics:

1996 XLT
191,000 miles
2.3L 2WD
4R44E Tranny
...2-3 flare for the last 3-4 months
...harsh in reverse (slow, jerky engagement, some shudders, undulating RPMs, runs fine "at speed")
...all other gears operate(d) as expected, including OD

About 2 weeks ago I started to notice some differences in my tranny.
...Very very sporadically, 1st wouldn't engage immediately from an idle stop
...noticed a small drip-leak from the tail housing near/at the driveshaft
...2-3 flare seemed to be "slippery" compared to before (seemed to want to flare more easily)

Today I was driving down the road, and before it was at WOT, I noticed it wanted to flare a little earlier than usual, and seemed to want to flare again (slip?) after it had shifted, but aside from that, it handled a fairly aggressive acceleration as I got up to speed. About 5 minutes later, without any additional symptoms, and without notice, it instantaneously lost all forward gears shortly after I shifted into 3rd or possibly 4th gear. So far as I can tell, no amount of time or RPMs will cause any forward gear to engage, nor does manually selection of gears. Also, there was no occurence of limp mode or the OD light flashing. No physical signs of damage underneath, fluid level is fine (slightly over-filled actually), color is clear and red. Reverse operates exactly as it did previously.

Again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as this is going to quickly cramp my days.

Thanks.

Dave

Day 2 Update: I started my truck this morning, and immediately put it into drive. Initially it started inching forward, but stopped after about 6", and didn't move thereafter in D, 2, or 1. I turned off the OD as was suggested on a different forum, but it affected no change. The tranny seems to be holding the truck in place (i.e. it's on a slight slope, and it won't coast backwards), but it won't move it forward. Hope this proves somewhat helpful.

 

[fletcher969]

Alright...for the sake of completeness, I'm going to provide a quick historical rundown of my truck just in case there is some perspective lurking therein. Skip this if you've already read enough.

1 year ago: Cooler/radiator breach 1 year ago. Bypassed the stock cooler with an external, and flushed the tranny. No additional problems specific to that episode.

5 months ago: Timing belt broke. Installed new belt, but had a slight (split-second) off-idle hesitation thereafter, and since. Belt was properly installed, and all "marks" were properly aligned.

4 months ago: Over the course of a week or so, my tranny started hard shifting into 2nd and 3rd, and reverse, and it slipped between 1-2, and 2-3, eventually worsening until it continually kicked out of 3rd, and would sometimes go into limp mode. There was a whining noise also. OBD pulled a P0761 (Solenoid C stuck off) and P1701 (Reverse engagement error). Dropped the pan, discovered my EPC was loose (rotated +-10 degrees, tightened), and checked my wiring harness and cleaned my C-solenoid. Cleared the codes, and they never returned. Flushed it twice, and it ran fine except for a 2-3 flare, and a delayed but otherwise soft shift into reverse.

1 month ago: Started noticing that reverse was taking slightly longer to engage (4-5 seconds versus 1-2 seconds), was a bit more hard, and on a rare occasion shuddered for a few seconds, but otherwise ran fine once my speed was up. Continued without change until my tranny failed.

2 weeks ago: Engine started running rough (wanted to die after putting it in gear, stumbled, and loped), and my hesitation went from slight to a stumble. Replaced the MAF and cleaned the IAC, and the engine ran perfectly until immediately before I replaced the fuel filter the following day, whereupon the hestiation returned, and I had sporadic and slight stumling and loping until WOT was reached, though there were a few occasions where it stumbled after WOT was reached. That continued as I didn't have time to address the issue due to work.

1 week ago: Replaced the thermostat to get rid of an ongoing P0125 code. It was also around this time (within a day or two that I noticed my tranny was beginning to act up slightly worse ("seemed" to flare a little earlier), and seemed "softer" but nothing alarming.

1 day ago: Tranny lost all forward gears instantaneously, and without any immediately preceding indications whatsoever while operating at around 40 MPH.

 

[PopRichie77]

Drop the trans pan and look for a blown out VB gasket.

 

[fletcher969]

Drop the trans pan and look for a blown out VB gasket.

I'm SOOOOO hoping you're right. I'm posting on a few forums, and most are pointing towards a rebuild (band, clutch, etc.), and those are options I just don't have the financial or garage resources to pull off very easily, if at all. Anyway, you may be onto something if what I observed correlates to what you suggest. See the following post...

 

[fletcher969]

Alright...finally got enough time to drop the pan a little while ago. Here's what I observed:

1) There were small specks roughly the size of course pepper on the bottom of the pan though sporadically populated versus absolute coverage, and which had also collected in a couple of spots. Most of what I sampled felt like sand or grit between my fingers, but almost every bit I sampled in my mouth (used my teeth to "feel" them) proved to be a rubbery material...or at least it was pliable or crumbled between my teeth. Most definitely reminds me of a gasket-like material, or something very similar. I did NOT find this in my pan 2000 miles ago when I dropped the pan and serviced my tranny. I did find 4 or 5 course-pepper-sized metal pieces...slightly more than I found during the previous pan drop.

2) There was a very thin blackish "sludge" (for lack of a better term) on the bottom of the pan, but neither it nor my fluid have a burnt smell. Perhaps it's related to the blackish gasket-like material observed above.

3) My fluid is reddish in color, but it has an automotive metal flake paint look to it (there is a baby-powder-sized material floating around in it)...something I observed during the last pan drop. I also found this "baby powder" (obviously metal) material stuck to my magnet just as I did during the last pan drop.

So...I'm grasping at what little hope I can for a relatively easy and less costly fix versus something that requires a total rebuild, which I don't have the financial or garage resources to pull off very easily, if at all. Question though...any chance the gasket-like material can be related to the type of failure that could cause a sudden/instantaneous failure of all forward gears, leaving only reverse operable, and if so...where might that be if not otherwise obvious when I pull the valve body tomorrow?

Thanks.

 

[PopRichie77]

Yes, if the forward clutch is blown then there would be no forward gears, but reverse would still work. The rubbery material, maybe the front clutch seal and the metal flakes are clutch disk material. If you find no blown VB gaskets, then a rebuild is needed.

 

[fletcher969]

Yes, if the forward clutch is blown then there would be no forward gears, but reverse would still work. The rubbery material, maybe the front clutch seal and the metal flakes are clutch disk material. If you find no blown VB gaskets, then a rebuild is needed.

Two people on 2 different forums told me the rubbery material could be the clutch material itself, but I've had it in my head clutches are much more durable than that. What you just provided seemed much more viable to me. I couldn't imagine anybody manufacturing the actual clutch plate with this material, but then again, there's plenty of room to be surprised where automatic transmissions are concerned. Regardless, I'll know soon enough, but that's what I was thinking...if there are no signs with valve body, then I was going to sell/part/junk the whole truck (not sure I have the garage resources to rebuild myself, can't afford somebody else doing it), and buy a cheap beater to get me around for the next 4 months (yep, that's as far as my Ranger needed to get me). I had hoped my Ranger would have completed that mission, but it's been a PITA lately.

Thanks for the input.

 

[PopRichie77]

The rubbery material is probably from the clutch piston seal, the clutch plates are made of steel and every other one has a bronze like coating which is where the metal flakes in the bottom of the pan come from. Download the manual from this forum and you will see how the trans is made. Most all auto transmissions are made this way.

 

[fletcher969]

The rubbery material is probably from the clutch piston seal, the clutch plates are made of steel and every other one has a bronze like coating which is where the metal flakes in the bottom of the pan come from. Download the manual from this forum and you will see how the trans is made. Most all auto transmissions are made this way.

If you're talking about the stuff that stuck to my magnet, and which I observed as "metal flake" in the fluid...the really fine stuff, then that would explain where it came from, and that would be more consistent with what I picture when I see a clutch wearing (slowly), but if the clutch friction material is non-magnetic, then I'm still wondering where that fine metallic stuff is coming from. If you're referring to the course-pepper-sized metal pieces, there were only a dozen or so of those, and that wouldn't explain why my clutch failed. A blown seal...ok...that would explain it plenty too, but I didn't see that much material on the bottom of the pan, but then again, it probably doesn't take a whole lot to blow a seal anyway.

 

[fletcher969]

Ok...I dropped the valve body a little earlier, and I had a message prepared with references to an image I need to upload, but I see no way to do so except by URL (and no, I don't have an image storage account anywhere online). So...how does one otherwise attach an image to one's post?

Bottom line is I found one, and possibly a second breach in my valve body gaskets, and I'd like to get an opinion.

Thanks.

 

[fletcher969]

Interesting, but on another forum, I was reading about another's tranny problems, and somebody asked him if his ABS light was on. I wouldn't have thought that would have any correlation whatsoever to a tranny issue, but perhaps it's worth mentioning, because my ABS light came on about the same time I started to notice a slight change in my tranny's behavior. Is there something significant in that? It's worth noting that I scanned for DTCs using a Actron CP9580L, and it didn't detect any ABS codes when I read for them.