5R55E reverse is gone!

[gettin nowhere]

Hello to everyone! I was backing out of my driveway today and after about 15 feet this gosh awful grinding sound came from the transmission. It would only do it in reverse. When in all other gears it was fine. Bur every time it was put in reverse it would sound kind of like a gear or gears grinding against a metal drum or something. I recently about (maybe 2-3000 miles) changed the fluid and filter with an additive (without any stop leak). Had no problems until this happened. I checked the shifter on the side of the trans. and it seemed apparent that the shifter dtents were actually in there respective places. But, still nothing. The Explorer has just over 200K on it so I'm not complaining. I'm just looking for ideas on what the problem may be ie. pump, T. converter or what. By the way the fluid is clean and doesn't smell burnt and is at the correct level. Thanks for any advice or insight.

4.0 SOHC
4.10 gear in rearend
5R55E trans.
Two wheel drive
four door

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Do you have manual 1st gear? If not, then it's possible that the band might have broken. Since you have two wheel drive, it can't be a broken shift fork in the transfer case. Drop the pan, and check the tip of the low/reverse servo. They sometimes chip.

 

[gettin nowhere]

5R55R grinding

Hello Aerostar, yes I do have a manual 1st gear. And I have 2nd as well. The grinding would instantaneously start as soon as I put it in reverse and stop the instant I took it out. As a matter of fact my wife said I should sto before I really broke something. But I know enough to know that this sound was a indicator of major damage so I figured it was already broken anyway and kept changing it back and forth. After about the 4th or 5th time it stopped all together. Without reverse ofcourse. But again all forward gears work as they should. I just can't back out of my driveway. Thanks Aerostar!

 

[BrooklynBay]

The low/reverse servo is behind a square cover with 4 bolts. Insert a long phillips screwdriver into the bore, and press against the low/reverse band. It should have a spring action. If not, then the band is broken. Check the tip of the servo for chips.

 

[gettin nowhere]

5R55E reverse was grinding but not moving

Thank you A-Man. I'll check that out ASAP I'm runnin late now, gotta get to work. I'm gonna drop the pan either this evening or tomorrow and check there first, then the servo if the pan doesn't hold any clues. I have a funny feeling I'm gonna have to drop the whole thing and rebuild it myself. My family owns the oldest transmission shop in our city but I already owe him nearly two grand for a new Auburn carrier and brakes on all four corners they installed recently on my 05' Z71. I'm pretty confident I can handle the rebuild. I worked there for a while but that was back when the AOD was the latest technology. Finding the time is gonna be the hardest part. Is there anything specificly you can advise me of if I have to do a complete teardown.

Thanks a million, Jody

PS everyone else, your advice, tips, and pointers are all welcome here!

 

[gijoecam]

Could it also be the infamous transfer case shift rail bore issue?

 

[BrooklynBay]

He doesn't have a transfer case.

 

[gijoecam]

snip...
Two wheel drive
...snip

He doesn't have a transfer case.

Missed that part... Didn't look at the signature line, just the profile at the left.... My bad.

{gijoecam moves to corner and dons the DUNCE cap}

-Joe

 

[sasman99]

The low/reverse servo is behind a square cover with 4 bolts. Insert a long phillips screwdriver into the bore, and press against the low/reverse band. It should have a spring action. If not, then the band is broken. Check the tip of the servo for chips.

I did that with my 98 Ranger 4x4 that has no reverse. I have spring tension and did not see any chips. I did notice that is was slightly beveled with a small stress crack on the end of the servo shaft. Like an end of a chisel only not so bad. No debris in the pan and shift fine going forward. Not sure what to do.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! The stress crack is not good. Get a different servo. There is a repair part called an extendo tip. It has to be ground down to get it within the correct tolerance or it will cause the band to drag.

 

[sasman99]

Would this have anything to do with my no reverse? Does this indicate that a minor repair could fix my no reverse? Or am I looking for a complete tear down? Thank you for your reply!

 

[mht95ranger]

I have the same thing on my 95 ranger I think. I don't have reverse until I drive it for a few min. If I put it in reverse cold I get nothing then SLAM and grinding noise. Holding off till I can afford to swap it. I have a 97 explorer sport with a good auto but not sure if it will work in my truck??

 

[BrooklynBay]

Would this have anything to do with my no reverse? Does this indicate that a minor repair could fix my no reverse? Or am I looking for a complete tear down? Thank you for your reply!

It's possible that the chipped servo isn't applying enough apply pressure
against the band.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I have the same thing on my 95 Ranger I think. I don't have reverse until I drive it for a few minutes. If I put it in reverse cold, I get nothing then SLAM, and a grinding noise. Holding off till I can afford to swap it. I have a 97 Explorer sport with a good auto but not sure if it will work in my truck??

Welcome to this forum! This sounds like a problem with the transfer case (possibly the shift fork).

 

[mht95ranger]

Welcome to this forum! This sounds like a problem with the transfer case (possibly the shift fork).

Help me understand what that means? My 4x4 works fine as far as I know. Sorry I'm just not up on 4x4 stuff.
Thanks

 

[BrooklynBay]

The forward could work, but the reverse might not work if this part is cracked.

 

[TarHeel085]

does this shift fork thing apply to manual cases as well?

 

[slvr00gt]

Hello to everyone! I was backing out of my driveway today and after about 15 feet this gosh awful grinding sound came from the transmission. It would only do it in reverse. When in all other gears it was fine. Bur every time it was put in reverse it would sound kind of like a gear or gears grinding against a metal drum or something. I recently about (maybe 2-3000 miles) changed the fluid and filter with an additive (without any stop leak). Had no problems until this happened. I checked the shifter on the side of the trans. and it seemed apparent that the shifter dtents were actually in there respective places. But, still nothing. The Explorer has just over 200K on it so I'm not complaining. I'm just looking for ideas on what the problem may be ie. pump, T. converter or what. By the way the fluid is clean and doesn't smell burnt and is at the correct level. Thanks for any advice or insight.

4.0 SOHC
4.10 gear in rearend
5R55E trans.
Two wheel drive
four door

Yesterday, all of the sudden, I started to have exactly the same problem with my 98 ranger 4x4 4.0l. Forward gears work great, but I have no reverse and I hear loud grind when I put in R. One year ago I installed 5r55e transmission from 2004 donor ranger. Everything worked perfectly until yesterday

I pulled out reverse servo. It has couple of irregularities, but I am not sure if that is the problem. See the pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/orodionov/5r55e?authkey=Gv1sRgCJnx6emP8eTskQE#

1) The very tip of the rod seems to have been shaved off. Just a tiny bit.
2) The rod of the servo has some up and down movement.
3) Looking inside the shaft, it looks like a metal of the band that contacts the servo has slightly uneven surface.

Listening you suggestions, I poked the band through the shaft with the screw driver. It feels springy, nothing abnormal, although I don't know what the norm is here.

 

[2000StreetRod]

reverse servo tip

Here's a photo that bluestream1 posted for comparison.

I didn't notice the tip of yours being significantly different.

 

[2000StreetRod]

direct clutch?

According to my ATSG manual the direct clutch is applied only in reverse, 4th with overdrive cancelled, and 5th. Have you lost the latter two gears as well as reverse?