5R55E VB rebuilt, still no reverse | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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5R55E VB rebuilt, still no reverse

johnhenry1996

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June 6, 2007
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City, State
dearborn, michigan
Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 xlt 4.0 sohc
Hello, I rebuilt the valve body with a TransgO kit. I found a blown out VB gasket at the reverse revo far side curve, but after everthing was rebuilt and taken for a ride, still no reverse. I seems like I have two neutral grears. The forward shifting works fine after the build, but the reason I rebuilt it was because of the no reverse. Any clues? I was told to take the VB out and the revrerse servo, but a thin phillips screwdriver up into the servo hole and I whaen it bottoms uot, I should be able to push up about another 1/2 inch. Another word of advice was to look at the VB to check the fluid pressure valve and the reverse boost valve for sticking. where are they? Any pictures? How do I check this? Help please. I plan on cralling back under thisweekend again. Everyone's help was geat foe last weeks take apart. I used many of the pictures (especially of l clip locations) to help me, much appreciated.
 



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Here is a diagram from Glacier991's photo gallery of the 5R55E valve body:
152865r55.jpg

The part you are looking for is located in the upper right hand corner called the reverse modulation spool.
 






thanks for the info, manual first seems fine, I was told to check it by driving about 22 mph in 2, then shift down into 1st, if you feel it kick down, it should be fine. What does the low/reverse sevo piston look like? Is it the round large puck with shaft that has 4 bolts and a cover attached to the trans, in the rear of the trans? I have also been told to check the pressure regulator valve and reverse boost valve, how do I do that?
 






The diagram above will show you the pressure boost valve (there is no Reverse boost valve) the pressure regulator valve, and the location of the reverse modulation valve. You will need to remove thevalve body and disassemble those valve bores (carefully noting how everything goes together) and see if there is any binding or if something has gotten in the reverse modulation valve bore (that's my guess as to where your problem likely is).
 






Thanks, how exactly should I check the valve body? Remove each valve, spring and clip and blow it out with air? reassemble them then actuate manually to verify operation of the valve? I plan on pulling the VB tonight and tearing it apart tomorrow, I just want to be sure that I am doing everthing I can to check VB operation while it is out. I also plan on checking the sloenoid resistance also. What does each solenoid exactly do? Are there any other checks besides checking for proper resistance? Much appreciated.

I am on a mission to fix reverse without dropping the trans. Any other bits of advice?
 






I forgot, I noticed that somewhere it was mentioned about drilling out holes in the VB gaskets as part of a Sonnex? rebuild kit. My TransGo did not have me do that, it had me insert a small rivet in one of the VB plate holes. Do you recommend adding thes holes in the VB gaskets? If so, where exactly and what size? Thnaks.
 






sorry,
Do you recommend that I put the car on jacks, and reach up and manually move the shift lever through the gears? Maybe there is something misaligned between the PRNDL and the trans? Someone mentioned the problem sounds electrical, like a signal is not telling the reverse solenoid it needs to do its job, any thoughts on this ? thanks, sorry for the many posts.
 






There is no reverse solenoid. You have a low/reverse servo which engages the low/reverse band. The valve body is bolted on. There are separator plates, and gaskets (or bonded separator plates). Check the 5R55E valve body rebuild diary for a step by step tear down, and rebuild procedure with pictures. You could use a special cleaner to clean, and lubricate the valve body. It's similar to WD-40. Brake cleaner will remove the slippery lubricant (ATF) adhered to the inner walls of the valve body which keeps the parts moving freely. If you use brake cleaner, use WD-40 before inserting any of the spools.
 






thanks.
I think the key to unlock this issue is to ensure 100% operation of the valves. How about the drilling of the gasket holes? Do you recommend this? What does it do? I rented an OBDII reader and it PASSED, not error codes so I fell better about digging back into the VB tomorrow. I appreciate all of your help, its good to know there are some very helpful people in the world!
 






Does your OBD-II reader read Ford proprietary codes (manufacturer specific)? Not all readers are capable of doing this. The shift kits have instructions which explain where to drill those holes. They are for better fluid circulation in certain places. Their kits are designed like that, so just do what the manufacturer recommends.
 






well brooklyn,
I think I found the problem, after spending all day rebuliding the VB, I carwled under the vehicle and interted a metal rod up inside the reverse rervo shaft hole. I flest as if something was loode up there, there was something in the trans case where it seemd I could view a piece of the reverse clutch? and when I poked up into the hole, I could see this band moving. I could make it move front and back as well as up and down. I think the reverse band is broken. Does that sound about right? How should this reverse servo shaft hole react when inserting a rod up into it? thank you.
 












The band is likely just out of position. A broken band would not allow you 1st gear either. You can position it in car with a little finesse.
 






hello, so you sound more positive about it than I do. How do you finnesse it back? I put the pan back together and was about to start putting the fluid back in. Is there hope? Should the servo piston be tight going up and pulling out of the hole? It seemed that it was hard to pull out and push back in (I did replace the seals with 2 new ones, the larger lower one was a double lip seal). Should I proceed to put fluid in and try it? or shold I drop the pan, servo piston and try to finnese? Thanks.
 






oops forgot, there was a brown mark on the servo shaft, almost like it was hot or something was making it get hot and this was bluing or making a brown mark and a shiny patch on the shaft. Any clues?
 






can I adjust this band? maybe it is too loose?
 






There are 3 different length servos for this. Use the same one which was in there if the end is not cracked. Use a long phillips screwdriver to apply the band to test it. If it springs back, then it's in the proper position (do this carefully without causing it to bounce out of position again). Use petroleum jelly or ATF on the seals to make it slide into the bore easily.
 






so basically the tool that is listed in the ATSG (5r55e) on page 112 isn't necessary if you reuse the same reverse servo rod that was in there when you took it out? and just to clarify, if you push up on the band with a screwdriver and it springs back to position, then you're good? if that band was kinda off when this guy put it back together, could that keep reverse from working?
 



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ps. i just upgraded to elite explorer status. this forum is solid gold, i'm gonna do my dad's 2001 ranger valve body next month when i get out of pilot training in oklahoma and back to ohio. if it wasn't for you guys i wouldn't have even thought of it. john henry, i would check out a ATSG service manual. they're about 20 bucks shipped to your front door off of ebay or bulkpart.com. also, did you replace the low/reverse servo gasket?
 






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