5r55e no forward gears

[CWELDY]

I have a 99 sport with a SOHC 4.0 with 210k. When I first got it, if I sat idling in gear for a while, like at a drive thru, it would hesitate to move unless manually shifted to 1. No big deal. Worked flawlessly the rest of the time. Got my other vehicle fixed so the Explorer sat for a while, getting driven only in weekends. After a couple years of that it started to have a 5-10 second delay going into drive all the time. Reverse works instantly. Took it off the road completely and it sat unused for probably 2 years. Threw a new battery in it after my truck blew up and the delay got even worse, 30 sec or more. Got my truck fixed so it went back to sitting for the last 8 months or so. Now it will not go into any forward gear. Reverse is still great. Fluid level is good but dark. I had planned on replacing the epc and separator plate gaskets. Does it sound like I'm on the right track or am I missing something? Is there a way to test the epc before removing it or even a bench test?

 

[Rick]

I did a search here for "5r55e no forward gears" and came up with several threads that describe the same issue, but none of them had a resolution

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I have a 99 sport with a SOHC 4.0 with 210k. When I first got it, if I sat idling in gear for a while, like at a drive thru, it would hesitate to move unless manually shifted to 1. No big deal. Worked flawlessly the rest of the time. Got my other vehicle fixed so the Explorer sat for a while, getting driven only in weekends. After a couple years of that it started to have a 5-10 second delay going into drive all the time. Reverse works instantly. Took it off the road completely and it sat unused for probably 2 years. Threw a new battery in it after my truck blew up and the delay got even worse, 30 sec or more. Got my truck fixed so it went back to sitting for the last 8 months or so. Now it will not go into any forward gear. Reverse is still great. Fluid level is good but dark. I had planned on replacing the epc and separator plate gaskets. Does it sound like I'm on the right track or am I missing something? Is there a way to test the epc before removing it or even a bench test?

im not tooo sure but i think it might be solenoids? possibly. thats what sometimes causes the lack of drive when you still have manual 1/2. does this thread apply to yours 4R44E, No forward gears

 

[JK080]

If you have lost all forward but have a good reverse the problem will most likely be with the forward clutch

 

[CWELDY]

If you have lost all forward but have a good reverse the problem will most likely be with the forward clutch

It never slipped and only got worse after sitting for extended periods. Would a clutch do that?

 

[Bwr808]

It never slipped and only got worse after sitting for extended periods. Would a clutch do that?

I would guess its losing fluid pressure somewhere and got worse from sitting unused, maybe takes a long time to build up enough to engage now, but take that with a grain of salt because im just learning this tranny (as simple as it is)

 

[CWELDY]

I dropped the pan today. Fluid was a little burnt but not terrible. Not a lot of material in the pan. Pulled the valve body and there are no obvious issues with the gaskets. There is one spot where the bypass valve L retainer wore through the gasket. The retainer is also pretty worn. Would that cause an issue?

 

[JK080]

No the little wear from the retainer wont cause it to have forward issues, I still think the problem will be with the forward clutch. I have seen the clutch material breakdown and come off due to time.