4r55e, no forward movement after rebuild

[Ak Ford]

New member here. Thanks to this group I've gained a lot of knowledge the past few months. Now, I have an issue with my 1996 ford explorer, That has me stumped. It's 4.0 -4x4 -4r55e. A couple months ago I was driving home from work, Stopped at a light and the engine died before the light tuned green. I started it up in park only to find the engine under load like it was in gear. Turns out that it was. Every gear on the gear selector was now first gear, Even neutral, Park and reverse. It was a long drive home. Ever since then, The transmission was always in forward 1st gear. Needless to say, I didn't drive it anymore.
Now that I have the time to work on it, I ordered a full rebuild kit with all seals, Gaskets, Clutches And bands. So I went ahead and pulled transmission and began the job of rebuilding.
I took my time and made sure everything was thoroughly clean and placed in perfect order with the help of ATSG manual, To the best of my ability. I reinstalled trans and replaced fluid with new fluid, started the engine and finished filling it up to correct level. Now the issue.
I now have park and neutral with no load on engine from transmission. I have good reverse when selected. I have no forward movement in 1st-4th. I actually have reverse when I select 1st.
So; park is park---- reverse is reverse----neutral is neutral----drive and overdrive are no movement ---
--2nd is no movement----1st is reverse.
I have adjusted the bands, Made sure all electrical connectors are clean and plugged in firmly, The OD is not flashing and no trouble codes being thrown. Anyone here have any ideas that would or could help me figure this out? Thanks

 

[transman304]

First off welcome to the group! Could you tell us what you found bad in the transmission initially? Also did you disassemble the VB? Trying to determine where the problem lies as it is a unique one. Thanks and let us know.

 

[Ak Ford]

Thanks Transman. What I found while disassembling was the forward clutches were worn to almost zero friction material and were essentially welded to the steels. The entire clutch pack came out as on solid unit. I had to bang and pry them apart for further inspection. Along with of course filthy fluid from friction material. I did not remove or test servos. I only cleaned the valve body and did not remove any component from it Other than the plate for cleaning and re installation of new gasket. I did torque everything to specs per manual. Also, I did not perform a complete fluid change. The residual fluid in the cooler and cooler lines along with a little in the TC remained. Are you thinking the valve body?

 

[JK080]

Did you replace the seals on the forward clutch piston in the drum or just clean it out and install new steels and frictions?

 

[Ak Ford]

thanks for responding JK080, Yes I did replace the seals on forward clutch. I built a simple lever type compression tool to do the job. All seals and gaskets replaced.

 

[JK080]

I would recheck the valve body, it could be a cross leak due to something missing or out of position, check the valve body gaskets for covered holes. With the valve body off you can air check the forward drum.

 

[Ak Ford]

thanks JK, I will do that soon and let you all know the outcome and what I find.

 

[transman304]

Did you replace the seals on the forward clutch piston in the drum or just clean it out and install new steels and frictions?

That was my thought also James,but the reverse in first has me stumped I can't figure what elements are applied (or not applied) to let this happen. I thought over the years I had pretty much had all the self inflicted problems covered but this one makes me wonder if I have seen them all. Only 3 elements applied to get reverse and 2 of those are also required to get man low. I can't believe a sprag is upside down? Still trying to think what could have been misplaced in VB. Will be following this! Good luck.

 

[Ak Ford]

thanks, I will be updating . This is the first time I've ever heard or seen of anything like this.

 

[JK080]

One thing I thought of before you remove the valve body. With the pan off put the transmission in drive and apply air into the line pressure port and watch for leaks on the valve body. It will leak from a few places you just want to key on any big leaks, this may help identify areas to look at when you do pull the valve body. Its a messy test but I have found circuit leaks before doing this.

 

[JK080]

That was my thought also James,but the reverse in first has me stumped I can't figure what elements are applied (or not applied) to let this happen. I thought over the years I had pretty much had all the self inflicted problems covered but this one makes me wonder if I have seen them all. Only 3 elements applied to get reverse and 2 of those are also required to get man low. I can't believe a sprag is upside down? Still trying to think what could have been misplaced in VB. Will be following this! Good luck.

Yes this is a weird one for sure and I agree it does not fit a upside down sprag situation. Cross leaks can cause all kinds of weird things so that all I got at this point.