4r55e shifting problems

[mwittman]

My brother has a '96 Ford Explorer XLT, 4.0 OHV 4x4 with the 4r55e transmission. When he bought the truck in only had 78K miles on it, so I'm guessing he's still under 100K.

He recently developed some shifting problems. To relay what he told me, it shifts normal most of the time, however sometimes it will stay in gear too long, sort of like over-reving the motor, before it will shift. Also, the O/D light is flashing, and he had a shop look at the truck and read the codes. One of them states something to do with wrong gear ratio, and the other is a slipping code.

I'm sorry I couldn't be more specific, but my question is: How long do these tranny's run before experiencing problems, and has anyone seen any of these issues?

Also, they quoted about $1500 for a rebuild. How much would it cost just to buy a crate tranny and have it installed?

Thanks for all the info!

Matt

 

[GTO2050]

I have the same truck and the same symptoms. However, I just paid about $1300 to have it fixed and it's not fixed yet. The OD light flashing returned the code of "OD solenoid stuck or not engaging". I almost wish I had let it completely fail before fixing. I am chasing gremlins now.

A rebuilt tranny can be had off ebay for about $750 but I can't vouch for the quality of the rebuild. Tempting though.

MIne is hard downshifting when coming to a stop after the rebuild. When I set out on the freeway at 70MPH with cruise control, it works great until it comes to a long hill. Then it gets confused and starts hunting for the right gear and the OD light starts flashing.