4R70W shifter switch

[oharris]

A couple years ago my trans went out on my '97 mountaineer. I swapped the tranny out of my parts truck (a '97 Explorer) but I always had the problem of when I put the shifter into 1st, it wouldn't downshift. Today I decided to see if swapping the shifter switch off the old trans would fix it, and low and behold, they are different. When I swapped them I swapped harnesses too. Would the different harnesses cause my problem or do I have a bad switch?

 

[CDW6212R]

The 1998 up 4R70W has many changes, different internal wiring, trans harness, that DTS range sensor I think you mean, and unrelated items.

The pre-98 range sensor is much different, plus it had moisture damage issues. The replacements should all be more sealed units. So be sure you have a newer DTS, not an original part.

I've been told by an expert that you cannot use the later DTRS on the pre-98 trans, so that might be what you've got happening.

 

[oharris]

The truck I pulled it from was definitely a '97. A late '97 but still a '97. Did any of those changes start before the '98 models?

 

[CDW6212R]

The truck I pulled it from was definitely a '97. A late '97 but still a '97. Did any of those changes start before the '98 models?

That is a great question and I wish I/we knew. It shouldn't be a mid year change, but they did change a lot mid year, to the GT40P heads and external EGR during 1997.

You can tell though, simply look at the color of the plastic of the connector on the trans. The internal wiring is one harness, and where it sticks through the case, the plastic will be black, or white. That's easy to spot the early versus late wiring. I've forgotten which color is which, but a quick search online should locate the trans harness pictures, which will explain.

You can swap any of those parts, but they are a set, so mixing them requires rewiring to make them "adapt", which might be what you need to do.

If you still have the old trans, compare the wiring, especially that internal harness(outside color will tell).

Edit; I think the early trans harness is white, and the newer 98+ is black. I found one diagram for a 2000 Explorer that labeled the list of connector pins as black.

 

[oharris]

I finally got around to fixing this. I swapped the wiring off the old trans along with the shifter switch. Everything is working correctly now.

 

[delexploder]

Yes late 97 has the newer 98 and up style switch and the older 96/97 plug on the other side , this was the problem I had until I looked at my brothers late 97 and figured it out,