5th to neutral (downshifting) and O/D blinking

[pavodive]

Hi guys,

Last weekend I had this situation with my 98 5r55e X:
As I was highway driving at about 63 mph (the X was already in 5th gear), I released the gas pedal for a little while, and when tryed to gas it back, it went neutral and whine a bit. I let it continue (no whining) and after stopping totally, it reasumed forward moving. No problems with upshifting.

Five minutes later I went again to cruising speed (70 mph) and again had to release the gas, and again it wouldn't re-engage (went neutral). Only that this time I stopped and it didn't come up. I tryed reverse to no avail. 4WDL and 4WDH didn't help. I went into P and it made a grinding sound, so I turned the engine off in N and moved to P. Restarted the engine, but nothing worked. Had to call the towing guys

Once at home, I fired the engine, and it moved back and fro with no evident problem. Later that day I went for a "test" around the block, and it was upshifting very roughly, and gave me an O/D OFF light blinking just after I reached about 20 mph. The truck felt like highly revved (but I don't know if it was me, out of fear, that didn't allow it to upshift past 3rd).

Some context:
* ATFluid level was OK, and so is its color; no debris found in the measuring stick.
* I've had a CEL (camshaft sensor) for a couple weeks on (no symptoms aside of the annoying likght in the dashboard)
* The truck has about 71k on it, and most of its life has been driven in the city, at speeds below 45mph (I think this X doesn't go into 5th often)

The prospect of going to a ford dealer in my city makes me fear for the worst, as I've seen they "misfire" often with ATs (costly repairs that didn't address the problems), and I'd like to know what they're doing before they come with a long bill. If not too hard a task, I'm willing (and able!) to accomplish it myself.

What should I do? What to look for?

Thanks!!

 

[BrooklynBay]

A flashing overdrive light indicates a code stored for the transmission. Find out what code you have.

 

[pavodive]

looks like problems in the Transfer Case

Thanks Brooklyn,

I scanned the X this weekend, and got no code stored for the O/D blinking light. It is shifting OK 1st to 5th, but over revved. I'm afraid it's engaged in 4H (I did some further tests accelerating suddenly in grass). I had the shift motor taken down, and changed the infamous plastic bushing (it was broken into pieces). I didn't actually get down there, but the mechanic said the TC axle was turning "too softly" (i.e., it didn't require much torque to turn).

the X is still engaged in 4H, but now (after reading 100 times the 4x4 shiftmotor rebuild diary) I think it could be a problem of misalignment of the gearcover and the gearbox of the shiftmotor.

However, what the mechanic said about the TC shaft turning too freely got me worried about something going wrong inside the TC (I plan to check it myself, as this might very well be a strategy to get my $600

Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you check the sticky thread on rebuilding a transfer case? it explains how it works with step by step diagrams. The other issue with the transmission is a shift flare. There are sticky threads on that too.

 

[pavodive]

TC rebuilt, and NEW PROBLEMS

This is a very late reply...
I worked on the TC about 3 weeks ago. It had one arm of the hi-lo fork broken, so the hi-lo collar was able to move somewaht freely from H to N to L. That very much explains why the shift shaft could be moved "softly", and why the car went neutral and back again into low range (when the X was pulled on top of the towing car the collar might have slided a bit, engaging the gears, this time in 4L). Seems O/D blinks when some speed (about 32 mph) is exceeded in 4L. Unknowingly at the time, I drove the car in 4L -dry pavement- for about 20 miles (at very low speed.)

I replaced the fork, the plastic guides on it, the hi-lo collar (there was some wear on it), and just because I'm a stupid, I changed the cam (both sides of it) and balls, when I only needed the balls. Guys at ford told me it was good to change a plastic washer and the "accordeon" spring, so that I did (I also changed oils seals, didn't do any bearings as they all seemed OK). Thanks Glacier991, I wouldn't have even attempted to do this without your how-to guide (BW4405 Rebuild diary).

The car worked smoothly for this 3 or 4 weeks, with very few miles on it.
Yesterday, when I was city driving, I felt a weird vibration of the sttering wheel, and thought it could be a tire balance problem. When I was returning home, the vibration increased and became very evident at low speeds. I then switched to 4High and the vibration really increased. Stopped, put it into 4Low, got a very rough vibration. When I tried to swith it back to Auto, the TC didn't disengage (I even disconnected the battery).
Symptoms:

• Car stuck in 4L (I know this can be as easy as a shift motor issue or as hard as another fork)
• steering whell vibration has got really rough
• When I start the car, or when I accelerate from iddling, I get 6 blinks of the "4 High" and "4 Low" lights in the dash board. After the 6th, they clear off.
• When I go over a certain speed, the O/D light blinks until I turn off the engine (that clears it, just as before)
• In a corner turn, I heard a clunk (and a bump-like jump) from the front diff

Do you guys think I have to get the TC down again?? Can it be something wrong with the front diff (bearings, CV joints, pinons)??

Also, a sidebar question: Can I swap my BW4405 to a BW4406? (every thread I've seen so far for a 4406 swap is about a V8 X. I'd like to know if it will bolt to the tranny).

Thanks!

 

[pavodive]

Just for future reference:

I crawled under the X this weekend. This is what I found:

There were two missing bolts in the TC/rear driveshaft bride. The remaining two bolts were already loose. --> Learning here: do never forget to use thread lock whenever you tight your driveshaft bolts.

The reason for the 4L engaged was the plastic bushing inside the shift motor. Replaced it and worked just fine.

G.