96 Explorer no 1st gear

[skipsracing]

Hi guys, newbie here. Hope this post isn't too long, but wanted to let you know everything I've tried so far. Picked up a nice 96 XLT 4.0 dirt cheap because the guy said it needed a transmission. Had no forward or reverse, no power windows, interior lights or wipers working. First thing I did was replace the GEM. That fixed the wipers, windows, lights, and I also had forward and reverse. I thought I was done. Took for a road test and it wouldn't shift out of first unless you revved it up really high and let off for a couple seconds. Same with 2nd to 3rd. Never got it up fast enough to try fourth. Thought then maybe I had a blown valve body gasket. Took it apart and it looked ok, but I replaced it anyway. No change. Next I looked at the transfer case and found it was full of sludge. Replaced that with a junkyard transfer case and now everything seems to work fine EXCEPT....now I have no first gear. Code reader is showing a P0751 shift solenoid A stuck on or off. Thought maybe the speed sensors were bad in the "new" transfer case. Swapped the sensors and the shift motor from the original. No change. Pulled the pan again and checked the solenoids. Swapped solenoid 1 with solenoid 3. No change, still no first gear. Any ideas?

 

[rickybobby]

check the wiring, if that checks out then check for a signal from the pcm.

 

[96eb96]

Took for a road test and it wouldn't shift out of first unless you revved it up really high and let off for a couple seconds. Any ideas?

Likely a Broken band. Time to open the case. If you found a metal piece in the trans pan that would confirm the diagnosis.

 

[skipsracing]

No metal in the pan. I will check the wiring. Just seems strange that I lost first gear only after I replaced the transfer case.