4R55E Lost All Forward Gears

[lilduke]

First off, I'd like to say its great to find others who love these trannys as much as I do.

But on to my problem. I have (newly aquired) a '95 Explorer ltd. It had a Ford Reman tranny installed at the dealer 3 years and less than 20K ago. The previous owner stated it never shifted smooth from the time they got it, but they attributed it to being a "ford". Slowly but surely they lost forward engagement. Reverse works perfectly normal. Prior to total failure they were able to get it to work(sort-of...) by manually shifting into 1st, and-or second. Not sure actual timeline from 1st noticed to final failure.

The clutch bands were adjusted within spec.

So far I've tried replacing the vb gaskets. Verified that this VB did recive the most recent tsb updates. (As far as I can tell.)

Edit: How can I tell if I have the proper seperator plate and gaskets?

That made no difference.

I then decided to completely remove the VB, dissasemble and inspect to see if anything stood out. So far I've found that the retaning clip for the revised valve with the 6 holes and dimple, was bent and scewed. The dimple was also not in the correct spot. One of the L pins had the end of it filed like a tungsten rod, and I'm assuming it came from a valve, as it's concave. I can not figure out which one it was either. Also I have 2 valves that I can't remove at all. The keepers were difficult to remove, but not impossible. But the Valves will not come out at all.

Now, herin lies my question. Where do I go from here. If at all possible, I don't want to drop the tranny, as it's rebuilt. Therefore I assume(I know) all clutches, bands, pump, seals, etc are ok/updated. I know the previous owner never abused this vehicle. It also never towed.

From what I've been able to piece together, From one of the issues(or other) stated above, the vb is ruined and needs replaced. Could that be the only reason for no forward? Or am I also looking twards the center support, forward cluch o-rings? Or, could it be another issue alltogether. What can I inspect without removing the tranny to see if it's an internal failure.

Also, does anyone know what the ohms should read for the tcc, epc, and shift scelenoids should be?

Thanks for any help, Dave.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I think at this point you should get a remanufactured valve body from Central Valve Bodies. Donny gives Explorer Forum members a discount.

 

[lilduke]

Thats what I'm leaning for. I was just wondering if there was any rocks to turn over, and make sure thats all I need. If it comes down to the fact I have to drop it, I'm just going to rebuild it..., again.

 

[lilduke]

Well, the issue doesn't lie within the valve body. Found a fresh rebuild at the u-pull-it, and symptoms are still exactly the same.

Where can/do I go from here? Assuming internal failure lies within the forward clutch assembly, can I get away with repairing that, or do I need to do a full rebuild. Also, what am I looking at parts wise to get it fixed. Thanks, Dave

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could try that transmission from the U Pull if you don't feel like rebuilding it yourself.

 

[lilduke]

The explorer I pulled the VB from was rolled, so I don't know if there was any internal damage. At this point, I'm just going to drop the tranny and dig in. See what I find. I suspect the buchered vb caused low forward cluch pressure, and wore it out. Or the seals blew out.